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Mercury 50hp elpto or 90hp elpto

jonc

New member
I'm upgrading from a 14ft

I'm upgrading from a 14ft Aluminum boat to a packaged 16.5ft The package comes with the 50hp elpto motor with the option to upgrade to either 30/40/50/60hp fourstrokes or a 90hp elpto merc.

My question is how good/reliable are the new 50/90hp elpto outboards? Is trolling out of the question without the help of a bucket(old school) or a trolling trim tab. are they still really loud?
Thx
 
"John, both the 50 and the 90

"John, both the 50 and the 90 are excellent motors with a decent history. They are however the last of the 2 strokes still being produced by Merc and the word is, their days are numbered.

Having said that, I would still buy either without an issue or second thought. They are however, just as loud as any two stroke out there.

Depending what you plan to use the boat for, you may be dissappointed with the 50. It will push along a 16 1/2 footer nicely to get you to a fishing spot, but if you plan on pulling a tube, wakeboard etc, you would really want the 90.

Ditto if speed is what you are after, the 90 wins.

For trolling you would mostly likely need a trolling plate or a kicker motor to get you down where you want to be (with either motor).

From your description it sounds like you are looking at one of the common package deals (legend, tracker etc).

If you are looking for 2 stroke performance but with the sound level of a 4 stroke, I would see if they can package it up with a 75 Optimax...."
 
"Thanks for your quick reply,

"Thanks for your quick reply, your right I'm looking at the legend Xterminator, also you answered my other question since the boat is 900#s + us & gear a 50hp might not be enough.

I would like to get the 75hp optimax however the price diff might be out of my budget the upgrade is almost twice as much to go to a 75 optimax then a 90hp elpto. what would be the main benefits of the 75hp optimax over the 90hp elpto that justifies the huge price gap?"
 
"John, I have been looking at

"John, I have been looking at exactly the same model as you are (among others). Also looking to move up from a 14 footer to something a little more comfortable.

The 2 stroke 90 is a great motor and there is thousands of them out there. If you are looking to keep the initial costs down, that is definately the way to go and well worth the extra couple grand they want to upgrade from the 50.

The Optimax is a direct injected 2 stroke - super quiet, and burns about half the fuel that the 90 would.

It is just as complicated as a 4 stroke (technically), but a whole lot less parts to go bad and maintain (no valves to adjust etc). It's the new "2 stroke" comparable with Evinrude's ETEC and Yamaha and Tohatsu's DFI's.

But yes, the cost is up there (about 7k more I think).

The boat itself is excellent - built by Smokercraft/Starcraft for Legend. But definately needs a little more than a 50. That's just there to create an attractive starting sticker price...

Personally, I would like to pick up one without a motor and then I would stick a direct injected 70 horse Tohatsu on the back - can't believe I said that out loud, have owned and worked on Merc's for over 20 years now
"
 
"Graham, thanks for the info,

"Graham, thanks for the info, I've been reading a few posts on this site and noticed ppl recommend removing the oil injection due to possible failure(oil injection pump I assume) would the newer elpto motors have this issue? or are the 05-06 ELPTO motors just the same as all the standard 2 strokes for the past 20-30 years?"
 
"John, Merc has come along way

"John, Merc has come along way with their oil injection.

Personally, I wouldn't remove it right from the start, but at the first sign of problems I would go to mixing gas (which I don't see as the tremendous chore that the mfg's advertise).

The oil system on this motor is gear driven, variable rate (80:1 at idle/50:1 at WOT) and so far, fairly reliable.

The most common problem on these motors is the sensors (oil and temp). They are built cheap - very simple design and they do fail. But they are relatively inexpensive.

Aside from that, the 90's have a good reputation for being a well built, quite durable motor. And whether others will admit it or not, a 90 Merc can beat the snot out of pretty much any other 90 horse on the market. This is probably one of Merc's best engines in the larger horsepower group...."
 
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