Honda BF90

Team.

In market for new out

Team.

In market for new outboard. I have a 1989 Haines Hunter fiberglass hull 5.35m. Bare hull weight is 620kg. Maximum rated 225HJP. Hull has 22 degrees deadrise. Approx extra carry weight is 300kg.

Open water application about 50-60 miles off Northern Australian coast.

Trolling for 70% of fishing time. 30% of fishing time anchored up. No skiing or towing is anticipated.

I am weight consious and $$ are a limiting factor.

Keen on the BF90 latest model as number 1 choice.

THen ETEC 150 V6.

Then Mercury Optimax 135HP.

Both ETEC and Optimax weigh 195kg while the BF90 weighs in at 164kg.

Will 90HP Honda be enough for my rig? How will the BF90 handle the plane on following seas?

Will I be running the BF90 at it's maximum range alot more ?

What is Honda's and ETEC's answer to Mercury's 'Troll Control' - which I love.

Cam

"Cameron, weight may be a conc

"Cameron, weight may be a concern for you but the 90 is close to the bare minimum that you would want to hang on the back.

At full throttle that Honda would take you near 3 hours to get 60 miles off shore. Maybe that's ok if you are on a lesurely day out, but if the water gets nasty that could be a long dangerous run back in.

If you are looking for better control for both fishing/trolling and getting back and forth - have you considered a twin set-up? You rarely get stranded because both engines die at the same time and for trolling you can shut one down.

Otherwise, if you are set on a single engine, I would definately be looking at minimum at the 150 (either Merc or Ev or even a Yami if you like the direct injected 2 strokes) - you want to be able to get your rig back in with some haste if the need arises..."

"THansk Graham,

I would lie

"THansk Graham,

I would liek to note that the max hp rating for this hull is actually 140HP and not 225Hp as first indicated.

Hence, the 150HP is now out of equation. :-(

Next best bet Graham - Your thoughts on the ETEC115 for this hull - enough grunt? 170KG at 1.7L Capacity.

Cam"

No room for dual outbaords.

No room for dual outbaords.

You need to take a close look

You need to take a close look at Honda for price of parts and saltwater durability.Price a few parts and then decide if that is what you want.

"Cameron, a two stroke, even o

"Cameron, a two stroke, even one of these fancy new direct injected models, is still going to give you better initial kick compared with any 4 stroke out there.

That is always going to be the case where you get power on every cycle of the engine compared to power on every second cycle.

The 115 would be better than the 90 by a bit, but in overall performance they are still very close to one another at the top end.

If your choice is down to the 90 Honda or the 115 Etec, I would definately go with the ETEC, but that's a personal decision - I also wouldn't rule out the 135 Merc Optimax either.

When you are a number of miles off shore, every horse may help out...."

"Thanks Graham,

Your respon

"Thanks Graham,

Your response is typical of many other posts on other forums I have asked the same question. ETEC always just seems to squeeze out the BF90 - not by much - but enough to make the decision in my book. ETEC it will be - pretty sure. The optimax is a concern where i live in terms of lack of service and a few units here have played up and no oe can help.

If I throw the DF140 SUZI into the mix, do u still think the etec 115 woudl be a winner on my rig?

Cam
Many thanks."

"Cam, I'm probably the wro

"Cam, I'm probably the wrong guy to ask with that comparison - my personal view is, when my boat is on it's trailer hooked to my pick-up truck - the four stroke belongs at the front and the 2 stroke at the back

I wonder what is going to happen to all those 4 strokes out there when they get to be 15 or 20 years old and the dealers won't work on them anymore because they are "too old". They have been hyped up particularly over the past few years, but the bottom line is, there is a whole lot of moving parts on them that sooner or later are going to fail - not that 2 strokes don't fail, just a whole lot less things to go wrong with them...."

I know of two 4-strokes that a

I know of two 4-strokes that are at ONE dealer.Reason----- it is deemed too expensive to repair the lower unit and whatever went wrong with valve / ignition timing when the motor hit a submerged object. These 4 stroke motors will be a throw away item to those people who have to have others do the work for them.