opinions on outboards

[DonK]

Blew a powerhead
considering options....one of which i$ repower;

Curious...would like to poll everyone on outboard of choice.

currently have 225 optimaxs. would probably stay within the 450-500hp range.

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

[quack quack]

new powerhead 5k or so.Repower 25k but with new warranty. If you repower redo the whole boat.

[kyle]

I'd go with the Suzuki's. More and more people up here are going with them, and for good reason. I know several guys that blew powerheads at close to 10,000 hrs within the 6 year warranty, and Suzuki put new powerheads on.
They also spin alot bigger wheel then any of the others. Another plus, there cheaper then the competition.

Ask BB-PRO he just put two new ones on his boat.

[freezorburn]

TURBO DIESEL OUTBOARD. Be the first kid on your block with one!

Maritime Engineering Group, Inc. - Makers Of The World's First Turbo Diesel Outboard

[Disco Lady]

DIESEL OUTBOARD COÑO!!!!!!!!!!!

[DonK]

cono!
I could just put my tower station on top to the outboard cowling!

[Disco Lady]

[NightCrawler]

call mike at outboard specialties and see what kind of price he can do on Zukes.

[DonK]

Originally Posted by NightCrawler

call mike at outboard specialties and see what kind of price he can do on Zukes.

I got a call in to them now...Mike has worked on my last boat's 'Rudes...good guy

Thanks to everyone else's input so far!

[bajakian]

Don- I think it depends in part on where you are planning on using them. If you are not leaving the US and can trailer the boat to a good service guy then the choices are wide open, although I would stay away from the new Evinrudes ETEC. I had Yamaha and would have stayed with them because they are good and my service guy is very good. (Id say great but I dont want to give him too big a head.) The biggest advantage of Yamaha is if you go to the Bahamas there are way more Yamaha service guys than any other manufacturer. I went with Mercury Verados and I like them after almost three years. They push the boat good and are reasonable to run. I hear good things about Suzukis and they are supposedly the most economical to run but if you are in the islands and have a problem, you may have to paddle home. Even locally there are less service choices with Suzuki. I am not factoring price into this at all, but you may. I do think if you are going to possibly sell the boat in the next few years, it will be easier to sell with Yamaha or Mercs. Just my two cents. Good luck

[DonK]

Originally Posted by bajakian

Don- I think it depends in part on where you are planning on using them. If you are not leaving the US and can trailer the boat to a good service guy then the choices are wide open, although I would stay away from the new Evinrudes ETEC. I had Yamaha and would have stayed with them because they are good and my service guy is very good. (Id say great but I dont want to give him too big a head.) The biggest advantage of Yamaha is if you go to the Bahamas there are way more Yamaha service guys than any other manufacturer. I went with Mercury Verados and I like them after almost three years. They push the boat good and are reasonable to run. I hear good things about Suzukis and they are supposedly the most economical to run but if you are in the islands and have a problem, you may have to paddle home. Even locally there are less service choices with Suzuki. I am not factoring price into this at all, but you may. I do think if you are going to possibly sell the boat in the next few years, it will be easier to sell with Yamaha or Mercs. Just my two cents. Good luck

The majority of my time on the water is off broward co. and the occaisional run across the pond to Bimini..I'd like to start take longer excursions to the other islands, and my new boat should have the legs to do it...just gotta get the motor glitch worked out! The boat has a tower, stays in the water, and is a fair ordeal to move over dry land...so I gotta look for resolution "close in"/

I had evinrudes on my last boat, yr 2000 fichts's...they had a bad rep, and I went thru 2 computers and a factory upgrade on the injectors and stuff...but besides the change of company hands (OMC to BBdier) and the bad rep of blowing up/// the motors purred like kittens and screamed like lions! I really had no complaints. My buddy who bought me out (1/2 owner) stll has them and they are dialed in....I don't know too much about the etec technology.

I am really leaning toward the 'zukes..or if I can't layout the $ to repower, I'll try to get the opti back up for the short term and repower after the new baby goes to college

I apreciate the comments! Tight lines!

Don

[bajakian]

Don-
Hope I was helpful. Service is definitely a big consideration.

the reason that I'd stay away from the ETECs is that my next door neighbor has three on the back of his Triton. That boat does not have 100 hrs and rarely leaves the reef in Boynton and he has replaced all three power heads and lower units. Be afraid, be very afraid.

[DonK]

yikes!

again, I appreciate the insight!

DK

[DonK]

I definitely like the 'zukes...but cannot afford to do this right now.

As far as repairing the motor that is dead, all the shops I talked to want to sell me a remanufactured powerhead...installed with a 1yr warr is getting around the $7k mark!


Anyone ever had a motor rebuilt or overhauled? Is this an option if a tech pronounces a powerhead "blown"?

Two shops in Homestead offer overhaul and machine service plus 5 year (declining) warranty at around half the cost of replacing the whole pwerhead. This kinda makes sense in that most of the peripheral components should be good, so why replace them? worse case, a short block replacement versus the whole 'sh'bang'?

Looking for thoughts and comments...

[jvtuna]

You can check out the places in Homestead by going to BBB.There are other places around that offer remanufactured heads.I have had rebuilt power heads on two different motors. If you trust the mech. there should be no problem.My .02