Which engine to buy?

[kdawg]

Yeah, I know, let's start the 'ol chevy vs ford thing, but here it goes... I recently sold my 04 Looney, and will either be replacing it with another Alumacraft or Lund 18 to 19 foot boat. I had a 140 hp Johnson 4 stroke on my last one and absolutely loved it for: Quiet, no smoke, performance, reliability. It was absolutely problem free. I haven't kept up on the whole 2 stroke vs 4 stroke issue since '04. Depending on the boat I buy, I'll be going anywhere from a 150 to 200hp. What are some good options for the above boat? Also, I like the smartcraft guages that allow you to troll down or up RPM's. BTW, I know my options are limited with the Lund. Thanks for all responses.

[marine_man]

If you like the smartcraft gauges you're only option is Mercury.

If you can swing it I'd go for the highest HP you can afford.. in the long run you'll be happier with it and you'll probably have a easier time selling it than something that's borderline on being underpowered.

I'd also read through this thread... it gives some feedback on why users prefer one brand over the other.

What's the Infatuation

marine_man

[chrismackmn]

I have a 115 yamaha and love it. Mine seems to have more pop compared to a friend's 115 merc on similar rigs.

[kdawg]

Yeah, I always max out on HP, for the reasons you suggested. As far as the smartguages, if I end up getting a kicker (which I think I may), the guages lose their importance. Also, great thread - very informative, thank you.

[Down2Earth]

Get an E-Tec

[solbes]

Well, you could get a Suzuki. I'm pretty sure they made your Johnson 4-Stroke. Well built engines from everything I've read.

Merc has the Smartcraft. LMITOUT here mentioned that he installed a switch on a Yamaha console that was actually meant for Yamaha tillers (VTS feature). It allowed his friend's boat to raise and lower rpms in increments of 50. Like a $70 part that is way cheaper than Smartcraft. Not something that has been widely done, but I am going to check into this for my boat next spring.

Lastly, your options are not completely limited by Lund. Find a dealer that will put what you want on the back of a Lund. You may have to pay a small fee to de-rig, but you can get what you want. I paid $250 to de-rig Merc and install Yamaha.

[bassislife]

I have a F50 Yamaha 4-stroke on the back of by 165 alumacraft and not real happy with the troll down speed. Talked to a few guys that claim the e-tec idle and troll down slower.

[marine_man]

A 2 stroke is almost always going to troll slower than a 4 stroke - less spinning mass to keep spinning on a 2 stroke as compared to a 4 stroke... and therefore it's harder to get them to troll lower.

marine_man

[solbes]

True, but don't a lot of 2 strokes have problems with fouling plugs after trolling for long periods of time? I suppose the Etec and Opti are 2 examples of where this might not apply.

[marine_man]

EFI's and DFI's take care of this problem as they can regulate the mixture better across a broader RPM range.

marine_man

[BoxMN]

FWIW - we troll a TON with a Merc 150 efi and have yet to really foul a plug. It can get a bit smoky on "takeoff" after trolling for aloooong period of time, but never noticed any lack of performance or poor engine running due to it. It is also 12 years old and still running like the Merc efi's do - strong!!!

We used to troll with our 90hp merc ('87 3 cyclinder 2 stroke) and it never really fouled to where we needed to put in new plugs. It did get smokier than the efi, but we would just get it some planing time after about a few hours of trolling, and that was our solution.

I still would like a merc pro kicker or a t8 for trolling, but not in the budget

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

2 stroke & use Amsoil