[Silvertip]

For what it's worth, and just in case others are considering a repower or new 18 foot pontoon package and can't decide on HP, break in is complete and after a week of fishing from my new Misty Harbor 1880CF the clock reads 15 hours of run time. Very satisfied with the performance of this combo. Top speed has not been GPS'ed but the locator says 18 MPH at 4800 RPM (not WOT) which yields 18% slip with two aboard, full fuel, and lots of gear. WOT shows 21.5 at 5800 so there is little use in beating the horse to gain those 3 MPH and suck additional fuel in the process. 4800 RPM is just a comfortable hum from the stern and the engine seems very happy at that speed. Had no performance issues such as making oil as I did troll at idle-in gear for several hours. The engine has used not a drop of oil so I'm now a happy guy. I had to deal with some dealer setup issues on the boat and trailer but those were taken care of and the motor has been flawless. As a three cylinder 4-stroke it has just a tad of vibration at idle but that goes away just off idle. The boat has a 55# MinnKota Power Drive V2 trolling motor and it works just fine on this size 'toon.

[tashasdaddy]

great info, thanks.