F200/F175 or smaller?

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by GameOnSalmon

Verch,
Flying Frizzle put a 225 Merc EFI on a bracket on a 20' Sceptre. Speed 60mph plus... chine walking at 60. Weight 480 lbs
Regards,
Robert

The 3.0 (225-250) mercury's are a little heavy for a 20' hull. The tag on my motor actually says 438 lbs but that's with out the prop and the oil in the tank, dry weight. The Web says it is 445 lbs. I am thinking about changing it out to a 2.5 liter 200 hp efi mercury. They weigh in at 398 dry and get me under that 400 lbs mark that everyone says you need to be under. I figured a little more weight wont hurt like you said and it doesn't seem to that terribly bad but just enough that i would like to rig a 40 lbs lighter motor to see just how much it will help balance. Far as an four stroke the zuke 140 is about the biggest I would go with at 420 lbs. The Yamaha 150 is 466 lbs, still heavy. The Yamaha 200 inline four cyl four stroke is 489 lbs, heavier but some up here has used them tho claiming fair results. The Yamaha 115 at 412 lbs would be a great choice if you could handle only having 115 hp again.
I would say that if you want a newer four stroke the 140 zuke is hard to beat, but the power of a inline 4 Yamaha would be sweet but you better do everything to get the weight right that you can to maintain balance. There are a few up here that done the i4 and loved it. Being you boat is the tracker with the 25" transom, higher decks and the 20.4 length it should handle the extra weight much better than the older potter era 19.8' hulls. I like having the extra power and after running the 115 you will like the extra power the 200 will have.
If you can talk your self into a two stroke the e-tech and the opti's are great motors that weigh less than most 4 strokes of the same size hp. They are the way to go on a 20' hull in my opinion in stead of an heaver four stroke. The newer motors weigh more than the older ones but get better fuel mileage with the direct injection. Always a trade off. You can save the money and weight by getting an older power, even tho it will use more gas, you will save so much on the purchase that you will be able to buy a lot of fuel before it ends up costing more to than a new motor. But after having a newer f 115 I doubt you want to go to an old two stroke. It's all a trade off, you just got to figure on what will best fill your needs.
The main thing is watch you balance and do what you can to keep the weight forward no mater what you go with.