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| Looking for some advice on repowering my 1996 692VS.
I smoked a lower unit on the 175 Faststrike and unless I can happen to find a good used one I am thinking about just repowering it.
Any opinions? I would like to stay at max power (175) but would consider a 150 if it would be a considerable savings. |
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Posts: 395
Location: NW WI | 175 Suzuki 4S gets my vote. Power, quiet and sips fuel. |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | 175 Mercury Pro XS, probably be your least expensive, most fuel efficient and best performance option. Fourstrokes typically run more on average. |
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| Ifishskis - 5/28/2011 5:13 PM
175 Suzuki 4S gets my vote. Power, quiet and sips fuel. my vote is Suzuki as well. I have a 150 which is the same basic block as the 175. I troll down for walleyes with this thing and can go 50 with my 19 foot tournament sport.
I really checked around before deciding on Suzuki and for quiet, clean, and dependable motors this won out.
It is unreal how quiet and smooth it is. I constantly have to look back to see if its running. On opener I trolley with it non stop for 5 hrs and never a hiccup. Highest speed that day was 3.2 LOL |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | Not sure if you can make it to MN, but i know a guy who rebuilds two-strokes and for a great price. He does some awesome work! |
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| im actually in mn.
its just the lower unit. but a rebuilt one costs about as much as the motor is worth so I'm hoping to find a used one to replace it with. OR, i am hoping it is soemthing i can fix myself.
I really like the boat so I would not be afraid to repower it, in fact when I bought it my thought was to run it until the Johnson had some major issue then repower it then i would be good for quite a few yrs.
any idea what a 175 Suzuki repower might cost?
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| Guest - 5/30/2011 11:24 AM
im actually in mn.
its just the lower unit. but a rebuilt one costs about as much as the motor is worth so I'm hoping to find a used one to replace it with. OR, i am hoping it is soemthing i can fix myself.
I really like the boat so I would not be afraid to repower it, in fact when I bought it my thought was to run it until the Johnson had some major issue then repower it then i would be good for quite a few yrs.
any idea what a 175 Suzuki repower might cost?
and / or a recommendation of a place to get it done? |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | I'll get you his number next time he's in the office. He sells big two strokes all the time. Guys super smart. BS from Norte Dame in Engineering and he raced power boats when he was younger. I owe him since he helped me so much with mine  |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | RJ,
This is Pete's number. I spoke with him about your situation, and he thinks he has a gearcase for your engine.
651-329-2330
Good luck,
Dave
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| Thanks man...I'll give him a call!!!!
I owe you one!!! |
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Posts: 582
| my vote would be a suzuki DF175. I have one, fantastic motor and may even be less money than the proXS. Suzuki is pretty reasonably priced compared to the big 3. |
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| I recieved a quite today that would put a 175 Suzuki @ $14,000 installed (tax, rigging, controls & guages), that is more than what I was thinking it would be. Waiting for a few more to come back.
It sounds as if there is limited availability on the 175 right now, maybe pushing up the price??? |
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| Have you checked on a 150? I saved quite a bit over a 175 when I got mine last year. Too speed on same boat is only different by 1 or 2 mph. Plus I can run a different prop which if it were used on the 175 it would overrev. Two identically prepped boats, one with a 150 and the other with 175 the 150 beat it out of the hole. I guess I shouldn't say identically cuz the prop was different but that's it. I think I paid $12800 for mine. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | umm the prop is a HUGE factor when getting out of the hole.... HUGE.... imo if you are going to re-power a boat put the MAX HP on it.... I personally would not buy a boat that isn't at the max hp... I'm sure there are others like me out there too...in any case I put a 175 Suzuki 4 stroke on my 690VS and couldn't be happier..it has about 350 hrs on it now and hasn't skipped a beat in 3 seasons...pushes it about 52 mph with 2 guys and normal load... quiet and runs great...they run around 13k |
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| I have not checked on 150's, but looking they are the same displacement and have the same gear ratio, so depending on the power curve they might not act much different. |
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| do the 690 & 692 both use 20" motors? I am pretty sure thats what I have on mine now, I'll have to double check. |
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| BNelson - 6/1/2011 7:48 AM
umm the prop is a HUGE factor when getting out of the hole.... HUGE.... imo if you are going to re-power a boat put the MAX HP on it.... I personally would not buy a boat that isn't at the max hp... I'm sure there are others like me out there too...in any case I put a 175 Suzuki 4 stroke on my 690VS and couldn't be happier..it has about 350 hrs on it now and hasn't skipped a beat in 3 seasons...pushes it about 52 mph with 2 guys and normal load... quiet and runs great...they run around 13k
You have a point, but a 225 on my boat is not needed. Why spend the thousands of dollars more, add a bunch more weight for only a couple mph? Like I said, I can get better performance out of the hole while using the lower pitched prop on my 150 than I could with a 175. The only difference is the 175 has like 1 to 2 mph on top. I also can troll down much better. Bigger isnt always better. I did tons of research before I bought this setup and there was no compelling reason to go bigger unless my wallet was just too fat. I decided to save the thousands of dollars and put that toward more important things like my kids' college than chest thumping because I have a big motor on my boat when it really offers no benefits to outweigh the cost difference. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I have a few questions for you Captain....
