Suggestions for choosing an outboard?

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jsmoody

Active member
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Hey fellas. For a while I was about to pull the trigger on a weld-craft with a new 115/80 merc. The longer I put it off the less I could stomach spending 20k on a boat just to cruise the river. I've pretty much settled on piecing one together that will do what I'm looking for. I'm starting to look around again for a motor to put a jet on, but there's so much stuff out there I need to narrow my search a little. I know for sure I want a 2 stroke, but I don't know how old is too old, or if/what outboards are out there that are more inclined to be a good platform for a jet rig. I still may buy a new boat I'm not sure. But it will be something between a 1756 to 1860, because that's the biggest that I can fit on my trailer. Most likely a side console just for the extra room. My search right now is 2 strokes between 90 and 150 hp. There are so many factors though I get lost in it. Like will the right 90 hp carry a full load well enough to choose it over a heavier 150? I want to stay as light as possible in the event I have to wrestle it around. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
What is your application? Nobody can give you advice unless you tell them what you need the boat to do. What type of river? What type of load?
 
It will primarily be for cruising. The places i boat to are 7 and 10 miles from the closest ramp, in different direction. Its mostly deep enough but in the summer it gets pretty low and there are some long gravel flats that can get really low. The rest is sand or gravel bottom. Typically i'll run with 1 or two others in the boat but as many as 5 or 6.
 
How fast do you want to go? How much gas do you want to burn?

I don't think you can go wrong with anything over 75 hp.
 
Im not really concerned with fuel burn and anything around or over 30 mph is fine with me. I am curious as to what the more desirable motors are, ie. brand/hp/year models. Are somo more dependable than others. Are there some that have more displacement for an advertised hp? Stuff like that. My local shop is rebuilding a couple now. Early 90s model yamahas. An 85 and a 115. Theres a lot of stuff on craigslist. 80s/90s johnson and evinrudes. 90s and 2000s mercurys. I just dont know enough about them to go after one comfortably.
 
For boat size I like 1860. The wider it is the better it will carry a load, the easier it will be to plane, and the shallower it will draft.

A 115/80 would be the minimum hp to go with for that size. It will do good with 1-2 people and a light load. It should get 35-38 mph, if it is setup right and is in good shape.

If you are going to be hauling 4-6 people and heavy loads frequently I would go with a 150/105. It will be a big difference in load carrying capacity. It will also jump on plane easier and use less fuel if you don't run wide open all the time. It should run around 40 mph.

A 56" bottom will work if that is all you can find, but don't go narrower than that.

I have only owned Mercury's and have had great luck with them. If you are buying used get it checked out by a good marine mechanic if you can. Have the compression checked. The rebuilt should be fine, try to get some kind of warranty or guarantee and ask them what they recommend for breaking it in.

I ran a 115 for 12 years, was happy in the beginning. Anything more than 2 people it took forever to plane out and had to run wide open a lot. After a few dents and dings in the hull it ran about 35-36 mph.
 
The omc four cylinders are good engines they ranged in hp from 90 up to 130 I believe they had some issues every engine does. Yamahas were good too mostly try and get something 1987 and after I believe it was then that manufactures were required to have the power rating be from the prop shaft vs at the engine. That was when omc three cyl 50-70hp engines went from being 49ci to 56ci they upped the displacement to keep the same power rating at the prop shaft. They weren't alone most everyone else had to do something similar. The yamaha 3 cyl 90 hp's were great engines but if your wanting to regularly cruise with 4-6 people you will definitely want more than a 70-90hp. A 115/80 would be lowest I'd go. The omc 115hps which are johnson/evinrude engines are pretty solid performers. I don't know much about the larger merc two strokes. I know it seemed in the two stroke days the omc 115hp seemed more plentiful and popular. In the 150 plus hp range your stepping up to merc or omc v6's I can't remember how big yamaha went with two strokes so I couldn't comment much on what there engines were like in that range. If your going regularly have 4 plus I'd go with a 150hp if more than 4 people is only once in a while a 115/80 will be fine. What river/area are you planning on running?
 
