Time for New Outboard ?

[wiperhunter2]

IMO a 40 hp motor would be the smallest motor I'd get on a 19ft boat, if it were me I'd go with something even bigger, say 90 hp but 50 hp minimum. I bought a used 90hp Etech Evenrude from a boat repair shop in Idaho last year for 5K and they installed it for that price, I found it on KSL. I can give you the name of the shop if you are interested and you can check to see what they have, that can fit your needs if you like.
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[MRJ]

Older outboard HP ratings were measured at the powerhead. Newer outboards are rated at the prop. I had a 1981 50 HP Suzuki that was only 40 HP by today's standard. They made the change in 1985 I think. The HP increase was about 20%, or so I was told. On smaller boats I am of the opinion to maximize the HP up to the Coast Guard plate limit so you have the power needed to get off the lake in a hurry when needed, even with a full load and at high elevation. The only reason to under power a boat is lake HP restrictions, you only use it on very small bodies of water, cost, or not having to buy a seperate trolling motor. Not a good choice in my book. With a 19' boat, a 30HP motor is just plain dangerous if you take it on anything other than a pond. I wouldn't even consider anything under 90 HP in that boat. As for fuel injection, that is the only way to go. However, the mere fact that you have a fuel injected motor does not increase HP. The HP of the motor is what it is regardless of the fuel delivery system. Having different pitch props helps optimize engine performance for the application at hand.

My boat is a 2007 Alumacraft Navigator 165 Sport with a 90 HP Mercury Optimax direct injection 2-stroke motor. It is far from being "over-powered" and gives me the power to do anything I want to do, regardless of load or elevation.
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[catfishbait]

thanks for the reply

Im going to chat with the folks at Pinnacle Marine here locally. My boat is aluminum at the 40 used to be perfect. Hit a plane quick and all. Just seems to be a little less reliable lately.
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[catfishbait]

as it turns out, I noticed I typed 19ft and meant to type 16..... 3 extra feet would be nice.
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[wiperhunter2]

LOL, yea, that would make a difference but my boat is also a 16' aluminum boat, see pic below and I think what I said still applies but how your boat is set up also makes a difference. If your boat is a flat bottom boat or a shallow V, with no windshield or steering wheel, then a smaller motor would likely be ok. The Etech 2 stroke Evinrude motors are still a good choice, unless you are convinced you want to go with a 4 stroke motor.
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

My thoughts are 40 hp is 40 hp regardless if its a 4 stroke or 2 stroke. They have different torque curves on the power, but that can be easily equaled by using the proper pitch prop! 4 strokes are heavier than the 2 stroke counterparts, so you'll be pushing more weight too. Go with the largest HP motor that your boat is rated for. At our altitude in Utah, going with anything less means less performance since we lose 3% of the HP for every 1,000 feet above sea level (where the HP ratings are calibrated to). So for most of our lakes (usually 6,000 feet or more) we lost 18% of the HP. So for a 40hp engine at our altitude it really only a 33hp engine! Think about that for a minute.
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[Kent]

[quote BearLakeFishGuy]

At our altitude in Utah, going with anything less means less performance since we lose 3% of the HP for every 1,000 feet above sea level (where the HP ratings are calibrated to). So for most of our lakes (usually 6,000 feet or more) we lost 18% of the HP. So for a 40hp engine at our altitude it really only a 22hp engine! Think about that for a minute.

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I think you may want to recheck your math. I believe, using your numbers, it is actually 33 (32.80 to be exact), rather than 22 hp.
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

33 is what I meant, but I typed the wrong number and never checked my typo! I corrected the original post.
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[Super_Dave]

4 strokes weigh more and have less torque than 2 strokes so even at same HP you will have less hole shot performance. I would not recommend downsizing your next motor.
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