WHICH OUTBOARD TO CHOOSE?

[Ace1st]

Out of curiosity, anyone have any experiences with the new hondas? Im in the process of outfitting a new 22ft skiff with a 135hp and through the dealer im purchasing through its a really good deal. Most of the commercial skiffs up and down the ICW use hondas from what I notice. Just curious of why they have not been mentioned.

Biebs.....
when I looked at them, their weight was an issue to me. Not to mention they were priced considerably more than the suzukis. I do have commercial fishing friends and they seem to like them.

[fowlscay]

Hey Capt Terry,
I am a dealer for Yamaha,Honda ,Mercury and OEM for Suzuki. they all make good motors but I can tell you that in the last 29yrs of selling out boards I have had the best luck with Honda . They just don,t have any 250HP and up motors so on the bigger boats we go with Yamaha but on the smaller boats we like Honda. My head mechanic still loves his Mercury,s but I think its a job security thing . where did your Sea Ox come from? we were the dealer in 1989 for them and back than we did do a lot with mercurys .
Tommy

[Capt. Terry]

TOMMY THANKS FOR THE INPUT....I PURCHASED MY SEA OX USED FROM AN ELDERLY MAN UP IN GREENWOOD, DE. I FOUND THE ORIGINAL BOAT REGISTRATION CARD ON IT OWNED BY A COUPLE IN BERLIN MD......MAYBE IT CAME FROM NORTH BAY ORIGINALLY.....WHO KNOWS - THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO TRACK DOWN.

IT'S FUNNY THAT YOU MENTIONED THIS, BECAUSE I STOPPED IN THERE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND SPOKE TO FISH IN THE PROP SHOP ABOUT THE HONDA'S.

I AM STILL DECINDING HERE.

JW, THAT IS ALSO A THOUGHT.....AND THANKS.

[mjcjr1]

Capt. T,

I'm certainly no expert and I'm not sure what type of performance your looking for out of your boat but 150HP seems a little on the light side to me. You may want to check the boat test results that can be found on most of the manufacturers websites and look @ the performance data for your boat and/or one of similiar size and weight to be sure your outfitted with the right HP.
Being underpowered can lead to premature failures and poor fuel performance. My 2 cents

Regards,
Mike C

PS Seeing more and more Zukes up here

[N2theBlue]

I run a 150 Zuki on my rig and LOVE the motor. Was chatting with a Sea Tow Franchise Owner one day an he said there are Sea Tow boats in Fla. that have well over 8000 hrs on their Suzukis without a problem

[92 feet down]

Out of curiosity, anyone have any experiences with the new hondas? Im in the process of outfitting a new 22ft skiff with a 135hp and through the dealer im purchasing through its a really good deal. Most of the commercial skiffs up and down the ICW use hondas from what I notice. Just curious of why they have not been mentioned.

Biebs, we run twin 150 Hondas on our 23' World Cat. We've had her for 4 years, and never had a problem. They get her out of the hole & up on plane fast.

[Capt. Terry]

THANKS AGAIN HERE TO ALL.....LOTS OF GREAT INFORMATION COMING FROM MANY DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE ISLE HERE.....THATS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.....GETTING A PRICE ON VERADOS AND OPTIMAX'S THIS WEEK AS WELL.

THANKS AGAIN.

[seapower]

Make mine Honda's please! Most of the commercial guy's in the area use Honda's. Having been a commercial guy myself, for many year's. I know these guy's well and know how much use they get, and the amount of break down's they DON'T get. Time is money as we all know. I've got a pair of 130 Honda's on my rig, this was a determining factor when I bought my boat. No problem's, quiet, oh and did I mention extremely fuel effecient. Many of the outboard model's come straight from the automotive side of the world. Mine I am told is the same engine (except that it is verical instead of horizontal like in a car) as an Accord. Name me a brand of vehicles across the board that get more miles on them before they are ready for the scrap yard? As far as a company that really stand's behind you as far as warrantee goes, it's all Honda. From what I get from dealer's that handle multiple makes from the same shop. Make mine Honda's, just my preference. Frank

[Capt. Lyndon]

Capt. Terry, one thing that hasn't been mentioned, except in passing, is the weight issue of 4 strokes v/s 2 strokes. Not only are you looking to go from what is most likely a 4 cylinder engine to a 6 cylinder engine, but also the added weight of the 4 stroke. What I would do is find out the weight difference of a 150 2 stroke and a 150 4 stroke, and run the boat loaded how you usually run it. Have either someone, or something, close to the weight diff. ride as far aft as they safely can, then run the boat with the same load, in the same conditions without the added weight. This will let you know if the added weight adversely affects the ride of the boat, as well as you freeboard.

[Capt. Terry]

GREAT IDEAS HERE CAPT'S AND THANKS AGAIN.