power for 20' Master Angler
 

Seems that I have read that a 130 HP might not be sufficient power for a 20' Master Angler. Would appreciate input...looking at a 2002 with 130 Honda 4 stroke and hate to be underpowered. Thanks

I would be fine with it. You'll be fine. A little stern squat at rest but 130 with a righteous big blade area 15p prop will get your 36 to 38 mph and incredible economy.

Recent vintages probably do much better with heavy mid size motors than the old 20 " transoms

just from experience, i've found hondas to be a pain in the arse to get parts for. Not a big fan of merc's, but theyre EASY to get parts for. The newer optimax get decent economy and are fairly reliable.

I run a 4 stroke yamaha 100 on a 20 foot Master Angler. I can run 34 MPH. If I ran without the hydroshield and no bottom paint, I bet I could go 36 MPH. 130 is plenty. People have used a 90HP, and it is said that 75HP is the minimum.

Not a master angler, but i run a fresh yamaha 115 2 stroke on a 20' SF. No tabs, no foil, and plain and simple the boat will surprise you. The only thing it does not offer is top speed. I cruise at 25 - 27 mph 4000 - 4200 RPM all day long. WOT about 34 mph.

I was NOT a believer that the hull would perform well with the 115. My back was against the wall on an engine that i could not turn down, just too good of a deal. I have almost zero bow rise, the boat will pop right on plane and i can stay on plane as is to about 3400 RPM at 16 - 18 mph.

I am not at all sorry i went with the 115.

When most of our boats were built they came with 115hp engines from the factory.

I have a 78 MA and run a 150 Merc Black max Have not been out that much yet but from what I've seen I like the power

225. For your area. Speed is nice on the bay When you can use it. The bay is usually pretty tame. I have a 175 on mine now but when I repower I'm moving up.

My last 20 sc had a 200 but could have used more.

What I have heard as well and not so much the parts finding anybody to work on it, seen lots of posts around trying to somebody. The next issue is what does it weigh?? I have 400# with a 200 Merc and that is about all they can handle IMHO. I worked for the largest SC dealer on the west coast of Fla - 18 would go out 115's or 150 - 20's all had 150 inlines. The sales manager wouldn't rig a MA until the 175 came out and he helped design it - live bait is big around here hence the built in baitwell. The 200 is not needed and frankly my cruise speed at 3400/3600 at 29mph is a bit high, I can back it down to 3K/23-24 but the motor likes to be at 3400

I will say that I have to agree with WW, I would prefer an OMC but the Mercs seem to work better in general - a 175 would be perfect but a 150 is just fine and yes parts are easy, even used.

The Honda will work and people would trip over themselves to buy it, just not as well as a bit more HP - I'm sure the Honda goes over the 400lb limit and they will run forever just not the strongest horse in the barn. All 2.5 V6 Mercs are almost the same parts so year is not that important - EFI's will give 2 /2.5 mpg and are nice motors, Opti's will cost a good deal more.

I ran my 2000 20' Master Angler with a Merc 115 EFI 4 Stroke (390 lbs) paired with a Mercury Vengeance 16P prop since 2007. It had a fair hole shot but was sluggish when loaded. It ran well once on plane reaching a max speed of 38 mhp according to my GPS and sipped fuel. I just repowered last week to a mint Yamaha 200 HP OX66. After running the 115 4 stroke for five years, I can say that it performed ok. A 130 to 140 4 stroke Suzuki at 410 lbs seems to be almost ideal. Remember, transom weight is very important especially if you added a bracket. A 150 Yamaha 4 stroke is close to 490 lbs for 10 additional horse power. Ultimately, these hulls were designed to run mid power 2 strokes.

Regards

130 Honda is 500lbs . . . Way to much weight on the transom for a 20MA IMO.

For a comparison the inline 150 merc's Egg's mentioned were 275lbs that were originally rigged with the 20MA.
The Merc 175 didn't come out until 1978 and that was only 350lbs. 1981 225 Merc was only 360lbs.

Excellent question Sailor Dog, and welcome to CSC ! A 130 is plenty of power unless you want to run over about 35 kts!

As others have said, many of these boats were sold new with relatively small (but lightweight!) motors, because the SeaCraft VDH is more efficient than any comparable deep V so it doesn't NEED as much power. The problem with the 130 Honda is it's weight! Those older Hondas were even heavier than the new 150 4-strokes, which I think are about 490 lbs (wet, with oil), so boat balance (CG location) is the real issue! When you consider that Carl Moesly designed the 19/20' hulls in the mid-60's for the I-6 Merc that weighed about 275 lbs, increasing engine weight by 2X is going to seriously upset the boat's balance! Even if that motor put out 200 horsepower, 500+ lbs on the transom will prevent you from planing below about 20 kts! When it gets rough, you won't be able to use 200 hp, and you'll wish you had a much lighter motor that would let you plane at 10-12 mph!

