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Posts: 243
Location: South Central Wisconsin | I'm pretty interested in this boat. I know it's easy to spend someone else's $$$$ but, I'm looking for rigging ideas. 112 or 80# trolling motor, kicker?, hydrolic steering probably not gonna happen (place rolleyes smiley here), what other ideas should I consider? It I get a kicker, T9.9 or 15?
Edited by Randy 6/6/2016 5:19 PM
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Posts: 386
| I've been in numerous 2000t's over the last 5 years. Most were rigged with the 115 and 1 had the F150 on it, which you can't get for that boat anymore. Hydraulic steering won't happen unless you find a used Merten's system which is highly unlikely. This boat with the 115 is VERY weight sensitive and I personally wouldn't put a 36v system in it, also the 24 v system works very well on this boat. A kicker certainly isn't needed but if you wish to have a backup engine the 9.9 is plenty. |
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Posts: 243
Location: South Central Wisconsin | I like the thought of a kicker to keep hours off of the big motor. The 15hp is less money and I believe only 9 pounds heavier than the 9.9. I would think the rpms would be less running 3-5mph creating a quieter ride. Also, you say "weight sensitive ". Are you saying it will porpoise if loaded wrong? Thanks for your input!  |
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Posts: 386
| Completely understand about wanting to keep your hours down but there's always a tradeoff. Now you're hanging 100 or so extra pounds off the transom of a heavy boat that's only got 115 ponies on the back. She's going to be pretty doggy out of the hole. Also have to add in the extra cost of the kicker. I don't know how you fish or what your intentions are for keeping the boat long term, but trolling hours in the used market aren't a big deal and the newer 4 strokes are designed to be run into thousands of hours now. The boat is underpowered with a 115, but most certainly very fishable. What I mean by weight sensitive is you have to be careful where you distribute weight in that boat because it's limited to a lower HP. An extra battery and or a kicker on the back might affect how the boat runs, depending on how much other weight and gear you have in the boat. I've never noticed any porpoising issues but having that kicker on the back isn't going to help in that department. I also don't think there will be a significant difference in performance/noise between a 9.9 and 15. |
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Posts: 135
| The WX2000T is a truly great fishing boat when paired with the F150. As mentioned already, the F115 is right on the bottom edge of things. It's fine if you're mostly fishing rivers or small/medium lakes; less so if you're fishing larger waters where rough conditions require you to be able to get up quickly and have power available so you can work the throttle. If you get one with an F115, find a way to get at least some steering assist as that's still a lot of motor to run by hand.
I also really liked the performance I got from having a T9.9 kicker when I owned that rig; however, mine was with an F150 and with an F115 I'd skip the kicker to save weight and use the big motor to troll.
For what it's worth, I recently upgraded from a T9.9 to an F15 on a different boat. I found the F15 to be noticeably quieter when trolling at 3-4mph because it's running at mid-range rpms rather than wide open. It's only 1-2mph faster top-end, but it accelerates quite a bit more quickly from a stop, and has reserve available for "bursts" out of sharp turns - this is due to simple horsepower but also prop characteristics since the prop is smaller and has meaningful pitch for forward motion. The flipside of that coin is it has a harder time stopping/reversing the boat quickly; the T9.9 was better for this due to a larger diameter prop with very flat pitch.
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Posts: 243
Location: South Central Wisconsin | I talked to a dealer and he said, "I believe skeeter is looking into some kind of steering assist." I then asked him if they are raising the hp rating back up to 150 as well. He said he didn't know but would ask his rep. Fingers crossed!! Lol
I appreciate all the help. I understand this boat won't set any speed records but, the layout appears #*^@ near perfect. I just wish there was one in the area I could jump around in. Noone seems to stock them. |
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Posts: 135
| Dealers have been saying that Yamaha/Skeeter is "looking into" tiller power steering since 2010 when Mercury bought Merten's and took it off the market. If I had a dime for every time I heard "it's coming out next year" I'd be able to buy a new boat. In fact, I heard it from a dealer again just this past weekend. Some day, maybe, but don't hold your breath. I suspect that Merten's/Mercury's patent is pretty strong, and return on investment in the large tiller market is small.
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