Repowering Hydrofield

[kaypee]

Hi everyone i have a 6.1m Hydrofield Jaguar and am in the process of buying a new outboard am tossing up between 140 & 150 Suzuki, 150F Yammy or 2 x 60F Yammys, just wondering if anyone has had any thoughts on the idea,
$14800 - 140 Suzuki
$18500 - 150 Suzuki
$19600 - 150F Yamaha
$18500 - 60F Yamaha x 2
as you can see the 140 suz is quite a bit cheaper..but have heard varied reports on them, want to be able to cruise on around 30mph which would be achievable with the 140 but i dont want it to be screaming its head off defeating the purpose of the 4 stroke in the first place.
so it has to be worth it... also whats the go with fitting the motor in the middle to stop it cavitating.. have heard about people getting stainless/ glass extensions made up to run the 25" leg.. is this necessary?? can i run the 25" leg as high as possible and get away with it??
Any ideas would be helpful.. the boat is off the water at the moment and is killing me!!!!

[gofishin]

The Hydros are easier to push/plane than standard monos of comparable size, although they are heavier and slower. Older models can be real heavy. Do you have a hardtop? Do much offshore/bar work? What normal loading on your trips? The 150 (either brand) has only ~10 more hp, but a lot more cubes, which might be important if you have a heavy rig/load. I am making a few assumptions, but for mind the 140 would be OK (so long as it is correctly propped), and spend the 4k on electronics.

What donk(s) does your boat have now? Does your hull have the cutout/stepped hull at the transom (main/centre hull). This would make installation height more tricky. Have you called Hydrofield? Maybe worth a shot.

Give Steve Evans at Solas a ring too. He knows zukes and tris very well.

[snelly1971]

Hi everyone i have a 6.1m Hydrofield Jaguar and am in the process of buying a new outboard am tossing up between 140 & 150 Suzuki, 150F Yammy or 2 x 60F Yammys, just wondering if anyone has had any thoughts on the idea,
$14800 - 140 Suzuki
$18500 - 150 Suzuki
$19600 - 150F Yamaha
$18500 - 60F Yamaha x 2
as you can see the 140 suz is quite a bit cheaper..but have heard varied reports on them, want to be able to cruise on around 30mph which would be achievable with the 140 but i dont want it to be screaming its head off defeating the purpose of the 4 stroke in the first place.
so it has to be worth it... also whats the go with fitting the motor in the middle to stop it cavitating.. have heard about people getting stainless/ glass extensions made up to run the 25" leg.. is this necessary?? can i run the 25" leg as high as possible and get away with it??
Any ideas would be helpful.. the boat is off the water at the moment and is killing me!!!!


I have a 8.5 meter Tri Hull....different builder...but very similar boats....
I am running twin 115 Yamaha 4S...Cruise speed is 20 knots...WOT 30 Knots....These figures are ok but when i fully load here up eg...1-1.5 t of gear onboard then we are driving the boat alot harder ...I am looking at upgrading to twin 175 Suzuki`s over the next 12 months....I should think a 150 or 175 suzi would be a sweet motor for you....As yes...These boats do plane very easy...

Mick

[ped cairns]

i have just put a 140 4st suzi/johno 2 years old on my haines goes a lot better than 150 merc 2stroke i had but ass does sit a lot lower at anchor
extreemly happy with this setup now
if you had 150 or smaller 2 stroke on i would think you would be blown away by 140hp also it is very important to get height of motor right on transome
ped

[disorderly]

i have just put a 140 4st suzi/johno 2 years old on my haines goes a lot better than 150 merc 2stroke i had but ass does sit a lot lower at anchor
extreemly happy with this setup now
if you had 150 or smaller 2 stroke on i would think you would be blown away by 140hp also it is very important to get height of motor right on transome
ped

You are trying to say that any 150 2 stroke will be blown away by a 140 suzuki 4 stroke.
Mate,can I have some of what you are smoking, please....pretty pleasehttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/grin.gif

[ped cairns]

sorry should have clarified that if you have an old merc 150hp 2stroke [rated differently from new motor]
you like me would be stoked by performance of 140hp suz/johno 4 st for $4000 less than new 150

[seatime]

Hi kaypee,

what motor was fitted previously, and how was it performing? having prior performance figures and motor set-up will give you a guide to work up or down from.

OB mounting brackets don't need to sit on top of the transom as they are sufficiently supported with the bolts.
What's the problems you've heard with 6.1 hydrofields and cavitation with 20" legs?
Building up a transom that was designed for a 20" leg to take a 25" leg sounds extreme. Might be an issue that can be solved with correct propping.

I've had some experience with 140 Suzi's on 3 different hulls, 5.9m 6.2m & 6.5m plate alloy. They are a lovely motor when set-up right, though when the boat is loaded or heavy they can be a touch "doey" getting on the plane. The 150 sounds like another great motor though I have no personal experience.

regards

[dfox]

Ive got mates with Hydrofields the size of yours, one is fitted with a 140 suzuki. It performs really well and does a bit over 30 knotts from memory (32 i think). The layout of his boat is really basic and it rarely carries much of a load, even with more horsepower the hulls dont go much faster then the mid 30's (ive seen one with a 200hp on it. Another mate who pro fishes has a pair of 60hp yammy 4 stroke high thrusts on the same hull, im not sure on his performance figures but he previously had a 150 optimax on the boat and i know he is very happy with the twin 60's and doesnt regret the change ...foxy

[kaypee]

Hey thanks for your input... My hydrofield is a jaguar 6.1m 1996 model built by leon field. It currently has a 135 V6 Merc 2 banger XL which recently failed on me due to the oil injection gear stripping (who in their right mind would run a steel drive on a plastic gear is beyond me anyway..) We regulary fish up to 120km offshore so for peace of mind i've decided to upgrade at the same time hopefully halving my fuel bills... There is no bar crossings here and my load on a standard trip is the standard 200L fuel and gear for up to 4 blokes...I got another quote today for a 150 e-tec at $17250 fitted so there is another option. The merc currently runs in the centre but have noticed that it loses grip once you get over 4000 - 4500rpm the boat currently does about 30 knots at about 4200rpm. Have been told that if you want to run a 20" leg then u have to sit ur motor over to one side of the pod (looking stupid) or you can run the 25" leg in the centre but may struggle to get the height required therefore needing an extension to the top of the pod allowing the motor to sit that little bit higher. Thanks for your help any input is much appreciated.

[snelly1971]

Hi Kaypee....As i mentioned If it was my boat then i would go for probably the 175 Suzuki...There is no substitute for horse power...I like to have oodles of power in reserve for bigger loads and with a lot of spare power then you can run the motor alot easier than if it is just powered enough..I am not exactly sure of the weight difference between the 140 /175 but it wouldnt be much...

Mick

[seatime]

We're currently running 3 x 150 E-tecs, 2 on a Stabi 759SC and 1 on a 609SC, plus I've driven another 609 with a 150.

The 150 is more than enough on the 609, there's power to burn even when loaded with 7 people, which may be a similar weight to your hydrofield unloaded. I would think one of these donks would work really well on your boat.
So far so good with them, there as easy starting, smooth running and efficient as a 4st, only you add oil.