Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Ranger 618 with 135 Opti - great motor for that boat.
Alumacraft Waterfowler 15 - with 25 hp 4-stroke Yami. Used for waterfowl, and small lakes/rivers.
The opti is great on fuel but #5 cylinder melted at 62 hours ( MW marine said it was nothing I did to it). New (not rebuilt) powerhead has been flawless has about 100 hours on it after two seasons.
The Yami has been an awesome motor; quiet, starts in like 1/2 a second whether it's 70 degree's or 10 degree's, idles smooth as butter, and sips fuel.
I had four or five ELPTO - 60 hp Mercs, they were all flawless. Previous Ranger had a 175 EFI that was on it's second power head when I purchased it, but I was always nervous with reliability on that one, was ok for me other than fuel economy, I ran it for three years.
All that being said, if I were to re-power the Ranger or buy a new rig tomorrow my choice would most likely be Suzuki or Yamaha. |
