Off Topic: Verado or Optimax

[Ivan11]

sup guys, im looking to change out my 200 merc EFI cause its a gas hog and was looking at 2 different engines. either a 225 verado with DTS or optimax 225 with DTS. if anyone can post some info on either motor would greatly make my decision on which to chose for my 21ft dusky.

thanks, ivan

[LIGHTS OUT]

200 Merc. EFI's are the shiznits. Keep the EFI's. No hassel, no breakdowns, no problem. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's just me.

[Ivan11]

i have a 60 gallon fuel tank, i cant even go swording cause i might not make it back =(.

[LIGHTS OUT]

I got ya. Okay, that may be a small problem but really shouldn't be. How far of a run do you usually make? 60 gallons should be more that enough for a 21' single engine. I rarely burn that much and I have twins.

[Kawama]

wow! thats alot of burn.

[Fishalways]

That is alot of burn
I have a 150 Evi Fict and if I burn 20 gal for the entired round trip to the 50 its alot, and I'm on a 20'6" CC.

Sounds like somthing might be off kilter with that engine.

I would really consider the new ETECs, yea it's still a two stroke but if you wait until the boat show they usually offer a 3/7 year warranty.
Thats what I'm going to do.

Just my 2c

[Momentum]

Forget the E-terd. If you want real fuel efficiency, put some real horsepower on your transom and go with an Opti (proven). If you want a Verado, see if you can't fit a 250 on the transom....the 25 extra HP will be nice. The weight shouldn't be an issue. The DTS is very nice. I have 325 hours in a year and a half on my Verados and haven't had a problem. They're perfect.

[Ivan11]

ya the efi gets about 1 mile per gallon, and the opti has proven to get from 3-5 depending on how u run it. we can only really do a 60 mile round trip at max if we wanna be safe. verados are nice, but i here they got some issues and the one they wanna sell us is a new in the box 2005 and im thinking thats when they were having their issues with the engine. im going to TNT marine so they can check out my engine for trade in value. but i think im gonna consider the optimax 225 w/ DTS

anyone wanna buy a 200 EFI btw!? 325 hrs

[catching]

From My understanding if you go with the Verado's or any other four stroke from what you have you will have to re-wire everything from throttles to gauges which = $$$, My brother has the 225's Mec Offshore old two strokes and we burn 60 gallons a night running around 5500 RPM's, when we take it easy only around 40 gallons with twins. He was going to switch over to Opti’s but the dealer said that the way he drives the fuel burn would be about the same and if he was worried about fuel consumption to take it easy on the throttles while running.

Another boat I fish on has a Verado 275 on a 23' Seacraft and we burn 15 gallons a night new boat and so far no problems with the engine.

The boats I fish on that have Evinrudes fuel injected engines burn a little less fuel just depends on how you drive the boat.

If you are making a long run to the grounds might be cheaper to get a bigger tank put in for the short term cheaper fix or take it easy and run around 3500 RPM’s

[Ivan11]

ya usually my dad is the one drives and he is anal about all the fuel consumption so he pays close attention to all the fuel shit thats going on and controling the throttle, its just a gas hog. duskys weigh alot, our 21ft is like 4500

[Tuna Devil]

I looked at the Verado. It was heavier than the than the Opti and that was a problem for me. My 23 footer is 3400lbs. dry no motor or equipment. I burn 12.5 at 4200 rpm with the 225 DFI. 500 hours and one sensor problem and one fuel problem.
If you run it hard it will burn up to 26 an hour but, I have a 115 gallon tank and sometimes I roll like that.

I am not sure if the Dusky weighs that much? If It does the additional weight of the Verado will take away any hole shot you have.

[Fishalways]

Originally Posted by Tuna Devil

I looked at the Verado. It was heavier than the than the Opti and that was a problem for me. My 23 footer is 3400lbs. dry no motor or equipment. I burn 12.5 at 4200 rpm with the 225 DFI. 500 hours and one sensor problem and one fuel problem.
If you run it hard it will burn up to 26 an hour but, I have a 115 gallon tank and sometimes I roll like that.

The weight was a big issue for me too.
All the 4strokes seem to weigh about 25% more than the 2strokes.

Thats why I really like the ETech. It is a small lightweight motor. It's actually lighter than my Fict I have right now. Which is why I'm going to go with the 200 rather than the 150. More power less weight, seemed like a no brainer for my boat.

[Tuna Devil]

The extra weight might make it a little more wet in the stern while drifting. I have never fished a Dusky so I do not know how they sit. My boat is a pig out of the hole with three guys gear and fuel. I do not think the super charger on the Verado could make up for the weight the motor would add.

I am not bashing Verados in any way. I have friends with them and they seem awesome. For a small boat application the weight (on any four stroke is an issue for an older boat). I say older boat, because all the new one can be rigged with almost as much as you want to put on them, and still be insurable.

[Ivan11]

well i went to TNT marine today and they pretty much told me a 225 optimax would be a better fit for my boat. they are gonna give me 5k for my engine and we can finance the rest of the engine. prolly gonna take about a week to get installed and all the paper work finalized, hopefully we can get it.

[Momentum]

The DTS option for the Opti is considerably more $. But, it's really nice.

My 05 Verados are flawless.

[swordboy]

if u like ur fuel go with the opti because them veradoes burn a shit load when u get on them

[Kawama]

i think i read that the ideal motor for a 21 dusky is a Suzuki 175 four stroke..or am i thinking about the dusky 20....florida sportsman forums has a whole thing about that.

i burn like 10-12gals in a sword trip lol..not for much longer though.