What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

Tnriverluver

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Nov 2, 2011
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I have owned two 16 ft aluminum bass boats with the 48 SPL motor and just recently bought another 16 ft with a 1998 50 hp Johnson. The boats with the 48's were both heavier and wider but seemed to be considerably faster than this lastest with the 50. They both had the stock cast prop whereas the 50 is running a stainless prop. Don't know the pitch. Is the 48 just a higher revving motor or what??
 

JEBar

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Aug 4, 2012
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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

back when we had an 88 hp Evinrude, the difference between it and a 90 hp was the way the oil was mixed with the gasoline .... with the 88 we had to manually mix it in the tank .... with the 90 you put the oil in one tank and the gas in another .... as I recall the same was true with the 48 and 50's

Jim
 

belairbrian

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Aug 21, 2009
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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

I have a 48 SPL. Funny that some parts sites list it under 50 hp motors. The differences are No VRO system. No Power Tilt/Trim. Different stickers.

I added tilt trim to mine. A lot of folks delete the VRO from the 50s. So at that point it comes down to decals.
 

Texasmark

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Dec 20, 2005
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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

As belair brian mentioned, it's just a stripped down 50 just like an 88 is a stripped down 90 etc. Just kept the marketing guys happy.

Mark
 

V153

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Apr 16, 2011
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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

Correct. And I believe some of the earlier "Specials" didn't have CDI.
 

Tnriverluver

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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

Thanks!!! That answers my question. As I said I owned 2 and never knew. Mine were extremely reliable engines I must say. I ran these 50:1 even through they were 100:1 motors. Don't know why my newer 50 doesn't seem nearly as fast, but it is on a different brand hull so that is probably most of it. The 48's were on 16 foot Lowe 160's and ran about 35-36 whereas the 50 is on a 16 Ft Alumicraft Angler and I can just squeeze 33 mph out of it trimmed to the max.
 

Texasmark

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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

Thanks!!! That answers my question. As I said I owned 2 and never knew. Mine were extremely reliable engines I must say. I ran these 50:1 even through they were 100:1 motors. Don't know why my newer 50 doesn't seem nearly as fast, but it is on a different brand hull so that is probably most of it. The 48's were on 16 foot Lowe 160's and ran about 35-36 whereas the 50 is on a 16 Ft Alumicraft Angler and I can just squeeze 33 mph out of it trimmed to the max.

How about the props? If you had some rpm numbers it might help to answer the question. The latter may be running higher rpms due to less pitch which could account for the reduced top speed.

Mark
 

Tnriverluver

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Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

The stock prop also came with the boat and I plan to put it on at some point and try it. The stainless prop causes quite a bit of pull to the right which is very annoying. Without pulling the stainless prop I can't tell what pitch it is as there are no exposed numbers. Figure they are probably on the inside rim of the hub. The boat has no instrumentation so no idea what RPM it is running. Motor runs and idles great but does not seem to be screaming at WOT like I can remember the 48's doing. I feel like the motor is probably over propped with the current setup by the previous owner.
 

bonz_d

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Apr 22, 2008
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5,274
Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

Motor runs and idles great but does not seem to be screaming at WOT like I can remember the 48's doing. I feel like the motor is probably over propped with the current setup by the previous owner.

W/O further info I'd have to agree and guess the engine is not reaching WOT RPM.
 

Home Cookin'

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May 26, 2009
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9,715
Re: What's the difference in a 48 spl and a 50 hp Johnson??

the 48's and 88's were the same motors but targeted the commercial market. Also, 48 is lower than the 50HP breakpoint that appears in a lot of insurance policies (like the 9.9--does anyone seriously a 10 is any different?)
 
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