Brand new mid hp motor?

RidgeRunner

RidgeRunner

God
So I am looking at a 90 to 115 hp outboard 20" shaft to repower a skiff. My NV boat has been such a good old girl and is so unique as to be downright worthless to most. I am going to do the right thing and freshen her up a little. New trolling motor, GPS, outboard and a fresh rig job, rebuild a couple hatches and re-seal the transom. 18 year old boat deserves it, right?

Looking hard at the new 115 Mercury 4-stroke - Lightweight of the crowd at 365 dry I think it is lighter than the Opti. Has an Suzuki is out due to lack of dealers in my area. Honda, Yamaha and Johnson/Evinrude are all palatable choices.
Anyone got any opinions? First hand or otherwise.

BTW- The motor I am looking to replace is a 90hp Johnson crossflow from 1994. It still runs but is looking a little rough around the edges. If anyone is interested let me know as it is for sale as of right now. Cheap, make offer.

The boatNV ONTO Trailer 008.jpg
 
90 Yamaha? Lighter than the 115, will push a 17 Montauk with no problem, has plenty of power for a 90. I've re powered two 17 Montauk with them, turned out pretty good
 
i've got a friend that repowered a 20 dusky with the new 150 merc 4 stroke. he loves it. i'm guessing the 115 is a smaller version.
have you had any experience with tohatsu. i repowered my 13 whaler in 03 with a 40 and it's been a great little motor. i think that was the last years of the carbed 2 strokes. i've heard good things about the tldi's they have now. buying one is like buying a dodge truck, you better like it , cause nobody will give you anything for it.
 
So there are more than a couple Yamaha 90 hp fans. I hear you, and Spare is right on the 115 Yamaha is a lot heavier. Still lurking at this NEW Merc with the High Thrust lower unit option. HT lower has a 2.33 gear and has the same diameter gearcase as the v-6 Mercs so the prop choices go through the roof. With only 115 ponies that lower ought to hold on for years. That is important to me, I am tough on lower units and skegs in particular. Pricing on the Yamaha seems to be a little higher than the Merc offering as was the E-tec. They are really selling the no service for three years on the Johnrudes. Suzuki and Tohatsu are out simply because I don't have a friend that owns a dealership, like I do on the other products.
Switching away from Johnson I will need to replace all the controls which i$ going to add up real fa$t. Even if I didn't trade brands I would replace it all anyways. Might trade the old engine for some new controls.. Might even be forced to do a little glass work to the console while I am there, the binnacle control on the Johnson has a huge footprint. IIRC There are definitely new battery cables in my future, I am fairly sure the original rigger used a cheap set of jumper cable wires on a Monday morning Budweiser googles screwjob! Yep a complete re-rig is a coming. 3 stators and a weak start later... No more putting this off. Time to do it.
 
phatdaddy said:
i've got a friend that repowered a 20 dusky with the new 150 merc 4 stroke. he loves it. i'm guessing the 115 is a smaller version.
have you had any experience with tohatsu. i repowered my 13 whaler in 03 with a 40 and it's been a great little motor. i think that was the last years of the carbed 2 strokes. i've heard good things about the tldi's they have now. buying one is like buying a dodge truck, you better like it , cause nobody will give you anything for it.
Click to expand...

That last statement there is how I feel about the boat. I had heard Tohatsu was tough as cut nails. Mercury used them for a few of their smaller hp motors back in the late 80's. IIRC The 40 was one that Mercury didn't make. Never heard anything but good. Same of the Yamahas except for a oil pan corrosion issue on some of the 90's. My neighbor's for instance...
 
do you think a 70 would push it? the 70 Yamaha seems to be the #1 choice of the flats guys around here, granted they are pushing lighter boats, but the 70 is lighter than the 90 and seems to be a very strong 70
 
A 90 does it justice. On plane fast with a old Mach 4 blade prop, ran the boat to near 40 WOT. 70 seems a little lacking in a 4-stroke I would think. But that 70 Yamaha is a sweet little package.

