2 or 4 stroke ?

[Steve C.]

I'M about to pull the trigger on a new motor. I find myself bouncing between the 225 Yamaha 4 stroke and the 250 HPDI yamaha. ANYONE WITH ANY INPUT WOULD BE APPRICIATED.

[Briguy]

Steve,

Don't make a mistake that will haunt you for years and years! Why go with one motor when you can get 2 brand new Suzuki 140 4 strokes for the price of the overpriced yam's. You will get a higher cruise, more hours, better hole shot and dependability of having 2 motors. I love my little 115 4 stroke suzuki's and wouldn't trade them for the world.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA STEVE
I HAVE THE 225 YAMAHA EFI GOT IT 1 YEAR AGO JUST A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THEY CAME OUT WITH THE NEW 225 4 STROKES. NOW YOU REALLY GOT A CHOICE FOR ME I DIDN’T WANT TO BUY A 4 STROKE WITH JUST 2 OR 3 MONTHS OF OPERATING EXPERIENCE ON THE SALES MARKED NOW THEY HAVE OVER 2 YRS OF EXPERIENCE ON THEM PLUS THE NEW 250 HDPI WITH THEIR BIGGER BLOCK WHAT A GREAT CHOICE YOU HAVE. I HAVE FOLLOWED THIS RABBIT FOR A WHILE NOW AND FOR ME I WOULD GO WITH THE 250 FOR A FEW REASONS.
1. MORE POWER BOTH FROM 225 TO 250 PLUS THE 2 STROKES WILL REALLY HAVE A MUCH BETTER HOLE SHOT. THE FOUR STROKES ARE NOTED TO BE A LITTLE SLUGGISH GAINING RPM’S AND FOR A ONE MOTOR SET UP THAT COULD BE A ISSUE WITH A FULL LODE AND 4 PEOPLE ON THE BOAT.
2. WEIGHT I KNOW IT’S ONLY ABOUT 50-100 LBS LIGHTER BUT WEIGHT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE USING A NOTCHED TRANSOM WITH NO BRACKET.
3. I THINK COST IS ABOUT THE SAME THAT’S A WASH.
4. FUEL EFFICIENCY IF YOU TROLL A LOT MY GUESS THE 4 STROKE WOULD BE BETTER BUT FOR ME I DON’T TROLL THAT OFTEN SO 2 STROKE IS ABOUT AS GOOD.
5. THEN GUYS TALK ABOUT OIL BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO CHANGE THE OIL ON FOUR STROKES SO BOTH USE OIL ONE THROUGH THE GAS THE OTHER THROUGH MAINTAINS.
THE BOTTOM LINE I WOULD GO WITH THE 2 STROKE FOR ONE MOTOR SET UP ON THE 23’ SEACRAFT AND FOR ME THE ONE MOTOR SET US IS THE WAY TO GO.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[barnacle]

Be sure to look at the Evinrude 250 DI. If you stuck on Yamaha then I would go with the HPDI over the 4 stroke. Im not a 4 stroke fan. To much upkeep to them. If you follow the owners manual you will see there is much upkeep to them. Ask your dealer how much it cost to adjust the valves and you will see what im talking about. These 4 strokes are not like your car. They are turning very high rpms. They must be serviced in order to live.

[Dave Hirshberg]

I heard the same thing a joe. When researching small 4 strokes the Suzuki Dealer told me that the Yam 225 4's have a lot of adjustable moving parts and that a service could be as much as $1500 . I'm not sure if that was for the pair or for a single but I'd call a Yamaha Service Mgr and ask him what the maintenance schedule is. I do think, however that 4 stroke is where everything is headed in the future.

[James Tackle]

I'm with Briguy.

[barnacle]

Just rember the new 2004 etec evinrudes burn less gas and put out less emissions then todays most modern 4 stroke outboards. They need no engine oil or filter changes, no valves, belts or chains that need to be serviced. In fact need no service for 3 years and self winterize themselves. Plus the have no break in period, full throttle out of the box. Plus this engine can make 80 hp. per cylinder. We may just see a 480hp outboard in the next 2 years that weights the same as todays 2 strokers.

[Mark]

Funny how you don't hear any of the 4-stroke owners whining about all the inherent problems with their 4-stroke engines.

I find this to be rather telling.

[Jon G]

I was a two stroke guy now I'm leaning towards the four stroke. Getting one next week. I don't know about the Yamaha but I checked with the Suzuki dealer about maint and its limited to oil and filter changes with the biggie being valve adjustments(couple hunders bucks). I had a 115 two stroke that burned an average of 5gals gas per engine hour on the meter. This two stroke used one gallon of oil ($17) for the good stuff to the fifty gallon tank. So in 9.4 engine hrs or one full tank my two stroke uses $17 worth of two stroke oil. I can't wait to do a $20 oil change every 100 hrs. while getting better economy. looks to me like if you add up valve adjustments and oil changes versus all the two stroke oil you would burn over the same length of time there pretty close to cost per hour although the four will also use less gas over that time period. Where I am the four strokes are slowly taking over in the mid range engines. Do they have the same torque out of the hole as a two stroke? Not likley, but I would not knock them. I didn't think about one until I found my self shopping for an engine last week I looked at the other options out there and the other prices. When you see four strokes on commercial boats that people rely on for their livley hood that says something. When I asked on local commercial guy if he liked his 115 Suzuki he said it was one of the first ones out, lots of hrs on it and he said he will "NEVER" go back to a two stroke. When I talk to commercial fisherman and tour operaters and they tell me the same about an e-tec I'll give them a look. These guys use engines on a dialy basis and use them harder and longer than any of us. As for a big engine I'd go with a two stroke because the big fours simple weigh much more. I was hestitant to go four stroke until I talked to people that owned them and after hearing what was said by the owners I had to look closer. I tried to find a Suzuki owner (or other local four stroke owner) that I could talk to that hated(or had any thing bad to say) about their engine and I could find none.The only person that I talked to that had a problem with his Suzuki ruined his starter over time because he kept trying to start the engine while it was already running it was so quiet [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] so much for hearing aids, That made my decison for me. I'll find out next week first hand for sure. From what I hear I will not be disapointed, plus the fishes will never even hear me coming!

[Ikan Besar]

I recently had to purchase a new engine for my boat that is undergoing a (tremendous) bit of work at the moment. Although I have not mounted the engine yet, I did spend a goodly amount of time talking to people on both sides of the 2 vs. 4 stroke argument.

Along with Jon G, I also spoke with commercial fishermen that spent long hours pulling up crab pots, setting nets, etc. As well as marinas that used their large skiffs to ferry passengers to points of interest on an hourly basis all year long. Not a single complaint and a whole lot of praise from everyone that had switched to the 4-strokes.

I have nothing to gain or lose by someone on this board buying one engine over the other. I'm not in anyway involved with the boating industry or in any way associated with any manufacturer of outboard engines. If you want to add peddle-power to your boat, I'm all for it - great for the environment!

However, as I am paying someone else to completely redo my boat, it should be obvious to most that I'm not trying to save money on the endeavor. That being the case, I really didn't let cost enter into the engine decision.

All the opinions that I was given by USERS of the various new 4-strokes indicated that to be the appropriate direction for my purchase.

And I certainly won't miss filling the oil reservoir [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]