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| Hi,
I have a 115 Suzuki 4-stroke and love the thing. Absolutely no need for a kicker for trolling in my case. Only reason I'd ever have one would be an emergency motor. I can troll at right around 2 mph, all day, without a cough, wheeze or sputter - and without fumes. Plus it's amazingly easy on gas.
As for maxing out, it depends. I didn't come close to maxing my boat out. I have a Tuffy 1760 Esox Deep V, which is rated for a 150. With the 115 I cruise at around 40 mph - fast enough for me, and the lower gas consumption, no fumes, quietness, etc. of a 4-stroke more than makes up for the loss of speed in my book. But, I bought the boat with that motor knowing it might hurt my resale value down the road. No big deal to me, as I don't plan on selling the thing any time soon, so I bought a boat for me, not the next guy to own it.
What happens when you don't max out HP really depends on the hull and motor combination though. Some hulls do just fine with power plants considerably lower than max rating, others are poor performers even when very close to max hp. Only way to know is to get as much info as you can from people with the combo you are looking at, and, ideally, do some test drives.
Cheers,
RK | |
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