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What Engine


linc87

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All,

After much deliberation, I have finally decided to buy a boat.

The hull I have settled on is a Lewis 590 and will have it in the centre console configuration.

My question is relating to the engine that I should put on it. Unfortunately, my budget will not afford the maximum 150Hp recommended, so will need to settle on something below that.

Budget for the engine (fitted) is $16,000 Max. so i'm looking at the following:

  • Yamaha F130A
  • Mercury four stroke 135
  • Mercury 115 ProXS CT

putting the 115 on it will save me a couple of grand that could be put into other toys on the boat, but I am concerned it may be under-powered for the hull??

There are also quite a few differences between the 3 in terms of displacement, DOHC Vs SOHC, rev range, weight etc and I thought best to put this out to you all to get some opinions.

Can you give any advice here?

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If max rating is 150hp I would be going as close to that as you can afford, so yeah maybe the 115hp would be underpowered. All you will be wishing is you got a few more horses if you have an underpowered vessel. Don't worry about the bells and whistles yet, I think going the extra hp in an outboard is definitely worthwhile. The other stuff can wait.

I'd be going the Yamaha. I hear too many bad things happening to mercuries. Just the day before yesterday some experienced fisherman were 60km offshore and their merc caught fire, lucky a fire extinguisher saved them from swimming away from the burning boat. That's enough for me to stay away from merc and its not the only bad story. I never hear of that stuff happening to Yamaha. They might not always be the best performing outboards in terms of torque etc and they are pretty heavy, but they seem to be the most reliable and fuel efficient on the market. Great outboards.

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As sam said I would be getting as close to the max hp with your budget.  You will be kicking yourself if it is underpowered.   All good motors, Yamaha, Mercs and the Suzuki.  I wouldn't worried about these 'horror' stories.  Every brand has had them.  Unfortunately you only read the negatives online.  Im sure people remember the Yamaha corrosion problems from the past.  There is a reason Yamaha/mercury as the top two selling outboards in qld and vic.  I'd be confident putting Suzuki up with them now too.

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Like picking a fishing outfit, your choice is going to depend on what you want to do with it. If you are intending doing long runs with 3 big pie eating mates on board with you then need to be up on the max HP. Alternately if most trips are just going to be you and maybe a mate/misses every now and then lower HP will be fine.

You have picked a nice hull that pops out of the hole pretty easily. A 115 will push it along pretty well IMHO. I would expect cruising speed would be 27 or 28 knots at 5000 to 5200rpm with gear and 1 or 2 people.

Just remember weight will stop a train, so if you are the type of guy that intends throwing big long range tanks in under the floor, a couple of big eskies and ice, dual batteries, live bait tank, rocket launchers, casting deck etc etc etc then again more HP will be required.

You are going to be spending ~ 50k, I would be organising a test drive in a similarly powered boat to what you think you need and weighting it to what you expect a normal load would be for you.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the input and I agree with your logic.  

No plans for massive under floor tanks etc, but will be fishing 3 blokes more often than not.

The guys from Lewis are currently looking for a boat up here (Brisbane) that is a similar setup so I can go have a look.

They are in Sydney unfortunately, so at the moment It looks like a trip down for a water test is going to be in order.

Anyone on here know of someone with this hull that I could check out?

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