89' rude 20 or 72 rude 25 which is better?

[Tahiti warrior 502]

I have what I think is a 89 evinrude 20 hp, and a 72 Johnson seahorse 25.

My question is this. If you were only going to keep one motor which motor would it be and why?

I'm using a 1460 semi v bottom fishing boat and just want the most dependable engine on the boat... I plan on duck hunting so I don't want engine troubles when its cold out!!!

Thanks for any input!

 

[racerone]

What does " dependable " mean to you?-----I believe the 72 model has 2 ( two ) ignition systems.----If one fails the motor will still run on 1 cylinder to get you home.-----But you have to know / want to learn how to maintain that simple magneto.-----Or if you know nothing than get the 89 model and pay the shop once a season the keep it in good condition.

 

[Crosbyman]

remember the story on a man showing a poor man how to catch fish..... versus giving him fish..... so he could feed himself for the rest of his life.

learning to fix things like a simple magneto is in my humble opinion the better avenue to personnal satistaction and keeping your wallet money for beer.

if the older motor was taken care of with TLC it will give you many more years of dependable service like this 1966 9.5hp I depend on in case my modern electronic marvel goes RIP 10 miles out.

 

[flyingscott]

Get the 89 20 hp. It's newer and has a better lower unit on it. It will also be a lot more powerful with better parts availability going forward. As far as the 72 model are you willing to take a small arsenal of tools to fix the magneto if it fails. A CDI failure is a 10 minute fix If you carry a spare.

 

[Tahiti warrior 502]

What does " dependable " mean to you?-----I believe the 72 model has 2 ( two ) ignition systems.----If one fails the motor will still run on 1 cylinder to get you home.-----But you have to know / want to learn how to maintain that simple magneto.-----Or if you know nothing than get the 89 model and pay the shop once a season the keep it in good condition.

What does " dependable " mean to you?-----I believe the 72 model has 2 ( two ) ignition systems.----If one fails the motor will still run on 1 cylinder to get you home.-----But you have to know / want to learn how to maintain that simple magneto.-----Or if you know nothing than get the 89 model and pay the shop once a season the keep it in good condition.

Mostly I was wanting to know if either one had weaknesses over the other. Both motors run great! The 72 is electric and rope start. The 89 is rope only. I can do the maintenance on either engine, however I dont know a lot about either engine because I was born in 89 lol. Just didn't know if either engine was plagued with issues over the other. I just had to replace both sets of coils magnito and points! Just don't need 2 engines around for one boat. So I plan on selling the one I dont use!

 

[Tahiti warrior 502]

Get the 89 20 hp. It's newer and has a better lower unit on it. It will also be a lot more powerful with better parts availability going forward. As far as the 72 model are you willing to take a small arsenal of tools to fix the magneto if it fails. A CDI failure is a 10 minute fix If you carry a spare.

I was thinking that exact thing. Not sure how hard replacement parts will be to find on a motor thats 50 years old!! It runs fine just thought the 1989 would have better technology and less wear!

 

[Crosbyman]

as to parts for the ignition on magnetos they are available but recently points have been subject to poor quality and sometimes don't fit...

all up to you.

 

[jimmbo]

The newer one also has considerably more Displacement and thus more Torque, and doesn't have to rev as High to get the rated hp. It has, as been mentioned earlier, a stronger Gearcase spinning a Larger Prop. One other little tidbit, the 72 is a crank rated motor, the 89 is a prop rated motor and in all likelihood, is actually more powerful

 

[Tahiti warrior 502]

Thank you sir that is what I wanted to know!!

The newer one also has considerably more Displacement and thus more Torque, and doesn't have to rev as High to get the rated hp. It has, as been mentioned earlier, a stronger Gearcase spinning a Larger Prop. One other little tidbit, the 72 is a crank rated motor, the 89 is a prop rated motor and in all likelihood, is actually more powerful

 

[909]

I have gotten rid of all my older motors from the 70's and 80's and replaced them with motors from the 90's and 2000's.

I would start looking for a newer 35 and get rid of them both !

 

[F_R]

Having owned both, my pick would be the '89 20hp, hands down. Don't be afraid of the CD ignition.