Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

keeganm

Recruit
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
2
Hi all, I'm new to the board and I am thinking of buying my first boat. I live in Connecticut and will be using it mostly on local lakes and the CT River. I will be occasionally taking it to Lake Ontario for salmon or into the sound for some stripers.

How does this boat handle rough water compared to other alum boats?

The boat comes with a 50 hp merc 2 stroke. I can upgrade to a 60 hp merc 4 stroke for an extra 2K. I was wondering if you all think that it is worth the money. I will be trolling for salmon sometimes so I think the 4 stroke might be better for that.

Also any insight as to what the performance differences between the two motors would be.

Thanks.
 

5150abf

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5,808
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

Not familiar with that particular model but I have a 16' Sea-Nymph bass style boat, 2 casting decks, livewells ect, and I wouldn't hesitate to take it almost anywhere, it does get tossed around a bit in the ruff stuff but it has never scared me and I have had it in some pretty rough water, 2'+ swells.

Lowe is a decent boat, not the best, not the worst and I would have a problem giving up 2K for that little of a gain, ya it may troll a little better but you have more weight and maintanence so for me I would stay with the 2 stroke but it is your money.

2K will buy ALOT of gear for a boat....
 

Irv964

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
315
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

Keeganm, I have a 2006 Lowe F&S 165 and so far it has been a great boat for us but the only other boat I owned was a 1990 Smoker Craft 165 with a 50 Nissan 2 stroke so I can't really do a fair comparison.
Check out the Lowe boats section below the forums and ask your questions there, you will probably get more hits and you will also be able to read what has already been written about them. Great boats imo but I am biased......Irv964
 

Splat

Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
1,366
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

Me thinks you need to take one for a test drive.

Bill
 

Expidia

Commander
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
2,328
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

I would not venture out onto Lake Ontario in a 16.5 foot boat. Sure there will be posters that will come back with "I'm on Ontario all the time in my small aluminum boat". I'm sure they are. There will also be many reports this upcoming boating season of inexperienced boaters losing their lives or the lives of their passengers venturing out in small boats on big waters.

Ontario is a lake but it might as well be an ocean in 16 footer. I'd be looking more towards using an 18 (on a perfect day) to 22 and up for Ontario. And a few seasons of boating under your belt.

Wait till you see what the CT river is going to turn into when the wind is blowing North to South or visa versa. You will remember I said this once you are in the middle of 4-5 footers.

Usually, each time you move up 10 hps you are looking at $1000 retail for each increment. The reason they are asking 2k is you would be moving from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke too.

My personal tastes is if I was buying new I would go no less than a 60hp for a 16 footer. And the 4 stroke is heavier (espec if you will have more than 2 people on board which is 3 including yourself). Max for that model is 75. I would not buy a 2 stroke. If you are spending the money anyway, I would buy a 4 stroke and only an EFI model (electronic fuel injection). I would never buy another car that has a carburetor, so why would I ever buy an outboard with 3 carburetors? The Etecs are certainly sweet, but I'll let others buy them.

Most name brand aluminiums are pretty close in quality. You get what you pay for among the various brands.

What I would do if I were in your position especially this being your first boat is you are paying pretty much retail. That 50 hp is going to make the boat harder to resell because it's a 2 stroke and underpowered.

You would get a lot more for your money if you bought your first boat used. You could get an aluminum with an O/B close to it's max rating and a 4 stroke on it for a lot less than the retail you're looking at. And used you could move up to a bigger rig too. My boats too tight width-wise at 80 inches and the model you're looking at is only 2 inches wider! I trailer with a Saab 9-5 so I had to stay around 15 feet and under 1000 lbs.

For the few times you will probably get up to Ontario, just rent a decent sized boat for the day. Just share the cost with some other fisherman.

Boat dealers will sell you whatever they need to get rid of. They will sell you an undersized and underpowered rig in a heartbeat for the commission. Underpowering the rig lowers the overall cost. If you told them you plan to use a 16 footer sometimes on Lake Ontario and this is your first boat yet and they told you it would work out great . . . they just made my point!
 

chiefff2003

Recruit
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

Hi Keegamn.. I'm new to the board also.. I bought a 2008 FM165 last summer and it came with a 60 four stroke and by talking to people and the dealer, they told me to max out the engine, so I maxed it with 75 Merc and I don't regret it one bit. I can pull the kids on water skis or with the tube and it goes. A friend of mine got the exact same boat the year before with a 60 four stroke Merc. and he has trouble getting it to plane with 3 people in it. Just my 2 cents.
 

Expidia

Commander
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
2,328
Re: Newbie needs opinoin on Lowe FM165

Hi Keegamn.. I'm new to the board also.. I bought a 2008 FM165 last summer and it came with a 60 four stroke and by talking to people and the dealer, they told me to max out the engine, so I maxed it with 75 Merc and I don't regret it one bit. I can pull the kids on water skis or with the tube and it goes. A friend of mine got the exact same boat the year before with a 60 four stroke Merc. and he has trouble getting it to plane with 3 people in it. Just my 2 cents.

Same experience here. Bought my new rig with a 25 hp even though the max was 40. The dealer assured me that the 30 would plane with no problem and I even said I'll have 4 people on it from time to time. What he did was dump problematic supposedly new 2006 O/B that he said he would give me a great price on.

It took 100 yards to get it to plane with two people on board. I gave it back to him and got the max rated 40 and the boat planes in 2-3 feet now with the two of us. Does well with 3 and when I know I'll have 4 for the day I swap to a lower pitch prop just for the increased handling.

I know it's aways a stretch to get the max or at least 75% of max when we buy new boats (it was for me at the time). But if you figure it's around $1000 for each 10 hp step up and you divide that extra cost by say 5 years, it's not that much of a stretch if you look at how little extra it cost "per year" over that 5 year period. This is how to "pencil sell" the Wife, you bring the extra cost down to it's lowest common denominator on paper by dividing it by 5. Actually, 10 years is even better to use (as you are smiling inside since you know you will probably be trading up to a bigger rig after two seasons :))

By getting up on plane quicker, the gas savings will offset a good chunk of that extra per year cost too, in my opinion.

I've viewed many posters that chime in when these types of O/B rating questions come up and say they have no problems with the particular O/B rating that they bought with their boat even though they went with one that was too far away from the max. This is because they really don't know what their boat should or could handle like because they never test drove a bigger HP O/B and just bought it off the floor. They might have listened to some salesman (read sleezman) that was looking out more for a commission by putting a lower priced package together for a quicker sale. Then you put the family in your new boat and it's a disappointment :(

Bigger is always better :D
 
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