First bass boat

[Sparky89]

What are peoples thoughts between the two following boats as a first bass boat
2008 Triton 18explorer with 115hp mercury optimax and 2011 Skeeter sx180 with 130hp evinrude?

[Smithy]

The Triton will be way more economical. The 130 I am assuming is a Etec? What you have there is a Hyundai motor on a Porsche and a Porsche motor on a Hyundai. The Hyundai boat being the Triton.

[Ocean_Spirit]

Strongly disagree with that statement Smithy. Give me a 130 ETEC over a 115 Black Anchor anyday...

[Mike Delisser]

Both boats will serve you well functionally, they're obviously 2nd hand so the condition of the boat and more importantly the hours on the outboard and and price come into play. Don't forget to compair electric motors and sounders. If one had done a fair bit of saltwater bream work is worth looking into also. IMO I recon its a pity the the motors weren't switched around. That Skeeter is a great boat, but personally I'd avoid an E-Tec on a bass boat. Comp bass boats get a hard life with the majority of engine hours at the high end, a much harder life than your average fishing boat. Any brand of engine that gets regularly pushed hard can fail, but every comp guy I know with an E-tec has had issues. I will add too that none have had the slightest problem with the Evenrude's warranty service.
Cheers

[scottar]

Personally I would avoid any second hand engine on a "bass" type boat until you have had a ECU print out done to see where in the rev range it has spent the hours it has done. Neither of the motors have a totally trouble free reputation but you will find owners of both that have had a trouble free run - me included with an E-Tec and I have friends that swear by their Opti's.

[DaveR]

Strongly disagree with that statement Smithy. Give me a 130 ETEC over a 115 Black Anchor anyday...

Indeed, a 1.5L 3 cylinder opti is certainly no Porsche in this comparison. If we're talking grunt, the V4 ETEC is going to defecate on that opti.

It's also important to remember that there are a number of engines in the ETEC family. The V4s in particular have had a very clean run as far as reliability goes.