Motor In-decisions Optimax vs 4 strokes

[Fishin Impossible]

Gday all Im looking at 4 used boats and finding it very hard to decide on what I would really like so I have come to ask the experts ;D;D;D

1) Trophy 5.8m with 115 Merc Optimax less than 200 hours

2) Aqua Sport 6.7m with a Suzuki 140 4 stroke 400 hours

3) Trailcraft 5.8m with a Yammy 115 4 stroke about 500 hours (new gearbox)

4) Stacer 5.7m with a Merc 115 4 stroke with about 142 hours

I will be using this up in the NT so needs to handle a bit of chop but also need to be a releiable motor and boat, they are all around the same price 35-40k mark and just wanting to get some opinions before knocking some out of the race....

I have done quite a few google searches and it seems like its a ford vs holden type argument lol.... also how much louder are the Optimax than the good ol 4's???
Fuel economy etc etc etc......

Any help would be greatly appreciated ::) ::)

[Jarrah Jack]

Never seen an opti in the territory although they're a proven motor. What motors do the local guys have and how easy is it to get a service done?

A 6.7 mtr boat is pushing it for a 140 zuk.

[bobbyb]

can you find a 5.8 trophy with a 140 Suzuki ? would be a good thing..

[SHOOTER1]

Nothing wrong with the optis. I would be looking at the total package re suitability for what you want to do. When talking about hours I think we don"t give modern outboards the credit they deserve. Say the motor has 200 hrs at an average of 4000rpm compare this to a car 200 hours at an average of 70kmh this is only 14000 km. Only just run in.

[zan0_15]

If the optimax are propped right they can achieve very close if not the same economy of a fourstroke. But then u must add the cost of oil each trip into the equation which blows the total cost out a little bit.

[bobbyb]

I have a 150 opti and love it . fuel economy and not to loud compared to the old efi 2 strokes. no stink or fumes and hard to find a bad word against them in searches on the net, so that says a lot.
what type of fishing do you do ? if you tear ass out to your spot and mainly bottom bash the opti is great and sings best at revs, butt if you do a lot of trolling i'd go for a 4 banger.
butt as jarrah jack mentioned i'd be thinking about servicing in your area also. but my thought only. good luck with it.......

[SHOOTER1]

Sure you have to buy oil for the opti (they use stuff all) but the service costs are cheaper I.e oil change oil filter, valve clearances etc.

[Noelm]

If you want a good ride in some chop, you can rule the Trailcraft out regardless of the motor it has!

[zan0_15]

Gday noelm,
have u had a personal experience with trailcraft?
Or are you just regurgitating an opinion/experience that you have read somewhere? :dizzy:

[Fishin Impossible]

Thanks for all the feed back and thanks for the advice on the Trailcraft it was the 4th option my top 2 are the Trophy and the Stacer..... I have googled far and wide and far and bobbyb you are dead right cant find bad words against them..... but if anyone else has any more info or previous commenters think of anymore please feel free to give me some truths......
Trophy 115 Opti 36k
Stacer Merc 115 4 stroke 38.5k
Glass is always going to ride better so I am lead to believe, but Ally easier and quicker to repair, would the Glass draw too much more water than Ally? (thinking of rivers)
Will contact a few mech's up that way and see what there thoughts are on servicing

Cheers once again:D

[Jarrah Jack]

If you're thinking of doing the rivers I wouldn't be thinking of a glass boat. Snags and rock bars and big tides aren't good for glass boats. I wouldn't be thinking of a stacer or pressed alloy for that money. Platey's are the go around the territory in the rivers. They love their GS Marine style. A 5.5 with a 140 zuk like my mate in Darwin has would be worth considering. They tend to be cheaper in Qld than the NT. The roads can be shocking so you need a strong well setup trailer.

[Noelm]

Gday noelm,
have u had a personal experience with trailcraft?
Or are you just regurgitating an opinion/experience that you have read somewhere? :dizzy:
Been in a couple of different model Trailcraft (including the size mentioned here) plenty of times, and yes.... Speaking from experience, not regurgitating anything, they are an OK boat, but a long way from a good ride.

