Outboard size for Mac 26M

[Catigale]

I did replace the super stretchy starter cord that Mercury provided with some stout nylon line....compression ratio would be the only difference between these motors that would explain a big difference in starting ease - I doubt they are that different....

[Doupirate]

With the small motor, you have to enter the trailer at the ramp with a full ballast tank.

You also have to keep the same water in the tank all season long.

But it is less expensive and easier to handle, remove, etc.

When I change my 50 HP Honda, it will be for this:

http://www.cast-aways.com/d27.htm

Indestructible.

[Catigale]

You can blow the tank with compressed air quite easily without motoring. Couple of people here have done this.

When I retire I will likely get rid of the EFI engine for a smaller carb engine that I can always fix with a small number of cheap parts....or maybe not. I do think you want remote throttle at least and gear shifting is nice too.

[robbarnes1965]

Interesting diesel!

I would not be worried about emptying the tank if you plan to sail mostly. I add some javel to the tank when it starts to get funky.

Catigale, my Honda came with a nylon "emergency" starter cord and handle. I found the main problem was that the pull required would have me smashing my elbow on the pedestal or somewhere else in the cockpit.There was no direct line to pull at. It seemed simply impossible.

Rob

[Kittiwake]

I have a 50 HP motor on my 2002 Mac 26 M. The builder proscribes any bigger engine. Some 60 HP owners have geometry problems once installed.

My use of a 50 HP motor is limited to emptying the ballast tank while motoring every second month, replacing with fresher water and new swimming pool chlorine, or emptying the ballast tank, hence lifting the boat floatation line, before the nightmare operation of putting the boat on the trailer.
....

Doupirate, this latter bit (above) is something I had been looking for: I began wondering about frequency of 'refreshing' ballast water, & amount/frequency of chlorine use, since the manual is non-quantitative about these issues. Of course it will depend on ballast water temperature and source. In the end, this summer I resorted to dumping ballast prior to docking if I was mooring for weeks on end (did not know how much chlorine to add, or how often).

Canmac27, the following seems less than super-relevant to you since I am into ocean boating. But with regard to some of the comments on this thread; I sail a 2010 26M with the 60 E-tec that seems to have been favoured by Roger for this boat (tuned now for XD-100). I am very happy with it as a choice in the range 50-90 hp. It is quiet and fuel efficient for tootling at 4-5 mph. It gets you to the widely-advertised Mac26 18-19 mph limit dependably (which a 50 hp may not?) .... and I have the impression that, while a 90 hp should give more water-ski clout, it may not add much in top speed. And, while I do not use the sails most of the time; when I do, I leave the engine lower-end in the water for ease of steering (engine does not flop around) without significant apparent drag.
Sometimes I find it quite desirable to run for several hours at close to (or even above) planing speed ... and of course the 60 hp takes this in stride.

Kittiwake

[mastreb]

When I asked Mike Inmon about small motor choices, he preferred the Mercury 9.9. Easy to buy retail (West Marine or anywhere else) and can be mounted by the owner with its throttle arm can be pointed up. Does not need to be dealer mounted for the warranty to be effective. I believe its possible to mount it fixed and just use the rudders for steerage, so the only thing you need to reach back for is throttle position. And you can put a throttle lock on it for long term motoring. It will get the boat up to hull speed of 7 knots just fine.

Should you ever get a bigger motor, it's small enough to be mounted on a kicker plate for secondary propulsion and can be used on a larger dinghy. Consider that before you buy any larger motor--you'll be wasting anything bigger than a 9.9 having no secondary use.

There's no point in buying a motor between 15 and 50hp. Engines in that range don't get you up on a plane, and while they can plow above hull speed, it's incredibly inefficient and uses a ton of gas. 50hp is the bare minimum for planing, and that's not great. A practical minimum is 60hp, with the 70s and 90s being the preferred motors on this board. There are a few people here with 115s and even a 140, but I think even they acknowledge that it's too much power (although it hasn't caused any issues I'm aware of other than being too large).

I have an ETEC-60 and love it, but I don't care about planing, it's just there for getting back to port before nightfall as far as I'm concerned.

[Divecoz]

#1 Issue BIG BUCKS! For New TTBOMK No Local Dealers and ther by parts...
#2. are they now allowing these to be operated in Canada ?
#3. Very Heavy for the HP rating... Noisy
#4. Gas is everywhere.. not so with diesel..
#5. Don't forget the cost $$$ of a fuel polisher $$$ Diesel goes bad very quick in a Marine Environment..
#6.. Are you familiar with / have owned yourself a Diesel Engine??