I run on the Pearl in south MS. Thats just the kind of info i was looking for. Thanks. So a 90 is out. Now im looking for 115-150. The stuff about the years helps a lot. I wasnt aware of any of that. There seems to be a number of johnson/evinrudes out there from the early to mid 90s. I was surprised to see that some of the 150s weighed the same as the 175/200s. An 1860 with a 200 jet would be a beast. Would also solve my kids problem of not having a tubing boat.
 
dhoganjr said:
A 115/80 would be the minimum hp to go with for that size. It will do good with 1-2 people and a light load. It should get 35-38 mph, if it is setup right and is in good shape.


I ran a 115 for 12 years, was happy in the beginning. Anything more than 2 people it took forever to plane out and had to run wide open a lot. After a few dents and dings in the hull it ran about 35-36 mph.

Is that speed with a light load? Also ive read a lot about it taking too long to plane out. What do you mean by forever? Im used to taking 50 ft to plane out. A boat length would be fantastic but not a deal breaker. I can usually drift into enough water to get up if i have to but there are situations where you want to get up NOW. Im looking forward to not chewing up props.
 
That is speed with 2 people at most and very light load. A 115/80 drops off quick when you start loading it down. When I say forever with a heavy load, I mean 100-150 ft. Start as far back as water allows, full throttle, watch the shoal getting closer and closer, seat up your ***, waiting any second for that dreadful gravel scraping sound kind of take off. That is what it is like with 4 or 5 people, lol.

A 150/105 doesn't sound that much bigger but the torque makes a huge difference, they handle weight much better. Most of them are stepping up to a higher displacement.

You can pull a tube fairly easy with a 150. I have seen guys pulling them with 60/40 jets, not fast by any means but they do it. Go with the narrower tubes, think aerodynamic. A wide tube has a lot of drag, goes slower, and takes more hp to pull.

200+ hp boats are a blast to run. My 250 Pro XS is 175 ish hp at the pump. On plane soon as you hit the throttle. If you have it trimmed close to level when taking off it will launch the boat out of the water. My hull is a commercial hull (it has no hp limits or weight capacity limits). I had it built with extra transom braces when I ordered it in 02' to handle the higher hp and weight.
 
Im sold on at least a 150. Not opposed to bigger if i can find a good deal. Its hard down here because it seems most of the motors over 150 have had a lot of saltwater use and i'd like to stay away from that if possible. Ive missed several good motors so far. You got to be ready to jump on it as soon as you see it and i always am hung up on another project.
 
150+ just so your aware will drink the fuel if you go with a carburated two stroke. When you step up from the 90-130hp class to 150-200hp class your going from v4 to v6 outboards hence the extra power, and extra fuel consumption. The omc 150-200hps don't have much of a weight difference because they're all v6's of roughly similar size. They are decent motors just a lot more going on in a 4-6 or v-4 vs a 3cyl inline. Just make sure the the cooling system is good good water pump, good thermostat, and that it runs well. If you have a carb getting gummed it that means it will cause the cylinders it feeds to run lean which can cause them to run hotter, and potentially lead to scoring of the cylinder wall and piston. The OMC and Merc V6 engines were all pretty good in the 90's and into the late 90's early 2000's when they started to switch to direct injected two strokes, and four strokes. If you go four stroke get a fuel injected one, the direct injected two strokes like optimax's, the omc ficht engines, and etechs are pretty good as well, but are newer and are going to cost a lot more than a 90's carburated two stroke. Yamaha 150-200hp were good engines as well if you can find a deal on one. The old suzuki two strokes were pretty good as well but parts are getting harder to come by. If fuel burn isn't a concern a V6 two stroke of any manufacturer will push a 1860 up to even a 2060 pretty darn well. Your within driving distance of a lot of mudboat builders the flat bottom mud boat hulls work pretty well with a jet and built to take abuse. Friend of mine has a 2060 uncle j boat that we made a trip down to louisana for last summer and did some fishing there after getting rigged up. He runs a early 80's johnson 70hp with a prop on it the boat isn't a speed demon but runs pretty well. It manages 37mph or so with an ok older omc sst 13x19 prop 6' set back jack plate with three people and fishing gear in it. With hard side blind three guys and duck hunting gear it still manages to do 33-34 mph. I'd venture to say 200/150 jet would push it right around 40mph maybe little faster with a light load. It's one stout boat too 3/16" thick bottom and sides, I think it has 28" sides, and it has a full floor. No counsel he set it up for tiller which makes it nice and open for fishing or hunting.
 
