outboards

[opto55]

I am lookiny at outboards: 150 hp range. Which one do you recommend?

Yamaha, Honda or Suzuki

Appliastion 20ft aluminum on the chuk.

 

[Gone Fishn]

I like the yammy 150 4-stroke, know quite a few people with them and they are pretty happy! Though I have heard good things about both the others as well I don't have any first hand experience with either of them.

 

[2muchdraft]

Do a search on here for the new E-tech engines - they seem impressive.

 

[Whole in the Water]

I wouldn't buy a E-Tec, the technology is too new. Wait a few years and see how they turn out. I would go with a Yammy for now.

 

[walleyes]

Yup,,, I run the new 175 E-Tec SaltWater myself do you're self a favour and give them a serious look... Great power to weight ratio.. I guarantee they will out perform anything else in their class...

Although the verdict is still out in the durability,, I am on my second season and have not one complaint....

 

[dman]

If your in to quiet and powerful Honda is impressive. The 'environmental friendliness' of the Etec is empressive also. I have owned Yamaha also and it was decent if your looking for a more inexpensive motor.

 

[RobTufnail]

We have 3 different Yamaha 4 strokes and they are very dependable and considerably lighter than the Hondas. Parker Marine in Nanaimo has been great to deal with. We worked S.& G Powers prices with Parker and they seem to be the lowest dollar in the end. A buddy has a Trophy with a 150 4 st. on it, works great and we troll with it all the time, no problem. Check out Parker, they like dealing!!!

 

[danthewire]

Just got a brand new 150 yamaha 4 stroke on my 185 Double Eagle,absoutely love the motor.Very quiet, trolls nicely,hardly burns any fuel,little lazy coming up out of the hole compared to my old 2 stroke but once shes up, plenty of power.Unfortunately, I had to purchase off the island, the boys up island and here in Victoria were NOT willing to talk price.Good luck with your purchase they are all good motors.DAN

 

[salmon9]

Have a 150 Yamaha HPDI on my Double Eagle 185. Reliable (have about 220 hrs on it), good on gas and tons of power.

 

[Red Monster]

Yeah, 150hp on an 18-foot boat. That might have enough power, guys. [8D]

 

[SIR]

Watch the weight on a 20'.... We run a 115 2 stroke on a 20' and had to put a fin on to get it to plane at lower rpm's with a heavy load. If you go for a 150 4-stroke you'd really want to make sure your boat can take the wieght. Some manfacturers 115-150's weigh the same as they are the same engine with different governors but as a general rule look for the same hp 4-strokes to be 100-135#'s heavier than the equivelent hp fuel injected 2. That much wieght way out at the back makes a big difference on some hull designs!!

I'd rather have a few less horsies and a well trimmed boat than tonnes of power and have to run at high rpms (sucking back lot's of fuel) to keep it on plane under load.....

I know from experience that you can troll salmon on a 115 with a digital throttle control in a boat theat wieghs around 3000 pounds. The higher hp engine on a lighter boat may take you out of the 2.2-3mph range. Something else to consider...

 

[Tanglefoot]

Hey Danthewire, no apology needed for shopping off-island. You owe it to yourself to get the best deal you can. It is, after all, called 'shopping'[8D]. Glad you like the motor, that's the one I'm interested in...someday[^]

Tom

 

[frango]

I have a Malibu 182 that I repowered with a 115 yamaha.It is a great outboard.In hind site I wish I had gone with the 150.The Malibu is a heavy boat so would be better with the extra humf.The boat had a 135 mercury.I burn almost half what I burned in fuel before.I Deal with Parksville boat house.They had better prices than anywhere else I looked and gave me good trade in value for my old motor. If your boat and wallet can take the extra go with the 150 over the 115.We have fished a lot this year and I would say on the water the Yamahas out number anything else 3 to 1 says something.

 

[teamchachi]

If you check on thehulltruth.com you'll find LOTS of banter on outboards. I was recently in the market and ended up putting a Honda 150 and 9.9 on our new rental boat.

Lots of guides in Alaska and Florida are switching over to the Evinrude E-tecs. These are guys that put thousands of hours on their main engines. They seem to love them. They've been around for 3-4 years now and it appears that the bugs have been worked out. Certainly worth looking at. The Merc Optimax is similar technology and has proven to be very reliable and durable.

We decided on Honda mainly from a marketing perspective. Thought it would be easier to rent the boat if it had a 4 stroke hanging on the back.

 

[fishing_king]

The Honda has worked out pretty well for me. It's been pretty efficient and I haven't had a problem with it yet! One of my buddies had the suzuki and he had problems with it after a couple of months...but he pretty much ran it into the ground.

 

[ActionJackson017]

We have a 2007 115 Evinrude E-Tec on our 20' welded aluminum. Runs great and has a ton of torque.

 

[Blacksheep]

I have a 1990, 21' Striper. I just recently replaced my origenal Evinrude 150 with a new 150 E-tec. The previous 2 years at Critter cove I spent $200 for fuel for 5 days. This year I spent $60 for 5 days. One happy camper.

 

[Mr. Dean]

I'm still running a pair of 130 Honda's from 1999. Still PLEASED if not impressed.

 

[NickS]

In April of this year I re-powered my Smoker Craft Osprey 19 with a Honda 150 four stroke. I could not be happier. It replaced a 1990 Tohatsu 90 horse two stroke, so the transition was pretty major. The Honda's quiet, reliable operation and fuel economy are excellent.

 

[Cornfed]

Do you guys have something against Mercury? I run a 350 MPI Mercruiser with Alpha 1 drive with a 5 blade SS prop. Kicker is 25 hp Big Foot 4 stroke. They work great for me. If I was going to do it again I would get an offshore bracket and stick two Verados back there.