These and the ( 3 Cyl?) Diesel ...Ford Rangers are both Very Popular in SE Asia..
Claims you can pull start it? Hum I'd try that one.... for sure.. A Diesel Requires Lots of compression to "fire" not spark or glow..

With the small motor, you have to enter the trailer at the ramp with a full ballast tank.

You also have to keep the same water in the tank all season long.

But it is less expensive and easier to handle, remove, etc.

When I change my 50 HP Honda, it will be for this:

http://www.cast-aways.com/d27.htm

Indestructible.

[rfrye94760]

It gets you to the widely-advertised Mac26 18-19 mph limit dependably (which a 50 hp may not?) ....

Kittiwake

...just checked the MacGregor website, still advertising 24mph under power with a 60HP. Nope, never gonna happen. 18-19mph is easily doable though with the 60.

[Catigale]

I have no problems getting to 24 knots with my 60 HP tow vehicle....

[hoaglandr]

FWIW my used came with a Yamaha 50. After having used it for a year, I sometimes wish it had more hp. Best I can do is around 15 mph w/o ballast. On the other hand, I don't really need to go any faster and WOT just burns though the gas that much faster. It's also a lot noisier at speed. Most of the time we are in that 5-8 mph range.

If I was buying a new boat, the size of the motor would be a major consideration. For a used boat, I think buyers are more likely just to go with what is already installed. For me it was my first boat, and if I had to go out and buy/install a motor I probably would have bought a different boat.

Russell

[bartmac]

We run a 15hp 4 stroke Suzuki c/w a special high thrust prop....more than adequate so far.Electric start and controls to steering AND manual rope start..we reach hull speed easily

[Octaman]

With all due respect . . .

Not having a large enough outboard that will move the Mac at speeds much higher than the typical sailboat (that is not a power-sailor) defeats the major reason for owning a Mac (my humble opinion).
If speed under power is not your priority, you may be better off with a different boat that has much better sailing characteristics. If you do away with the thrill of speed under power, you must compensate with a thrill under sail. And the Mac cannot do that.

I believe you may one day regret putting a small engine on the Mac. Even if you do not speed often, there will be moments where you will just wish you had more power.

You may save money going for a bigger motor from start.

I am super happy with my Suzuki 1.950cc/100hp – lots of torque – you may also wish to check out this thread
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=17285
that gives a full analysis of my choice and a video of the ‘beast’ performing.

Enjoy and good luck with your final choice.

At the end of the day . . . it is about whatever does it for you. No comments there.

Octaman

[Catigale]

You cant find a 26 footer with the cruising accommodation capacity of the Mac IMHO. I've done 7 up on the Mac for a week on anchor, and was more comfortable than three up on an Ericson 32!

For those only interested in hull speed or less, the small motor choice saves you about 5kUSD ?..enough to buy two Harpoons !!

[Mac26Mpaul]

Would agree with Catigale there as we certainly dont own the Mac for its bigger motor (rarely go over 6 or 7 knots actually). The most important (by far) thing about the Mac for us (especially the wife) is the huge internal volume and full headroom, and not the bigger motor. Its the best trailerable floating caravan on the market and that is our primary reason for owning the boat.

Mind you, they reckon sailboats spend 90 percent of their time either at anchor or under motor, and I have to say, the Mac is infinately better than my last trailer sailer with its small outboard. The reason is that cruising at 6 knots with a 50hp motor gives you a nice quite enjoyable ride allowing you to listen to music or talk in the cockpit, but cruising with a very small outboard screaming at WOT is downright annoying and not something I could do for hour after hour like most other trailer sailer sailors have too (and I used to in my last boat..)

[Ixneigh]

Having owned my M for almost a year now, I feel that for me personally the ability to plans the boat is secondary.
The conditions where I live are such that there is rarely a flat calm day.
Anything else and this boat is very very wet so I don't run the boat like that.
At 3.5 miles per gallon it is too fuel hungry to use on full plane for long trips anyway. I carry only 14 gallons of fuel.
That said at hull speed the etec is very quiet and gets good mileage. However it is a complicated beast. I am giving some thought to selling the motor and going to a carbed Honda 25 or similar.
For my use a 15 is too small. You need to be able to kick it into windy weather and a 15 ain't going to do that. I mean 35 knots with 3 foot chop. I've drug anchor and needed to get going in bad conditions. Power beyond just what is needed for hull speed is a must. I have enjoyed the etec and it's a thrill to go out on those flat days however. My goal is to take the yacht deep into the hinterlands where any mechanic let alone etec qualified ones, are few. Thus the reason for the old style carbed engine.

Ixneigh.