Fuel burn is low on the list for me if i can get where i want to go. At least if gas prices will stay reasonable. If i burn under $20 on a typical trip thats cheap enough. During the summer i try to make a run about once a week if i can. There are some 150s to be had around im still seeing them pop up. Most clean "looking" motors seem to hover somewhere between 2k and 3k. In yalls opinion is that average or high for a good running 25 yr old 150? As far as boats im still really leaning towards having one built if i can. Theres a local guy that builds some pretty solid flat boats. He prefers to build them at least 60" wide to make the most use out of the aluminum. And he will build anything i can dream up out of .125 or 3/8. And probably priced as well or better than a production boat. Thanks for all the detailed info on the year models.
 
I'd go built not many of the big manufactures make them thicker than .100" his built boats most likely have rectangular tubing longitudinal stringers. I gotta ask what your river is like you plan on running cause seems like down in LA mud boats are usually better fit for most of the waters down there. As much as I like my jet boats I have to admit from what I've seen down there I would have mud motor boat for inland rivers/swamps, and probably a bay boat with prop outboard if I wanted to fish inshore/near shore salt water. I don't know what your area is like so maybe a obj boat would fit your needs well and you have already thought about it a lot. Also if your wanting 250-300hp might consider inboard jet if your really wanting a jet, unless your waters have regs preventing inboards that is.
 
Ive thought about inboards but i think i want an outboard so i can easily swap if i'm ready or need to. Mud boats/motors are really a marsh thing. They have their place but they're extremely loud and heavy. And id hate to be holding one when i run one up over a gravel bar. The rivers are different north of I-10. Up here theres very little soupy mud and hardly any marsh to speak of at least in this part of MS. Its mostly sand/gravel bottom. The builder here does use tubular ribs but they're not longitudinal. They're pretty beefy boats though.
 
Ok I was just curious about what you were running figured you must have thought about it for a while if you were considering a obj and knew what they were. I'll say this inboards are far superior to outboards in terms of speed and ability to pull a tuber/skier if you went out to the lake. The sport jets are pretty impressive in terms of speed and power. If you went inboard if you got a good pump you can always mod the engine assuming you get one with an engine with good aftermarket support and change impellers in the future for better performance. Just an option I'm throwing out as obtaining 40mph plus and pulling a tuber/skier is much more easily done with an inboard jet vs outboard. I prefer longitudinal stringers I think it makes for a stronger hull, if it didn't then why do most mud boats and northwestern styl jet boats have them, both style boats are meant to take pretty severe beatings. I'm not saying horizontal doesn't work plenty of boats have them. If the builder near you is reasonable, and you can get the hull you want from him for less than a manufactured one I'd go that route. I think you get a stouter hull for the same or less. I'd rather have .125 (1/8") or .190 (3/16") bottom over a .100 which is what most of the bigger manufacturers use. Friend of mine that got the 2060 boat from uncle j it came in around $5500 for the bare unpainted, unrigged hull, with no trailer. I thought that was pretty good considering how stout it was. It was lot beefier hull for a lot less than what an alweld, weldcraft, seark, grizzly, or roughneck hull would have been. Yes we had some time wiring it, rigging it, and painting it but he ended up with a better product I think.

Also some other good but lesser known maker of hulls are in missouri. If your willing to make the drive to MO there is miracle marine, and also a little shop called midwest jets. Midwest jets he can make outboard jet hulls, but primarily makes inboard sport jet powered hulls for running the gravely rivers in southern MO that sound similar to what you want to run. Just trying to give you all the options I can think of and would consider myself if I were thinking about spending the kind of money it sounds like your going to spend. Sometimes a trip is worth it to get what you want. I know for my buddies hull the trip was worth it and we had fun. We planned out a whole trip around it spent almost two days getting the engine jack plate, and engine on the boat, doing basic wiring, basic electronics, and safety gear then spent another three days fishing the LA coast for reds.
 

Latest posts

Top