1. your boat could take a 225 but you put a 150 on it?? or are you saying it is maxed at 175 and you put a 150 on it.
2. where are you coming up with " a bunch more weight" you might want to look at the specs of 150s vs 175s...they are virtually the same weight..
3. thousands of dollars? 150 vs 175? huh?
in any case, imo a boat that is rated for a 175 is better w a 175 vs 150....to each their own...but there are a lot of guys that when you go to sell your boat will not buy it because it doesn't have a 175 vs 150 on it... if I'm going to buy a boat whether it's maxed at 175 or 250 I'm going to buy the boat w the max hp...
Edited by BNelson 6/1/2011 9:32 AM
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| BNelson - 6/1/2011 9:28 AM
I have a few questions for you Captain....
1. your boat could take a 225 but you put a 150 on it?? or are you saying it is maxed at 175 and you put a 150 on it.
2. where are you coming up with " a bunch more weight" you might want to look at the specs of 150s vs 175s...they are virtually the same weight..
3. thousands of dollars? 150 vs 175? huh?
in any case, imo a boat that is rated for a 175 is better w a 175 vs 150....to each their own...but there are a lot of guys that when you go to sell your boat will not buy it because it doesn't have a 175 vs 150 on it... if I'm going to buy a boat whether it's maxed at 175 or 250 I'm going to buy the boat w the max hp...
Sorry, after reading my last post, I realized it could be misinterpretted. You referenced going max HP for the boat, which mine is rated at 225. The dealership I bought my boat from rarely puts max HP on the boats they sell and insists on in-water test drives. It only took a couple for me to realize there was no need or real benefit to goiing to 225 for my boat.
The weight and costs references were comparing a 150 to a 225 not a 175 because weight-wise they are negligible and cost is not a whole lot different. The 150 and 175 are essentially the same motor.
For reference my buddy has the same hull as me, but a tiller and his boat is rated for 90HP. In this case I agree completely that max HP is important, but in mine I dont think so. His boat does 34 mph, while mine has seen 50 with 4 people in it, but little gas in the tank. Now I see more along the lines of 46.
Going to a 225 for me would have seen about 5 or 6 mph increase, its not worth it to me at all.
I think if others spent the time I did before buying they would realize it really isnt necessary in all cases. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | what boat do you have? I hope you are right when you go to sell it but if I looked at a 620 dual console ranger w a 150 on it I wouldn't give it a second glance...and 5-6 mph difference I think is way under...you put a 150 on a 620 dual console and I think you'd be lucky to get 50...a 225 on it you can get 60 or more propped right. 10mph when fish are going could be the difference between 50 more casts at prime time..."seconds count" ...
150 on a boat maxed at 225 to me is way underpowered....
Edited by BNelson 6/1/2011 10:45 AM
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| I have a 185 Alumacraft Tournament Sport, its 18'11" in length. Trust me, on this boat a 225 doesnt add much for top end I have driven one with a 225 on it back to back with 150 and 175. Yes, it was faster, but it just isnt worth it IMO.
I kept my last boat for 15 years, so I am sure I will be keeping this one that long as well.
I have no doubts that motor makes a bigger difference on some boats, but not all.
I drove a 20 foot Patriot with a 150 on it a couple years ago and that thing was insane fast. I dont recall what the boat was rated for, but probably a 250. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | if you say so...guess 75 more hp on that boat to me propped right would be more than 5mph top end...75 hp is a lot of hp not to have....in any case...for this debate on a 692 I'd go w a 175 all day vs a 150. |
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Posts: 797
Location: North Central IL USA | Isn't the ratio for every 7HP increase there's a 1MPH increase? |
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| BNelson - 6/1/2011 10:58 AM
if you say so...guess 75 more hp on that boat to me propped right would be more than 5mph top end...75 hp is a lot of hp not to have....in any case...for this debate on a 692 I'd go w a 175 all day vs a 150.
