Choosing an outboard

[foolharty]

Have been searching Craigslist and the eBay very intensely over the last week. Restored 20 CC with composites, lighter than original. 50 gallon tank. Will see some trips loaded with lots of people, also can run as fast as my heart desires in an enclosed harbor. Conversely, will do a lot of open water 25 mile trips out to Nantucket. My options/ leads as of now are:

02 Yamaha 115 2s for $2300, looooowwww hours but 20" so would need $600 baymfg extension kit....... Verdict: Rather not

97 Mercury 125 2s for $2700, ~350 hours, 25"......... good option, nice and light

98 Mariner 200!! 2s for ~$3500, 1050 hours, 25" no prop, controls........ 400lbs, "very efficient" according to owner. Will have the power to fly, but can also tone it down to cruise at low stress. Heavily considering this, most likely talk it to $3000.

05 Suzuki df140 4s $4000, 1050 hours too, 25", no controls........... obvious perks of a four stroke, about as big a 4 as weight allows. Probably more reasonable than a 200 with gas and resale considered. Weak 140 horses?

What do you all think? Fuel management is probably the most important consideration. Budget has a bit of heft but by no means want to blow it all... trying to be frugal but will sell it later and want it to be appealing to prospective buyers.

[McGillicuddy]

I don't know that I'd jump on any of those rigs. Especially, if considering resale. If I did, I would put most faith in that 02 115 yammie. People will buy that low hours yammie all day for 2500. Look for a 5" extension kit on ebay.

A 20 has no place for "lots of people." Fuel management wise I think the Zuke will nearly double the others at 27 mph cruise...

[foolharty]

To clarify, it's sometimes used as a shuttle for a trip a mile up the harbor to a clamming inlet. But that's probably 3times a year, not all that important.

If not these particular motors, I think it still highlights the different avenues one can take repowering... Low hp 2 stroke, high hp 2 stroke, middle hp 4 stroke. Not saying I didn't know that already, but with a 50 gallon tank what's the best route?

[joshmon71]

The 140 Zuke is the max HP in that block. I can think of 2 persons locally on lower cape whom have blown up their 140 Zukes. lots more reports on the net. I was unimpressed with the lead time to get parts/block for Suzuki as well. As a rule of thumb the highest HP in a smaller block on any fossil burning engine should give one pause. its not weak per se on HP just confidence questioning more for me. you are forgetting another important fact-whose your local mechanic/marina, if say the Suzuki certified tech is 2 hours away I would pass for that fact alone.

do you have a flotation bracket on the 20? were the decks raised? those sort of may assist the decision on engine weight as well. maybe I missed those items....

out of all of those I would say the yammie 2s. the 140 Suzuki sounds tempting but I would be concerned about a 20, sometimes loaded, with the smaller block size and highest HP rating.

tough call here with only those choices.

no experience with e-tecs myself, but might be something to think about....

[Wildman]

Stay away from the Bay MFG kit! Its junk. Buy the correct length motor the first time around and youll thank me later.
The lower the HP rating on a given engine block will typically yield a longer life span.
Did you raise the transom? Isnt a stock transom on a 20 SC 20in? I know a 20 CC that moved right along with a 150 evinrude, but with 2 big guys in the back the deck was quite damp.

[foolharty]

Thankfully these aren't the only choices. Just starting to think about them in terms of price and type

The deck is raised about 2 inches and the new transom is 25". There's a lot of weight moving up forward too

[Normagain]

Since you mentioned resale and fuel I would go with the Suzuki. I wound up with the Yamaha 115 four stroke because I couldn't pass up the price on a used motor but really wanted the Suzuki 140. The Suzuki is like 17% larger cylinder displacement than the Yamaha 115 so it is not just a hopped up smaller motor. I am getting good performance for 115hp but have noticed already when I load the boat down the performance is suffering. That being said, I am still getting better than 4mpg at cruise even with a heavy load, and have seen as high as 5mpg with a light load. I've only had the boat out 4 times so far so still dialing that in. I've heard from a decent mechanic most blown four strokes are from being either over propped or mounted low and water flooding the cowling in heavy seas. If the flooding issue is true, this is a consideration for some but shouldn't effect you with the higher transom. When I was looking around the one thing that looked like credible issue was an exhaust corrosion issue on the earlier Suzuki 140's. I would be most concerned if the motor was sitting in the water. The problem was a galvanic issue with a bolt from what I remember. It was correctable, I'm not sure which year Suzuki fixed the problem, may have been right around 04 or 05.

[joshmon71]

The 140 Uke is the weak motor in the line up as its >HP with <Block before the 150, on a heavy 20 footer, out of warranty. Good luck. I can name 2 folks with blown 140 on the Cape on heavy 20 footers (non SC). Everyone loves their Suzukis, that's the one engine used out of warranty on a 20 footer I would walk away from.

As to resale, ANY 4S is going to take the cake over an older 2S, except for an ETEC. Well almost, maybe not a F225.