hi folks--
i'm just throwing this out since i'm pretty indecisive right now and am curious if anyone posts a response that may help me.
i used to have a 17' Action Craft with a 1997 130 Yamaha 2-stroke. the boat was rated to 150, but at the time the added weight of the larger motor would have offset and maybe worsened performance. i fish pretty skinny water, but with 2' 4", my trim tabs down and my 4 blade SS prop, i was able to explode out onto plane. it was really a hell of a boat, maxed out at about 45 MPH.
2 months ago i just picked up a 19' Action Craft 1890SE w/ a 150 Optimax on it, all from 1998. the original owner died shortly after purchasing the boat, and it was in storage for over 10 years. eventually someone decked it out with every accouterment one could ask for, and i bought it with literally only 102 hours on the boat and motor. it's all mint. i had a shop check the outboard before purchase, particulalry since there were issues with some of the larger Optimax's around the 1998 time. they said it's great, clean as a whistle, and all cylinder compressions were between 104-112. i've got a 3 blade SS prop on it right now, but it also came w/ a 4 blade as well. this is my first boat with a jackplate, so i'm still learning the best settings for the outboard trim/trimtabs/jackplate in shallow water. but all in all, i just feel the boat is underpowered. i'm barely hitting 38MPH w/ the 3 blade, and unless i trim the motor, plate and tabs ALL the way down, the boat points it's bow at the sky and cavitates like crazy before it catches. well, maybe it's not that terrible, but it certainly ain't close to my old boat.
so as far as i'm concerned, the boat really needs 200HP which is what it's rated for. and i really think it would make an enormous difference in its performance from every angle. everyone thinks i'm nuts for considering a new motor to replace what is practically a new motor in its own way. i would be happy with any Mercury/Yamaha/Evinrude DFI 2-strokes. i'm fantasizing that a dealer would take a trade-in on the old motor towards the purchase of a new one, but selling a 1998 Optimax, even with it's 102 hours just really isn't something that most shops want. of course i could try and sell it privately, but it's not like i can easily store a 500lb motor until someone decides it's the right thing for them.
i don't really know if i have a specific question.......i just know this boat is going to be with me for a long time, it's tricked out already to no end, and i am just dying to get a different outboard on there and have my perfect fishing machine. anyone have any musings on options that i have, what my motor might be worth, any trading websites that i don't know about, etc.?? the more i keep using this motor that i have and don't really want, the harder it will be to sell and the lower the price goes. several people have told me to run it until it dies an then get a new motor, but jeez.......who wants to fish and boat with a motor they don't care for and secretly hopes it's going to have problems?
btw, i'm on the east-central coast of Florida.
all 2? appreciated!!
i'm just throwing this out since i'm pretty indecisive right now and am curious if anyone posts a response that may help me.
i used to have a 17' Action Craft with a 1997 130 Yamaha 2-stroke. the boat was rated to 150, but at the time the added weight of the larger motor would have offset and maybe worsened performance. i fish pretty skinny water, but with 2' 4", my trim tabs down and my 4 blade SS prop, i was able to explode out onto plane. it was really a hell of a boat, maxed out at about 45 MPH.
2 months ago i just picked up a 19' Action Craft 1890SE w/ a 150 Optimax on it, all from 1998. the original owner died shortly after purchasing the boat, and it was in storage for over 10 years. eventually someone decked it out with every accouterment one could ask for, and i bought it with literally only 102 hours on the boat and motor. it's all mint. i had a shop check the outboard before purchase, particulalry since there were issues with some of the larger Optimax's around the 1998 time. they said it's great, clean as a whistle, and all cylinder compressions were between 104-112. i've got a 3 blade SS prop on it right now, but it also came w/ a 4 blade as well. this is my first boat with a jackplate, so i'm still learning the best settings for the outboard trim/trimtabs/jackplate in shallow water. but all in all, i just feel the boat is underpowered. i'm barely hitting 38MPH w/ the 3 blade, and unless i trim the motor, plate and tabs ALL the way down, the boat points it's bow at the sky and cavitates like crazy before it catches. well, maybe it's not that terrible, but it certainly ain't close to my old boat.
so as far as i'm concerned, the boat really needs 200HP which is what it's rated for. and i really think it would make an enormous difference in its performance from every angle. everyone thinks i'm nuts for considering a new motor to replace what is practically a new motor in its own way. i would be happy with any Mercury/Yamaha/Evinrude DFI 2-strokes. i'm fantasizing that a dealer would take a trade-in on the old motor towards the purchase of a new one, but selling a 1998 Optimax, even with it's 102 hours just really isn't something that most shops want. of course i could try and sell it privately, but it's not like i can easily store a 500lb motor until someone decides it's the right thing for them.
i don't really know if i have a specific question.......i just know this boat is going to be with me for a long time, it's tricked out already to no end, and i am just dying to get a different outboard on there and have my perfect fishing machine. anyone have any musings on options that i have, what my motor might be worth, any trading websites that i don't know about, etc.?? the more i keep using this motor that i have and don't really want, the harder it will be to sell and the lower the price goes. several people have told me to run it until it dies an then get a new motor, but jeez.......who wants to fish and boat with a motor they don't care for and secretly hopes it's going to have problems?
btw, i'm on the east-central coast of Florida.
all 2? appreciated!!