I'm speaking from experience because I ran my boat for over 30 years with a 300 lb 1975 Evinrude 115 that actually put out about 100 hp at the prop (motors were rated at the powerhead instead of the prop back then). It would cruise at 20 kts with a top end of about 32 kts, but it would easily plane at about 10 kts, even with a very heavy load. It rode GREAT and I found that during six 180 mile trips (each way) to the Abacos (in northern Bahamas), I could comfortable keep up with 23-24' boats in seas up to about 3'! (The 20' hull is relatively light so it starts to go airborne at speeds over 20 kts in seas of about 3'. You don't HAVE to slow down at that point, as the SeaCraft hull will take a lot more punishment than you can, but it becomes progressively less comfortable as the seas build up!) Fuel consumption over those 6 trips averaged 2.8 mpg, which I considered fairly decent for that simple and reliable (but loud and smokey) motor.

When I repowered in 2006, I installed a bracket that moved the motor 30" aft, AND I installed a much heavier 429 lb motor! Although I then had a 50 mph boat, it wouldn't plane below 20 kts! Given my previous experience, where I could run comfortably in rough seas, that was totally unacceptable! I figure the CG was shifted aft about 12-18", based on how much I had to move the trailer axle to keep adequate tongue weight on the hitch. By switching to a good stern-lifting 4 blade 15x15" prop and a Doelfin on the AV plate, I was able to drop min planing speed back down to an acceptable 12-13 mph. And I now have a rig with an awesome hole shot and even better load carrying ability. However, that fin has cut my gas mileage by 0.2-0.3 mpg, and I'm sure a 3 blade prop would probably be a little more efficient, so I had to make some compromises to get acceptably low planning speeds.

Bottom line is you could do the same things I did with my 150 to make that heavy Honda meet my requirements, but IMHO the lighter DFI 2-strokes are a much better match for the 20' hull. However I run offshore a lot, so if you plan to use the boat primarily on flat water at 20 kts+, then maybe low speed planing and ride is not an issue for you. In that case the boat might be fine as-is for what you want to do with it! Denny

OK, my Honda 130 story.

About 10 years ago I stayed most every year for minimum of two weeks at a time at a place called Sunset Villas in Conch Key. This guy pulls in with a 25' CC ProLine with a double bracket, I'm sure it was 25'er, and he had two brand new 130 Hondas. Man was he proud, JUST had them installed the day before and never had a chance to try them out. Supposed to triple his mileage, super quiet, etc., etc. Anyway off he went, came back about ah hour later in a very foul mood, the boat would not get on plane unless two people went to the bow. But once on plane he was good to go as long as he ran a minimum of 3800 rpms. Bottom line, don't let anyone tell you too much weight hanging off the transom is not important.

Tripped over this thread again - Bigshrimpin is right on. Honda 130 is super heavy for the power. When I read 130 hp I had e-tec on my mind and probably sippin' hard cider ;) Sorry:eek:. Good luck with your choice but that Honda is a questionable choice...

To give you an idea of the size of that Honda . . . An Optimax ProXS 300hp is the exact same weight as that Honda 130. Way Way Way too big for a 20MA IMO.

I'm running a 140 Suzuki 4 stroke on my 20'. Motors about 410 Lbs.....mounted it directly to the rebuilt 25" transom. Very happy with the results....42 mph top end...5gph fuel burn at 25 mph...boat will hold plane at 15-16 mph.......the 140 Suzuki is a great choice for these hulls and won't break the bank.

Just repowered my 2000 20' MA two weeks ago....

repower
 

i have a 20 and have an Etec 150 and love it. Strongly recommend it

2001
 

I have a 2001 20' Master Angler (25" transom) that I just repowered with a like new 200 OX66. I am running a 19P Laser II turning 5400 rpms WOT at 52 -53 mph on my Garmin. about 4% prop slip.

2001 ox66 200 hp
 

I have a 2001 20' Master Angler (25" transom) that I just repowered with a like new 200 OX66. I am running a 19P Laser II turning 5400 rpms WOT at 52 -53 mph on my Garmin. about 4% prop slip.

I have tried 5 different props and this is as close as I have come to perfection.