Outboards brands suggestions

[cla144]

Hi people,


I am in the process of buying a kaptan trend 15ft with cabin and was going to install 2 yamaha 40 hp 4 stroke, any suggestions about other brands please or if its better to install one outboard of higher hp and an auxiliary?

I am new to boating and I know that here I am going to get the best advice ever 

Thanks for your help.
 

[fishfinder]

Hi, I have a Kaptan Trend open and I suggest that you go for bigger motors cause 2x 40hp is not enough. In the past I've started with 1 x 50HP 4 stroke and I had to sell it cause it was not plaining the boat. I would go for 1 x 90 Suzuki( the new models from Zarb stores) and an aux 9.9/15hp.

once there was a boat with 2 x 50yamaha and it's maximum power was 28/30 knots. Keep in mind that if you use the motors a high revs they consume a lot of petrol too.

[skip]

Suzuki have been doing very well and lot's on people on the forum use and recommend them. Yamaha have a large market share in the US and have done an excellent marketing effort of keeping their name at the front of people's minds. They are of course good engines as well, but you'd have to compare the prices with Suzuki.

The whole debate of twin engines can be broken down as follows:

1) If one engine with it's regular prop is not enough to power your boat up on to the plane, then all you have is a very large expensive auxilliary engine.

2) On that basis you would be better off putting a larger single engine and have a 9.9hp 4 stroke auxilliary engine, or kicker as the americans call them. Put a removable tie bar between the main and aux engine and you can steer as well. The only thing you won't have is throttle control from the console.

3) Twin 40's are going to probably cost you a bit more than a large single+aux and potentially though you will have to check depending on brand, weigh more.

I don't feel that it's practical if one engine fails to go into the water and have to change the prop on the other working engine in order to try and get the boat to plane, and let's face it, if you can't plane your boat, then you may as well use a 9.9 aux and come in at the same speed.

To give you an example, my dads boat with twin 5.7L V8 260hpx2 will do 41knots full throttle, but on one engine at full throttle it won't do more than 9 knots! So in this case the second working engine is a very large, expensive auxilliary kicker engine to get you home!

Hope this helps you a bit, Direct Inject Two strokes like the Mercury/Mariner Optimax, Tohatsu TLDI and ETEC have their place and their advantages especially one smaller boats, but they do tend to be a bit nosier than four strokes. Hard to sat which is a better type of engine for fishing use as every boat is different and you'd have to try them out. Here's it's a shame that due to a small market you can test the same boat with different engine options!

[cla144]

Thanks Skip and Fishfinder for your advice I will go for one big engine and small auxiliary.

Thanks again

[Jonathan]

Skip, I did not understand cleasrly. Which engines do you think are the best for fishing - the Direct injection 2 strokes or the 4 strokes?

[rob1974]

I was going to ask the same question. 

ROb

[sirena]

i think skip is still in love with tldi , although in my opinion 4 stroke is more economical in the long run. by the way i do own a 2 stroke ...........

[shanook]

i would go for a 4 stroke, if its not an E tech, then i would have a lot of doubt as to which one to choose.

[skip]

For very long trolling periods like several hours, a 4 stroke is much quieter so I might tend to prefer those more, plus even at lower rpms you're still adding engine hours and burning oil, whereas in a 4 stroke you just do an oil change.

Sirena, I havent ye passed judgement with my TLDI! We'll see how it goes during the upcoming season after it has the key switch change due to a fault, will reserve my final judgement till then. At this stage it's very difficult for me to pass a fair recommendation because my engine is not 100% through no fault of Tohatsu. My ignition wiring loom has a broken retaining clip within the engine which I think is making an intermittent contact that could be accounting for my problem. Mecca have already gotten the replacement part in to stock under warranty, in fact it didn't take them long at all, I just haven't had the time to pass by to sort it out.

Once that is done and I get the boat back out for a test will be able to give better advice. Kaptan Jr is very happy as are many other TLDI owners.
I'm also not 100% convinced on the ETECs, as they are a relatively new design I think one will be able to conclude with a degree of certainty in a couple of years time when they've been in the field for longer. Such a high pressure 800psi in the cylinders still freaks me out a bit. It's why the early ETECs kept blowing their powerheads, but apparently that has now been rectified.

I loved Benri's Suzuki 4 stroke he just installed, so quiet and smooth, but he has the boat for it as it's quite a heavy engine and as you go over 100hp all engines get pretty expensive.

[ciappinu]

I am personally of the same opinion as skip. I was a very big fan of Etec's, however on the whole, I think a Suzuki 4 Stroke engine is a better choice and more reliable. Yamaha's are great engines too.

Next year I shall upgrade my engine to a 4 Stroke, and most probably it will be a 4 Stroke 15hp/25hp Suzuki or a 20hp Yamaha. Might be looking into a new boat as well as a 25hp 4 Stroke on a Bahri I find a little over sized. Will see. The Olympus Model Mecca are getting seems quite nice for a 13"6 boat.

[fabrizioviper]

Mariner  Mariner a mariner will take where you want to go and back for sure.

[busumark]

@ ciappinu before buying a boat always try it in the water. some boats look nice on land but in the water they are not worth it. and if it possible dont try it on a very calm day

[ganni]

not so sure about that mate!! i would never buy a mariner as far as im concerned

[shanook]

I agree 100% with busumark. Always try a boat in water in calm and rough weather as thats when it shows its true character. Even when u order and have the boat try it out in real rough weather even if close to shore that way u will know how it handles as its not nice to get caught in rough weather some 20 miles out....... Also if i may add check what u want the boat for. If its fishing and pleasure than take a lot of consideration for fishing as for pleasure it will surely be ok, but fishing u need working space as well as space for fish cooler and other items. like gaffs,net etc. A boat is an expensive hobby and some extra thought and research will give one a better result in the end.

[shanook]

outbords that I would consider at the moment are Susuki 4 stroke and Evenrude eTech