[ifishcq1]

the trophy or the aquasport
if you are going any distance over chop then the tinnies just can't cut it, especially if you travel over 30km/h
i have been in all of the above and there is no comparison (most of what I do involves big hours on lots of different boats)
The aquasport I went in was a 98 twin console had a 200 2stroke went like the clappers but drank like a drunk however it handled the chop pretty good
the traily was good until the short sharp chop then I needed a week for my back to get over it
the stacer is not an offshore boat despite the write ups it is way too light
The trophy was almost as good as the aquasport but it was also a metre shorter
up where you are the trailer is probably a consideration as well
cheers

[Malcolm W]

Been in a couple of different model Trailcraft (including the size mentioned here) plenty of times, and yes.... Speaking from experience, not regurgitating anything, they are an OK boat, but a long way from a good ride.

Trailcraft were made here in WA (now in China). There is a very high percentage of them running around here due to the amount of dealerships here until they went broke. A good solid value for money boat, but as Nolem said, a bit of a rough ride in the chop. My brother has the 5.8 and is happy with it. They have a moderate deadrise and are very beamy for the length. If you can put up with going slower they are a very stable boat to fish out of. I found the 6.4 bangs even more than the 5.8 due to the wider beam.

[whatscracken]

Remember a 140hp Suzuki is branded as the engine HP however is only 127hp at the prop.

[Noelm]

That is probably the longest lasting "Internet story" ever, talk about regurgitating something someone read!

[Noelm]

But I should add, last time I read it, the 140 was 128HP, must have lost one HP over time.

[Dan5]

If you're thinking of doing the rivers I wouldn't be thinking of a glass boat. Snags and rock bars and big tides aren't good for glass boats. I wouldn't be thinking of a stacer or pressed alloy for that money. Platey's are the go around the territory in the rivers. They love their GS Marine style. A 5.5 with a 140 zuk like my mate in Darwin has would be worth considering. They tend to be cheaper in Qld than the NT. The roads can be shocking so you need a strong well setup trailer.

Bingo....JJ wins.

Honestly mate I've been here for over 20 years and have fished Gove and the Islands where you are Truant.Wessel's,Brombys etc....

For over your way i'd actually go a glassboat or a custom platey.........For engines and service (if you can call it that)......Either a Yamaha 2 or 4 stroke your choice or the Suzuki........We have a well established Yamaha dealer in Darwin and 2 Suzuki dealers.....other brands make good outboards it's their northern network that's the problem.

A Stabcraft or similar would be a great boat over that way to be honest.

Dan

[Jarrah Jack]

Bingo....JJ wins.



Dan

What do I win Dan? Come on don't be a spoil sport. Expect the collect next runoff.

An Ausfish M&G on the Daly during the classic wouldn't be a bad idea :) You only need two members to make it official.

[Fishin Impossible]

Yeah rivers would have been a bonus but isnt the main objective prefer the deeper blues and may even get into the Bill's
Would love a plate Ally but the ones I have found are a little out of my price range so think the Glass will be the way to go just have to see how many more pop up in the next week or so but really finding it hard to go past the Trophy with the good reports of the Optimax, might just have to see how it goes in the water.....
Thanks once again:o

[Camhawk88]

Having owned Honda and YAmmie 4s and now Optis I would have no hesitation recommending any of them. I dont find the Opti loud or thirsty. The servicing fees are significantly less and they will deal with poor fuel much better than a 4 stroke. The guy I brought this off uses Mercs exclusively in some of his Asian operations where they have been forced to run 81octane fuel with no problems. Could be a handy trait in remote areas.

Also probably the best reference you could get for your part of the world- Malcolm Douglas used Optis for the last 15 or so years of his Kimberly long range trips. says a lot for reliability.

I would look at glass if you are doing predominantly offshore.

[billfisher]

I don't think they are more tolerant of poor fuel than 4 strokes, at least with respect to water in the fuel. It can ruin the injectors and in a V6 Opti there are $7,000 worth of them!