You have to remember as you increase HP, rpm usually increases as well so propping plays a huge role. If you use my prop on your 175 it would overrev, but on the 150 its perfect at least in my application. I can't speak for your boat since I know nothing about it but I would be surprised if you would even notice a difference between the 150 and 175. Either way the Suzuki outboards are impressive and I spent kits of time with the others trying to figure out which was best. So far its unreal! |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | BNelson - 6/1/2011 10:58 AM
if you say so...guess 75 more hp on that boat to me propped right would be more than 5mph top end...75 hp is a lot of hp not to have....in any case...for this debate on a 692 I'd go w a 175 all day vs a 150.
yeah agreed. 75HP is a 50% increase in power for a 150HP engine.
btw, my 690 goes 57mph on the gps 
My power boat racer buddy has tweaked my set-up a little. old 93' mercury 175. |
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Posts: 2076
| Captain......your boat max HP rating is 175 not 225. If you put a 225 on that boat it would do 60mph +
And that is for the 185 trophy....actually if you have the 185 sport you may have MAX HP already? What year is it?:
http://www.alumacraft.com/2011-models/competitor-series/185-sport/#...
Edited by IAJustin 6/1/2011 2:19 PM
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Its a 2006 model. It is 18'11" not 18'3" like the models are since 2007.
Actually, I just looked at my boat over lunch and it is only rated for a 200, not a 225. The model you referenced is the Competitor, completely different boat. I know it "replaced" the Tournament line, but they are different. No wide gunnels among other differences. |
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| I generally am all for MAX HP too, but I do find it interesting performance with the different HP ratings.
Take the optimax 2.5L engines (135, 150 & 175)
175 - 2.5L, 1:87 Gear Ratio, 431 lbs, 5750 Max RPM
150 - 2.5L, 1:87 Gear Ratio, 431 lbs, 5750 Max RPM
135 - 2.5L, 2:00 Gear Ratio, 431 lbs, 5750 Max RPM
So lets assume we have an identical boat for all three engines:
By the Math, if you ran a perfectly propped 175 you would get X mph @ 5750 rpm, if you took that prop and put it on a 150 it would likely be a bit heavy and turn slightly lower RPM say it is 5500 (due to less HP), RPM X the Gear Ratio (1:87) would make the 150 X amount slower, I'm sure there is an exact formula, i just don't have it. Now if you took that same prop and put it on the 135, your MAX RPM may be similar to the 150 because of the lower gear ratio (2:00) but would be considerably slower.
OF course the idea with proper prop selection is to maximize the RPM for optimal performance so you would likely go a bit lighter for the 150 to get the RPM back. By the numbers you will not be able to equal the 175 but it will not be out of the picture. Now depending on the HP curves the lighter prop may actually help the 150 out of the hole if the ventilation is not perfected on the 175. The idea of the lower 2:00 ratio on the 135 is to help it get up and going and is why basic 135 performance is acceptable, usually just slower than it big brothers. This is the very reason some of the variable pitch props perform so well at both low and high speeds. You just have to pay through the nose for them.
If prop selection was spot on and optimized for both the 150 & 175 by the numbers the 175 should always be slightly better performing than the 150. Math does not lie. But I don't think most of us have the time or resources to do that so we always end up in some type of comprimise.
It would be interesting to find some HP / Torque curves on some of these engines as usually the 150 & 175 share displacement and gear ratios. |
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| Rj, you are exactly right. I have a 19 pitch prop on my 150. The 175 comes with a 21. If you run the 19 on the 175 it overrevs. My dealer tested side by side same boat, one with 150 and the other 175 with the props I mentioned. The 150 got the holeshot every time but the 175 had mire tip end to the tune of 1 or 2 mph on gps. I cared more about getting on plane. Granted I could've gotten the 175, put the 19 pitch prop on it and just watched the tach, but if properly setup you hammer it down and never reach max rpm which is what I have now.
I would say the 175 does perform better since there is higher top speed but the trade off is slightly poorer holeshot and then higher trolling speeds which were important to me. |
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175 Repower Options