Mark Conte
Recruit
- Joined
- May 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3
Hello everyone, hate to be "that guy" - but I plain and simple know nothing about the boating world. The wifey grew up on boats but I'm a complete newcomer. I'm about to make my first purchase and have a deposit down on a 20' Pro Line with a 135hp Mercury outboard V6. A good friend of mine who is a marine mechanic suggests center consoles for versatility (and outboards for ease of maintenance), I can't say I disagree, although my eye prefers a bow rider, but I like the potential ease of maintenance on an outboard.
I have a 2004 4Runner V8 (7300lb towing cap.) so I figure it's best I stay under a 23' boat (or so) and one of my main sticking points here is reliability. I'm a car guy, religious about maintenance, I've heard great things about the (lower powered) Mercury V6 - I'm told it's a lower powered unit with smaller bores (thicker cylinder liners) and therefore is a very stout unit. Being a late model auto guy, I'm not familiar with 2 Strokes but I don't think it will be too difficult. I just wanted to know if there were any "new guy" tips or tricks or comments anyone would have about the boat or the engine as far as things to look out for or really any other comments.
My initial thoughts - I was researching a 2006 Tahoe Q6 SF with a 190hp 4.3L I/O and the review said that engine may be a bit slow - are worrying about the boat being anemic, although the extremely nice sales person suggests that the 2 stroke will add nice out-of-the-hole type of torque to get the boat moving and that it will still do well with the little 135 (the same dealer has both boats so I somewhat trust him not having a conflict of interest). Is there a cut and dry benefit to the 4 stroke engines - the dealer suggests that he prefers 2 strokes although he admits 4 strokes are fine and more fuel efficient, and probably better for a multi-engine craft that will plane and sit at high speed and go off-shore, but I'm looking for a lake boat that may take a trip to the keys, and at the most - a trip to the West Bamahams from East Florida.
Again, thanks for the time, I'm excited to be a boat owner and think it will be a fun experience.
I have a 2004 4Runner V8 (7300lb towing cap.) so I figure it's best I stay under a 23' boat (or so) and one of my main sticking points here is reliability. I'm a car guy, religious about maintenance, I've heard great things about the (lower powered) Mercury V6 - I'm told it's a lower powered unit with smaller bores (thicker cylinder liners) and therefore is a very stout unit. Being a late model auto guy, I'm not familiar with 2 Strokes but I don't think it will be too difficult. I just wanted to know if there were any "new guy" tips or tricks or comments anyone would have about the boat or the engine as far as things to look out for or really any other comments.
My initial thoughts - I was researching a 2006 Tahoe Q6 SF with a 190hp 4.3L I/O and the review said that engine may be a bit slow - are worrying about the boat being anemic, although the extremely nice sales person suggests that the 2 stroke will add nice out-of-the-hole type of torque to get the boat moving and that it will still do well with the little 135 (the same dealer has both boats so I somewhat trust him not having a conflict of interest). Is there a cut and dry benefit to the 4 stroke engines - the dealer suggests that he prefers 2 strokes although he admits 4 strokes are fine and more fuel efficient, and probably better for a multi-engine craft that will plane and sit at high speed and go off-shore, but I'm looking for a lake boat that may take a trip to the keys, and at the most - a trip to the West Bamahams from East Florida.
Again, thanks for the time, I'm excited to be a boat owner and think it will be a fun experience.