What a struggle this year

[longbow]

Ok, blew my Optimax.  Took 3 wks and 300 bucks for the fella to tell me it was blown.  Bought a 225 Ocean Runner re-built.  Power head blew on that one too about a week ago.  Under warranty so no worries.  Here is my dilema, repower the boat NOW with a Johnson Ocean Runner 150 or have them re-build the 225 again and use that or maybe wait until something comes in to the marina for re-sale during the winter.  I've a 1989 23' proline walkaround.  Talked with Chuck Wagner at PL in Fl. and he said that with the right prop the 150 will work with speed in the mid 30's maybe a bit better.  That is the minimum he would go though.  Boat weighs 2800lbs plus gas and motor and people so I am figuring close to 4000lbs with a full tank of fuel etc. in th water.  Salt water transom on it and Mr. Wagner said that makes a bit of a difference in how the boat will plane out.  You have a bit more variance with how the trim feature works, as in a bit more down into the water cause of the angle of the transom to the stern.  19deg dead rise on the bow.  I did a formula thing where you take the weight of the boat and divide by 33 I think the number is, it might be 30 though.  Either way over shooting the weight by 800lbs or so and it still comes in at a h.p. rating of around 145h.p. at 5500 rpms to move the boat about 36mph.  Wide open throttle is 5800-6000 rpms, flat conditions and trimmed perfectly.  

 

I am thinking when fishing this year the farthest I went out was to 600' of water.  Mostly between 400-200' though.  I mean how much power do you need to run that far and how fast does one need to get there?  I was considering just repowering with a 4 stroke but again Mr. Wagner told me I shouldn't put more than a 150 on it if going that route cause of the age of the boat and weight of the 4 strokes vs 2 strokes.  Anyways opinions wanted on what to do.  thanks 

[Iceman]

Bow;

 

IMHO, I think that you would want an engine at or very near the upper end of the horsepower rating on the hull from the manufacturer (check to see if there is a max transom weight in the hull specifications, compare to the engine's weight you are considering). Heavy boats need lots of horsepower to function correctly.

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles, good luck!

 

John

Edited October 2, 2014 by Iceman

[Frogger]

Id say I would first want to know what's causing the failures before I re power. Would hate to invest another 4 grand in a rebuild and find out after that blew you had a gas or oil problem. Just my two cents. Hope everything works out.

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[mr 580]

Sorry to hear of your problems. Not sure how your boat is equipped - trim tabs, kicker, etc. my guess is that you should have 200 to 225hp on a 23 Walk. I have a 25 Walk with 225 ETEC that runs in mid to upper 30's with kicker, 4 riggers and full fuel load. One of my buddies has a 21 CC with 150 Four stroke and I know he wishes he had a 200. So I think a 150 would have to work pretty hard on a 23. Given the time of year it might be worth exploring more options. If you troll with your main motor, I think a 200hp four stroke might be worth looking into. Weight difference to 225 Optimax might be less than you think. When I bought my boat the ETEC was 100 to 150lbs less than a Honda which was the weight of my Yamaha kicker and mounting. Good luck with your project.

[Sea-IV]

I was in a similar situation early this season. I bought a bout that had twin 150 Merc's on it. The boat is 25.5' and weighs about 5000 lbs. I had a compression test done and found that I was losing a cylinder I. Each motor but they ran fine. Now I have the saltwater transom as well and figure the cylinders were going due to be under powered so I went and spent twice what I paid for the boat originally on 2 - Etec 200 HO's. My boat is a 2003 and figured I am gonna have the boat for a long time and it was well worth the investment. I would say that your boat is under powered cause at full load and my motors wide open and trimmed out I am turning about 42mph where the 150's would go about 29 mph and my fuel mileage was cut down by 2/3. Its a lot of money but in the end I don't second guess my boat and where and how long I can go for. Good luck

[insufishent]

I would keep the 225

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[smallboat]

Id say I would first want to know what's causing the failures before I re power. Would hate to invest another 4 grand in a rebuild and find out after that blew you had a gas or oil problem. Just my two cents. Hope everything works out.

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I agree with Frogger.  I would want to know the cause before making a repower decision.  A 1989 boat is pre ethanol  especially if you were buying fuel at a marina.  Real good possibility of ethanol dissolving any gunk or "varnish" that built up on the inside of the tank causing motor failure. I blew the heads off of two 454's for that reason.

 

Boats of that era were also not designed with the weight of four stroke power in mind.  I have seen too many boats repowered with four stoke outboards where the top of the motor well now sits only 4" above the water.

 

A 225 HP two stroke will typically weigh 500 to  525 lbs.

A 200 HP two stroke will weigh around 450 lbs.

A 225 HP four stroke will weigh close to 650 lbs.

 

Based on the boat, I would go with a rebuild of the 225 you have.  150 is a little on the low side for HP in MHO.

Edited October 3, 2014 by smallboat