Repower

[uboatcdr]

OK, Who has repowered their boat in the last two years.

What did you have and what did you replace with.

Who did you end up buying from.

I am torn if I should repower my Trophy. I currently have a 225 EFI merc
with 186 hrs. Runs great just crappy fuel economy.

But to repower will cost around $18000.00 My boat is good size so need big motor 250 four stroke.

Let me hear what you did and are you happy with your choise.

[colbachlaw]

Unless you put a ton of hours on your motor, it will take forever to pencil out.

$18,000 buys a lot of gas.

How long is it going to take you to burn 4,500 gallons of gas?

Mike C

[fish Addict80]

I repowered my pro-line in 2006. I found a used 200 and 9.9 2005 Hondas with 50 hours on the main and the kicker just broke in.

I replaced a 1989 225 johnson 2 stroke. I gained 150 pounds and 5 mph topspeed and lost over half of my fuel consumption.

I went with a newer motor not only for the fuel savings but for the range increase it gave. with the old motor I was limited to 30 to 35 miles with a full day of trolling and still have a decent 1/3 reserve at the dock.

I now have a easy 75 mile range. I can go 75 out troll for 8 hours and run 75 back in and have 1/3 of a tank left.

On the river I can do 35 mph and burn only 7 GPH. Yes 5 MPG. On the ocean loaded for tuna that goes to closer to 3 MPG.

If your old motor is not reliable or does not give you the range necessary to do what you want then it would be worth it just to allow you to go and do what you would like with confidence.

If however it is just for fuel savings then like was stated above 18,000 buys a lot of gas.

Also if you keep looking you might find a 1 or 2 year old motor from a private party for a whole lot less. Also the installtion is very simple with the newer motors. I did the swap on mine in a few hours.

Luke

[PIR8 Hook]

I did last year. replaced an 88 Johnson Special & a 30 hp Mariner with a 140 Suzuki 4 Stroke and a matching 25 HP. Purchased at Boat show form Sportcraft.

I LOVE the quiet & no fumes. Cut my tuna run cost by 2/3 the amout of gallons. LOTS more torque but about the same hole-shot. I'd do it again in a heartbeat...if I had the cash. Spent some inheritace $.

[Onokai]

I repowerd in may 07 from a yami 250 2 stroke to a yami 250 4 stroke-got it at roseburgperformancemarine with a new tack for 17K installed.

It saves buying oil by the drum (55 gallons) which I was on third drum and give about 40% in fuel saving. I now use a 4 blade prop-also got better low end manuvering
The two stoke had better hole shot but as the boat is to heavy to waterski behind anyway this was a non issue.The 4 stroke is 100% quieter and is non smoking. Very glad I did it-now that gas is twice the price the fuel bill is almost the same except for 2 stroke oil costs or gone Boat has better resale value and the pluses out wiegh the negs. Mark

[Irish Pennant]

Just completed installing a new 350 chev vortec long block, balanced. New starter, alternator, water pump, relay's. Myself and a couple of friends did the work, thanks Dave and Brian. Got the long block from a company in Spokane. She purred on the break in run. I'm now in the process of rebuilding the carb so I can get the most from all the work that I've put into it. I've also gone through all the wiring and cleaned and put dialectic grease on all the connectors that I could find.
I don't know what the fuel consumption will be like but it will be better than what it's been for the past couple of years. When she was new she'd burn 6-8 gallons an hour at cruise of 3200 RPM /34 mph. Before the re-power she was burning 10-12 gallons per hour at cruise of 3800 rpm/28 mph and 2-3 quarts of oil for every tank full of gas. I also went through the pump and did some maintenance on it.

[Big Billy]

225 yami 4 stroke

[whaleraddict]

Uboatcdr, as you have already surmised, repowering can be very expensive. I repowered the Whaler a year-and-a-half ago and it was worth every penny of it. I went from a 1984 185 hp Johnson to a 2001 225 2-stroke Johnson Oceanpro. I gained about 20% in fuel economy due to new technology. I had 4600 hours on my 185 and it still ran perfect. I shopped for over 6 month and found the 225 for 7k at Stevens Marine in Tigard. They installed it for the trade in value of my 185. As you can tell, I ran my 185 for a long time (14 years) and by regular maintenance and heavy use it served me well. It was hard for me to change out because the 185 performed so well and I new all of its sounds and quirks. If your engine runs great and you trust it I would be Leary of changing it out. If you do, I would take your time and look for a good used motor. A friend of mine bought a 145 4 stroke Suzuki for $7k off EBay and it has run perfect for him. Just my 2 cents.

[Tiny]

I saw a new 4 stroke 225 Suzuki on Craigslist advertised for $11,000. Add another $1500 for Prop, controlls and install and you'd be in it about $12,500. I've been researching a repower myself but I'm looking for something a little smaller. The guys around here don't like this motor much but I checked out the site "The Hull Truth" and those guys like it pretty good.

If I run into anything while I'm looking I'll hook you up.

Tiny

[uboatcdr]

Originally Posted by Tiny

I saw a new 4 stroke 225 Suzuki on Craigslist advertised for $11,000. Add another $1500 for Prop, controlls and install and you'd be in it about $12,500. I've been researching a repower myself but I'm looking for something a little smaller. The guys around here don't like this motor much but I checked out the site "The Hull Truth" and those guys like it pretty good.

If I run into anything while I'm looking I'll hook you up.

Tiny

Where did you see this. I looked on Craigs list but could not find it.

[tippet]

I came across another Suzuki 4 stroke - had only 64 hours on it and was rebuilt (water in the fuel, apparently). I think it was 9K plus shipping. google smalloutboardmotors.