Putting a new motor on old boat

[berfish]

I have a 1998 90hp Merc on a 1998 16ft. Lund Mr. Pike. I mainly bass\musky\crappie fish with my bowmount trolling motor. I love the boat. In the past few years I have been interested in trolling raps and rigs for eyes on Mille Lacs and a few other lakes. Problem is my two stroke 90hp pushes my boat at 3.5mph(i have turned the idle down all the way too)....much too fast. The motor also is very cold blooded and takes a while to start sometimes. So the question is...Is it worth getting a new motor i.e. a four stroke so it will troll down better and be more dependable? or...I have a drift sock but have never used it....will it slow me down enough to troll raps? Is it even possible to get a new motor put on a boat like this? Will a four stroke idle down to 1.5mph? Any info will be appreciated.

Thanks

[PerchJerker]

From a financial position, it usually makes more sense to trade up to a different boat/motor combo than it does to repower an older boat with a newer motor. If you haven't looked into this at all yet, be prepared for some MAJOR sticker shock when you start looking at the costs for a new motor only.

There are a lot of tricks and techniques to slowing down your trolling speed. There was a really great thread on this in the walleye forum earlier this year, I don't remember exactly when but if you spend some time looking you should be able to find it.

Switching from a carbed 90 2-stroke to a 90 4-stroke is NOT going to drop you from 3.5 mph to 1.5 mph. But you should have more luck going slower with an EFI, DFI, or 4-stroke motor, plus get rid of the cold-blooded problems you have now.

If you're willing to stick the money into your boat for a new motor, maybe you should think about adding a kicker or a high-end electric motor with a lot of battey power for trolling.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[marine_man]

I agree with Perchjerker... it will not get you down as low as you'd like to be.

If you have a drift sock, I'd try that first and see if it gets you down to where you want to be - you've already bought the sock, may as well give it a shot since you won't lose any money on the deal.

And a cold blooded 90hp carb mercury is not that much of a suprise... make sure you're holding the key in while turning it over when it's cold so you're getting the full effect of the choke. Have you ever had it in for a tune up? New plugs, check the synch on the carbs? That might help with your startups as well.

marine_man

[Lund4Fish]

I agree with the posts above that you will probably take a "bath" regarding the cost of a new motor replacement, if you go that route and it may not totally cure your problem. I use 2 drift socks on my 1950 Pro-V with a 200 HP, Verado motor and it slows the boat from 2.7 MPH, down to 1.3 MPH. This works so well that I decided to skip putting a kicker on the boat. The drift socks are easy to use and a whole lot cheaper. I use the bow mount electric for trolling spinner harnesses, lindy rigging and jigging.

[berfish]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am going to try the drift socks. When trolling forward do you put the sock out the front or back?

As for getting the motor tuned up....I put a new fuel filter and plugs in since it is pretty much the cheapeast easiest fix. That seemed to help a little. Marine_man I learned that choke thing about halfway through last year. Sometimes it works with the choke held in and other times it works when you push it in a bunch of times. It seems bad to have to start the motor with it at almost WOT then it finally starts it just about blows everyone at the dock away and not to mention it is a cold motor running at 5000rpm for about 5 seconds. Do you suggest a good place to get a tune up? I have dealt a little with Rapid in the past are they good and do they service mercs? I will look into it and let you know how things work out.

Thanks again.

[marine_man]

On the bigger carb motors make sure you're giving it a little time (not much - just until it'll idle on it's own) to warm up. I'm not talking 5 minutes or anything like that, but my start procedure would be:

-Prime Fuel Bulb (when cold - if you've been running around the lake you can skip this step

-Adjust throttle (twist grip) so idle is about 1/3 throttle or so (again, when cold)

-Turn key while pushing in

-Once the motor catches leave the throttle where it's at or back it off a little bit and push the key in when the engine sounds like it's going to die

-Keep doing this until the engine will idle on it's own

Rapid does a good job from what I've heard.. I've also heard good things about Hannay's by St Anthony. They're not a merc dealer, but they service them and do a good job.

Good luck!

marine_man

[PerchJerker]

 Originally Posted By: beerfish

I am going to try the drift socks. When trolling forward do you put the sock out the front or back?

You need to make sure you keep the drift sock out of the motor. When forward trolling, clip it off the bow eye and run it under the boat, and make sure your rope and harness is short enough that it won't get back in the motor.

Another really good option for forward trolling with drift bags is to use two smaller bags. The idea is to run a rope or a strap under the front of the boat, between the two front cleats. Put a drift sock on either side of the boat, about half-way between the keel and the water line. You get great boat control this way and can get by with smaller drift socks. Some places sell this type of setup, Cabelas is probably one of them. Or you can probably find some info on it from some of the walleye pros. You don't need to buy this setup, you can rig it yourself, but it might help if you see it or read about it first.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

A couple years ago I traded a 90 HP Merc two stroke off for a brand new Evinrude Etec 90 HP. Biggest mistake I made in a long time. The 90 was a little cold blooded but it was a good motor. As far as trolling, typically a 4 stroke isn't going to slow you down any unless you have a VTS system on a Yamaha. Fourstrokes idle at about 800 RPM and a 2 stroke can idle at 500 or below allowing you to troll slower.

Do a google search for amish outfitter trolling bags. Get two 18" for a very reasonable price and you will troll much slower. These aren't to be confused with drift socks that will eventually tear out at the seems because of the pressure the water puts on them while trolling. These are heavy duty canvas bags used by charter captains on lake Erie every day of the open water season for several years without any probelms.

[VMS]

Just a thought here...

Ever thought about getting a 4 stroke kicker motor like a Yamaha T8? Anytime you are on big water such as Mille Lacs, Leech, Winnie, etc. That little kicker can save you big time if something goes down on your big motor. That Pike should have plenty of room for a kicker, and with the T8, you can get down to below 1mph. If you have console steering, you can get buy a connector that would go between the lower units of the big motor and the kicker, which would allow you to steer using the wheel.

Money well spent, and an added safety measure as well... The extra money you would spend on a new 4 stroke, I feel would be better spent on a kicker, which makes your rig more versatile.

Steve

[berfish]

They guy I bought the boat from had a kicker on it but took it off before he put it up for sale. He actually left the steering control arm that attatches to the big motor in the rod locker. I am going to look into those amish trolling bags.

This is why this HSOforum is awesome....Great info.

Thanks guys.