Time to choose a motor

[neverendingproject]

So I'm up late and find myself thinking about which motor to use to power my Seafair. Right now I have a '64 60hp Evinrude(gasp) Sportfour, a '60 800 Mercury and I just picked up an 1150 Mercury with power trim. I need the room so two must go and not being an outboard guy I'm not sure which one would best fit my needs. Overall I'm looking for something with relatively easy parts availability, decent power and good reliability once tuned correctly.

From what I gather the Evinrude is known to have horrible fuel economy but parts are relatively easy to get and it should be reliable.

The 1150 already has power trim which is nice but may be more motor than I need. Are these reliable? How about parts availability?

This leaves the old dockbuster. I'm not too enthusiastic about a $250 distributor cap and parts may be a problem. I don't have the pistol grip controls for it and the skeg is broken so maybe I should stay away from this one

So what do your guys think? Should I get rid of all three and look for something completely different? Any opinions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
-Alan

[halffast32]

The 115hp.:BigWink1:

[Tim McCrain]

The big one

You may not need 115 hp, but you need power trim. You can always not use all that power ...

It's nice to cruise at a respectable speed without working the engine hard.


To expand on the above comment:
You might be surprised (pleasantly) at the difference between cruising at 25-30 mph with an engine that is near max rpm and an engine that can do that without breathing hard. When we had the 80 hp Merc on the Sabrecraft we had to yell at each other at any planing speed, with the 140 (which is actually 150 hp) we can cruise at 30-35 and converse without yelling. Cruising at 20-25 is effortless. It made the whole experience so much more enjoyable and less tiring.

This is the first motor I've had with power trim, and I won't be without it again. The capability to adjust the trim of the boat underway is wonderful, not to mention the ease of beaching, trailering, etc. I do not miss raising the motor by hand.

And yes, this is really too much motor for the Sabrecraft, it's destined for the 20' Skagit express cruiser when it's restored. In the meantime, boy oh boy is it a kick in the pants!


Tim

[TheBronze]

Tim has it right on. My plan for the bell boy is twin 65 mercs. Do I need 130 horse? No. But if I baby them at half throttle they should last a good long time...

[Bflaherty]

The rule of thumb I was trained to use when designing boats for ACB was that cruising speed should be attained at around 3/4 throttle. This was done for several reasons:

1. Comfortable ride speed with moderate engine noise

2. Fuel economy is better at mid range then wide open

3. Leaves you with a little power to spare for emergencies or when pushing the tide or head wind.

My little performer with 1965 Merc 1000 cruises at around 30-35 at 3/4 throttle and is actually more efficient there then at idle but still has the power to scare some people at 50+ at W.O.T.

Like the others I would go with the Merc 115, but then again "I LIKE TO GO FAST!!" Devil19

[ChuckB]

Your hull will plane easily with a 50 or 70 hp OMC, your'll go 30-35 and you'll get home. Of course, my choise was the Honda Bf 50.
ChuckB

[woodenboatfogey]

Alan,

Before you do anything look at an Evinrude E-Tec around 100 or more hp.

Richard

[BruceDrake]

Why an e-tec???

Why an etec? The last boat show I was at in Seattle the dealers selling e-tecs were recommending non-etcs. Has anything changed? I do notice that almost all the small aluminum oyster boats on Willapabay run etcs but that maybe because the only two dealers in Long Beach-Astoria area carry etecs. It is a very harsh environment to be out in a small boat in the middle of winter so there could be a reliability value that is critical to them. The dealer 1 mile from my house in Scappoose carries etec's and clearly likes them. Not much in the way of comparative reviews that I am aware of.

[neverendingproject]

Wow lots of choices out there! The 115 looks so big and heavy to hang off my poor transom but I will make sure it's sound before installing the motor.

I looked at a few E-Tecs and Hondas and have to say they're a bit more than I would like to spend. I usually use my love for tinkering and inherent cheapness to find a good deal even if it means putting in some time and money to get it 100%. A four stroke or modern two stroke would be great but I can deal with a little extra noise and more maintenance, less fuel economy, less reliability etc...yikes this is starting to sound like a bad idea.

Since the E-Tecs and larger Honda four strokes are still a bit spendy would it be worthwhile to look at a more modern OMC or Mercury or just use the 115 for now? I hear the four cylinder Mercs are known for being reliable and smooth but are they any better than my tower?

[Tim_Mattson]

Alan ,
I like Brian ,like to go fast but realize the hull doesn`t like it as much as we do.
Chuck B showed me my first trip in the Seafair how it settled down and rode quiet and smoother at 23-27 mph.
With 70 hp ,I can easily go mid 30`s but then you start to hear and feel the water and hull colliding.
These are smoother riding hulls if not over-driven as us speed demons do.....
I`ve considered backing down the hp to 50 hp but I also do carry dual downriggers and lead ,plus a 2 nd trolling motor when geared up for fishing/crabbing.
Fully loaded,the 70 hp is just enough on some days.
Notice how all the guys voting Merc work on them themselves.A 4 cyl would fit hull better in this color.....
E-tecs are gaining in popularity because of the economy and power -to -weight ratio.
A single E-Tec can push a big boat 1000 miles on a 100 gallons of gas.This is 3 times higher than before with 2 stroke power curve that rises all the way to the top.Cost is the only down side.......
Bigger the motor ,the more fuel you need ,which means less potential payload for passengers and gear.
Gear up for what you plan to do 98% of the time.
Nissan 50 MD 2 stroke is the lightest OB with the biggest bang,basically a mini 3 cyl OMC.The OMCs are more common to find.
Tim M

[Helmar]

Honda or Merc

Might as well throw in my 2 cents.