Yamaha 115 2-stroke is what I wet tested on the hull before I bought one. No regrets, I went used 90 hp Johnson on a new boat. It got me on the water, this time I am going to pony up. Literally. I think a 115 4-stroke is what it needs. I should be able to put it on plane and make fuel at 3500 RPM -- close to 7MPG cruising.. Stoked because the ole 2-smoke does not get 2 MPG I kid you knot...
 
you need to find some one that has one of the newer fourstrokes on a boat similar in size to what you have and take it for a spin. The newer engines are not lacking in power, teh 70 and 90 are both new engine designs(in the last couple years any way). The 115 is still teh same engine they have been making for a while. I've heard of several people opting for the new 90 over hte 115 because of weight and negligible difference in power. If it were a heavier boat, I'd definitely say go with the 115, but knowing its a shallow water boat, the weight difference may be worth the loss of hp, minimal as it is
 
The 115 Merc is all new. From Merc -- It is a single OHC 4 valve per cylinder Inline 4 that is 20 lbs lighter than any of the competitors offerings. 315 lbs is where I was, 360 is where I will be with more hp on tap. So, If I shift my snakebite formula from the rear of the boat to the middle or front, the weight should not be a factor. Besides I just lost 65 pounds and the pilot sits near the stern, just saying..
 
Weight is HUGE with a flat bottom, or mostly flat bottom skiffs. I would find another boat with newer power on it and try it out. If going new, I would put weight at the top of my list of deciding factors, and HP 2nd. I know I have seen some skiffs repowered with newer power, and it made the boats almost unfishable by adding 100 pounds in the stern.
 
This inverted V has a couple quirks but weight carrying is not a problem.
In Mercury (4-strokes and the Opti's)and the e-tec Johnson/Erude the 75,90,115 are all the same weight. Same displacement and size motors with different hp ratings. So I am not considering putting 45 pounds of additional weight back there without maxing out the hp to weight ratio in the category.
Yamaha motors are completely different going from the 90 to the 115. Pricey all of them. I think I want the Mercury because of the deal/dealers in my area. I lean American, is th Merc even made here anymore?
 
Boat has a hp rating of 115, or I would have put Ozzie's 200 on it. With the 20" Mariner Magnum mid that you got. I thought about it, real hard, but then look where I would be now. Ultimately I am going for economy not speed.. The main quirk to the hull is it will never be fast, it has a huge rocker with hull extentions that plants the sponsons the more power you give it. It squeezes the water between the sponsons and creates a super cavitated mix of water as it goes over the lower unit, quirk #2. This might all sound a little unwanted in a skiff, but it will run places it can't even float, plane off in frog spit and is as stable a fishing platform as you can get in the size. With the larger gearcase and prop, it should be even faster to plane, like 2 seconds in two boatlengths. So quick and efficient and legal.

Think Hickman Sea Sled with a little more deadrise at the transom. LOL!
http://www.winninghoff.com/common/index.php?com=winn&div=EE&nav=EE&page=E01
 
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Committed myself to the Mercury motor today. Controls and harness cost just north of $500 clams at a decent discount I might add.. Ouch!
Spare I will finally get to use those Smartcraft gauges that have been sitting on my shelf for how many years? Talk about new old stock...
Now I need to get the rest of the Johnrude off this old girl and start with some more glass work. The dash will need to be reconfigured/recored as the bonehead (ME) that rigged it 18 years ago didn't seal up around the gauges too well (AT ALL) and allowed water to rot the core in the dash..(In one little spot but because I am anal) I mean who knew, I never had anything fancy enough to need a gauge before NV. :embarsed: I finally found a camera. If I only had a couple double A batteries. It is always something.

Epiphany - I have fully embraced the fact that I am going to find many a mistake by doing it wrong the first time..
 
The 115 is slow coming from Mercury ( Another Month of waiting) so I said "Screw It" and plan to rig the 250 EFI instead. With a 25" leg I should have the prop in some clean water and be able to get the bow up and flying on the flats boat..

Seriously, the 90 Yamaha is 380 lbs, just a squeeze more than the 115 Merc 4-stroke. E-tec is 320 for the 90 hp 380 for the 115 (so the e-tec is heavier than the NEW 115 4-stroke from Merc) That is interesting..
Still what a kick to the scrotum to find out Mercury won't have more motors to ship until 9/11/14......... Unbe:cen:lievable!
 
Oh Yeeouch! You had to go there, I can only assume that reference is for the lost wallet.. I have not fully recovered from that one..
That is cold. I feel the love here. LOL! Thanks Wilson.
I could always sell that Merc stuff on fleabay.. Go Yamaha?

OR Let me bank account recover a bit and then pull the trigger. Just hate waiting around and the boat was supposed to be ready for the Labor Day debut... Sucks, just saying!!
 
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