[Camhawk88]

There is poor fuel then there is water in the fuel- completely different. Not aware of any motor that will deal well with water in the fuel. I was referring to fuel quality which in remote areas with not a lot of volume going through the tanks can be an issue.
That said a carby motor would be a lot easier and cheaper to repair than an injected motor if it took water but hardly a compelling argument to go back to an inefficient carby motor.

[ranga7]

Buy a suzuki, end of story shut this thread :)

[billfisher]

There is poor fuel then there is water in the fuel- completely different. Not aware of any motor that will deal well with water in the fuel. I was referring to fuel quality which in remote areas with not a lot of volume going through the tanks can be an issue.
That said a carby motor would be a lot easier and cheaper to repair than an injected motor if it took water but hardly a compelling argument to go back to an inefficient carby motor.

Well if fuel has water in it I would call that poor fuel. What you mean to say is stale fuel is a different matter. My point was that a carby two stroke would be potentially a lot cheaper to fix after water contamination than an injected motor. All round they are a lot cheaper/ simpler to work on and I think that at 90hp and under this should be considered when chosing a motor. The extra fuel use is not that significant with these smaller motors for average recreational use.

[Spaniard_King]

There is poor fuel then there is water in the fuel- completely different. Not aware of any motor that will deal well with water in the fuel. I was referring to fuel quality which in remote areas with not a lot of volume going through the tanks can be an issue.
That said a carby motor would be a lot easier and cheaper to repair than an injected motor if it took water but hardly a compelling argument to go back to an inefficient carby motor.

The modern 4 stroke is well equipped to handle a dose of water in the fuel system. I could train an owner to remove the water and restart the engine in about 5 minutes on a 140 suzi. On a carby 2 stroke the carbies would need to be removed, stripped and cleaned.

[davo]

I would avoid the Trailcraft due to the poor ride. I have fished in one and thought it was very ordinary. The Stacer would make you best mates with the local alloy repair welder. I am still not into the direct injection engines. The good experiences are good and the bad very bad. Go for a jap engine.

[Camhawk88]

Well if fuel has water in it I would call that poor fuel. What you mean to say is stale fuel is a different matter. My point was that a carby two stroke would be potentially a lot cheaper to fix after water contamination than an injected motor. All round they are a lot cheaper/ simpler to work on and I think that at 90hp and under this should be considered when chosing a motor. The extra fuel use is not that significant with these smaller motors for average recreational use.
Semantics.
My next sentence about a low octane fuel should have given a hint as to my reference to poor fuel. If it had sugar in it you could call it poor fuel.
You made no reference at all to 2 strokes but specifically mentioned 4 strokes. Of course a carby 2 stroke is easier to work on however as Spaniard king has pointed out we are probably both wrong about a carb 2 stroke being better equiped to deal with water. Although I recall my 97 Honda twice needed stripped carbs to deal with water ingress however they have probably advanced since 97.

Given all of that I still would not consider a carb 2 stroke for the sort of work he is most likely to do with long range trips often the norm in the NT you need an awfully big fuel tank to get the range. An opti would be a good choice based on good fuel efficiency, lower maintenance costs, great reliability, lower purchase price and ability to run on lower octane (stale) fuel which can be an issue in the more remote parts.

[Jarrah Jack]

. I could train an owner to remove the water and restart the engine in about 5 minutes on a 140 suzi. .

Might take you up on that Garry.

[billfisher]

The modern 4 stroke is well equipped to handle a dose of water in the fuel system. I could train an owner to remove the water and restart the engine in about 5 minutes on a 140 suzi. On a carby 2 stroke the carbies would need to be removed, stripped and cleaned.

No need for all that for a carby motor unless you have left water in it for a long time or you have used ethanol fuel (gunk or solids can form upon water contamination). I have had water in my carbies several times and all my mechanic did was drain the bowls via the removable scews and give a drying with some compressed air and flush with fresh fuel.

On the other hand injectors aren't nearly as robust especially in the case of DI 2-strokes like the Optimax. An ultrasonic bath is used to clean them but it not always successful and you can be up for thousands to replace them.