In watching and dreaming, I would choose a 90hp Honda 4 stroke and be done with it.
Why?, If I change boats (which I can do once I get another one done), I can keep moving that engine around from boat to boat.
Its got enough power to push a bigger boat with no issues but on a smaller boat, hardly any effort at all and can run lower RPMs.

I am not a Rice Grinder fan by any means (I still have my old 1988 GMC full size low rider with over 278K on her and she is doing just fine with general maintenance).

Gets down to What is the best engine to use right now.

Chuck and Greg have those little 50hp Evinrudes in which, you just don't find used, meaning, they were an exceptional engine.

I never heard a Honda owner complain. Yamaha is the same.
Evenrude Etec, they have prove they are not your old boat anchor engines like the 85hp V4 I had.
Now That was a mistake on Evinrudes part. It was a major gas hog and I Mean Major too :Scared2:

Really now.....It gets down to your pocket book.
Thom (FrankenMerc) can make the Mercs run as good as knew, also a good option.

[Skagitguy]

Chuck and Greg have those little 50hp Evinrudes in which, you just don't find used, meaning, they were an exceptional engine.


Joe you are right about the 50hp Evinrude. Mine was a 1986 and the one Greg has is a 1983. Great motors but after all you have to remember they are 25-28 years old. A good friend just pick up a 1983 Evinrude 70hp motor with trim and tilt ? I don't think there's that much difference ( i might be wrong ) when comparing them to the 50's. Chuck

[neverendingproject]

It looks like the old Evinrude 60 is out and so is the Dockbuster 80. If I get rid of those along with some smaller motors that should give me room to store parts when I tear into things. I'll hang on to the 115 Merc at least until I find something better suited to my needs(wants?). I have also read that some of the 80's OMC V4's are simple, reliable motors. Chuck, is that 50 you have a V4? The fact that they're almost 30 years old doesn't bother me as long as it was a good design and parts are still available reasonably quick when you need them. Some people say that OMC started making junk later on before the Etec otherwise I would look at something newer from them.

I would love a four stroke but it seems everyone else loves them as well which keeps the prices high. How about two Bearcats :Bigdriving1: ok maybe not. I've even looked into an I/O but after seeing pictures of the newer, longer Seafairs with them it seems they take up too much real estate.

Ah well a big thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge with a clueless boater. Having narrowed down the flock of motors in my way I should be ready to go soon but I'll keep my eye out for something better before I drill holes in the transom and hit the water which won't be this year for sure.

[Skagitguy]

Alan, The one i had was a 2 cylinder and 31 mph via GPS ! You know what ? All i ever did was turn the key and go. GregJ and i went from Edmonds to Olympia a couple of years ago with our twin Skagits 17' with the same motors that were a Evinrude 1983 /1986 and only used 18 gal round trip.VERY good motors. Since then i have have sold the boat and another member that has it now love's the motor as well. If you don't go with one of those ,check with Dr Frankenmerc ( Tom Adams ) that puts out a very good Mercury at a fair price and he stands behind any motor he's sells. Just MHO i would stay away from those V4's. Chuck

[Tim_Mattson]

Alan,
Been meaning to reply to this for awhile now.....
The 50`s are great on gas for sure and do have their strong points.
They also have been known to eat lower units as they are stronger compression-wise,yet use smaller diameter shafts and parts in the lower.
The mid-section and tilting can also be hard to find parts for and while Jerry loves his 50 hp ,he is also getting ready to pay to revampt that manual tilt so he can use it as he wants.....Beaching is where this matters.
The power trims on these are also of a weaker design,not very stout,harder to find used,and even harder to work on as they are compact.
The V-4`s have been knocked hard on gas use but I used a 1977, 85 hp Johnson on an 18`Glastron,Opening Day with tons of idling (so no real hard use,but still had it running half the time,say 2-3 hours) and later found I only used 3 gallons all day long.Wasn`t much more than my 70 hp 3 cyl.
If ran half-speed ,then they seem to be ok on fuel.
Now the 1979 and newer 3 cyl s and V-4 s will have common Trim parts and are fairly easy to work on.......unlike the Merc in which you`ll be probably not as likely to fix yourself.
The mid 90`s brought about some weaker OMC product with plastic carb bowls I see now cupping from current fuels.Up to 1994 is pretty solid product,I sold it new and never saw issues out of the crate until the later 90`s.Then the Ficht fuel systems failed repeatedly.
Buy the motor for what you`ll like to do 98% of the time,not for that one time you tow a watertoy.......
TM