JohnnyGuy
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2017
- Messages
- 176
Good day all,
My brother-in-law and I currently have a 12' aluminum and we are looking to upgrade to a 14' aluminum for some additional "elbow" room.
My brother-in-law and I are the primary users of the boat, mostly for fishing (most of which is trolling for Lake Trout in South-Central Ontario), we get out maybe once or twice a month from May through October, so we don't use it ALOT; pretty low running hours.
He is ~230lbs and I am ~185lbs.
Our current 12'r came with a '76 Johnson 15hp.
It runs well, we've done all the work ourselves to get it to where it is now running nicely.
In fact, in doing that work ourselves, it has led myself down the road to repair and bring back to life other old JohnnyRudes. I have really enjoyed doing this and it has started to become a bit of a "hobby" of mine as I learn and progress.
I have recently come into the opportunity (through NO cost to me) to power our boat with a brand new Mercury 9.9 4 Stroke.
I am fairly certain my Brother-in-law would like to keep that motor, but personally I am torn between what to do in the situation.
Do we sell the 15hp (which I know, really isn't the BEST powerplant for trolling) and keep the new Mercury, or Vise-Versa?
I enjoy having the power of the 15hp for getting somewhere in a "hurry" but I have no experience with new motors.
Should I really expect the new 9.9 to be much slower than the older 15hp (esp. considering the change in how HP's were rated from then, to now)?
When/if something goes wrong with the 15hp I feel pretty confident in being able to diagnose and repair the issue. I have NO knowledge of newer 4 strokes in this regard (though I'm certain some same principles still apply).
I like the idea of the newer motor being a little quieter, a little better on fuel, better for the environment, as well as the likelihood of being a little more reliable (to begin with anyway).
With that being said, I do enjoy the nostalgia of the older motors, the sound, the smell, the fact that something that is older than I am, is still being used and going strong (I realize there are conflicting feelings here, that's part of my dilemma!).
The weight of the 9.9 is about 10lbs more (dryweight) than the 15hp, but I am not too concerned about weight, as if we're looking to get into some smaller back lakes we would probably be using one of the other motors that I have ('75-2hp; '53-3hp or '81-4.5hp).
We have a 9.9 cowling for the 15hp so we're not really restricted by HP restricted lakes, nor do we have many around that we'd be fishing. So that's really not a concern either.
I wanted to know what some other people thought of the situation and what they might do.
I invite you to share and provide your opinions!
Much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
My brother-in-law and I currently have a 12' aluminum and we are looking to upgrade to a 14' aluminum for some additional "elbow" room.
My brother-in-law and I are the primary users of the boat, mostly for fishing (most of which is trolling for Lake Trout in South-Central Ontario), we get out maybe once or twice a month from May through October, so we don't use it ALOT; pretty low running hours.
He is ~230lbs and I am ~185lbs.
Our current 12'r came with a '76 Johnson 15hp.
It runs well, we've done all the work ourselves to get it to where it is now running nicely.
In fact, in doing that work ourselves, it has led myself down the road to repair and bring back to life other old JohnnyRudes. I have really enjoyed doing this and it has started to become a bit of a "hobby" of mine as I learn and progress.
I have recently come into the opportunity (through NO cost to me) to power our boat with a brand new Mercury 9.9 4 Stroke.
I am fairly certain my Brother-in-law would like to keep that motor, but personally I am torn between what to do in the situation.
Do we sell the 15hp (which I know, really isn't the BEST powerplant for trolling) and keep the new Mercury, or Vise-Versa?
I enjoy having the power of the 15hp for getting somewhere in a "hurry" but I have no experience with new motors.
Should I really expect the new 9.9 to be much slower than the older 15hp (esp. considering the change in how HP's were rated from then, to now)?
When/if something goes wrong with the 15hp I feel pretty confident in being able to diagnose and repair the issue. I have NO knowledge of newer 4 strokes in this regard (though I'm certain some same principles still apply).
I like the idea of the newer motor being a little quieter, a little better on fuel, better for the environment, as well as the likelihood of being a little more reliable (to begin with anyway).
With that being said, I do enjoy the nostalgia of the older motors, the sound, the smell, the fact that something that is older than I am, is still being used and going strong (I realize there are conflicting feelings here, that's part of my dilemma!).
The weight of the 9.9 is about 10lbs more (dryweight) than the 15hp, but I am not too concerned about weight, as if we're looking to get into some smaller back lakes we would probably be using one of the other motors that I have ('75-2hp; '53-3hp or '81-4.5hp).
We have a 9.9 cowling for the 15hp so we're not really restricted by HP restricted lakes, nor do we have many around that we'd be fishing. So that's really not a concern either.
I wanted to know what some other people thought of the situation and what they might do.
I invite you to share and provide your opinions!
Much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
