98X wants 90hp or not?

[Starscream]

I guess it all depends on how and where you use the boat as to which motor suits you best.

For us, sailing on mostly on inland protected waters, with kids, the 90 HP just makes sense. We can get places for day-trips that we just couldn't do with a 50.

Last week, we did a 1000 islands trip in Ontario. Our first day's plan went like this: it was predicted to be totally windless, with flat waters on the St. Lawrence. We planned to wake up in the parking lot of Mallorytown landing, explore the kids eco-museum and playpark for a couple of hours, then launch the boat and "drive" to Heart Island in the USA to clear customs. Explore Boldt Castle, then head 10 miles back downriver to explore Singer Castle on Dark Island, then 11 miles back to Alexandria Bay for the night. It didn't work out like that because of the amount of time we spent at Mallorytown landing, but the point is, with a 90 HP on the back you can do things like that.

In ocean waters, I don't know if the 90 would be useful at all. I haven't sailed in the ocean, but even with 1-2 ft waves you can't use any of the potential of the 90. At speed, you slam off the waves and vibrate every piece of fiberglass on the boat. It really is a flat-water thing. I suspect the times that a 90 could hit WOT on unprotected waters would be few and far-between.

I have to say, though, the feel of a good hole-shot with the wheel hard over is quite something. The boat just leaps up like it's flying, and leans hard over into the turn just beautifully. If you are sitting forward in the cockpit, it really feels like flying for a second or two. Last year I had some great fun doing sharp circles with a jetski and jumping each others' wake. The boat can take it...no problems so far. Of course I don't do things like that with family on board, but I wanted to get a feel for handling in all circumstances and if the boat structure was going to fail, that was the time for it to happen.

With waves, the Etec 90 cruises at about 6.5 knots at 2100 RPM almost regardless of loading. I don't have fuel economy figures but I am sure I could run all day like that on a single 9 gallon tank. It must be well over 10mpg at that setting. But it's not quiet, and in my opinion the E-Tec 90 is not a good long-range cruising motor because of that. But like I said, for how we use the boat, I still think that it was the right choice.

[darrenj]

The main reason my wife decided a new motor was worth while was because the noise of the Tohatsu 50 that came with the boat.
Not being able to talk when motoring at 5 - 6 knots due to the sound of the motor was not fun at all.

Since 'quite' was our number 1 reason for a new motor we wanted the Suzuki because we had been in other boats with the motor and it is really quite.

The reason we went with the 90 is that it could swing a big prop and so run at a lower RPM than a smaller motor thus reducing the noise even further.

Having the extra power is a bonus but we do still spend 95% of our time doing 6 knots or less.
The fuel economy is good. We run 5 - 6 knots over water and burn 0.6 to 0.8 gallons per hour.

[Herschel]

In ocean waters, I don't know if the 90 would be useful at all. I haven't sailed in the ocean, but even with 1-2 ft waves you can't use any of the potential of the 90. At speed, you slam off the waves and vibrate every piece of fiberglass on the boat. It really is a flat-water thing. I suspect the times that a 90 could hit WOT on unprotected waters would be few and far-between.

Appreciate your making that point. Sitting with a 50 H.P. Yamaha as my power base, I can only extrapolate from that. My son has a 22 ft. center console with a 150 Yamaha, and I can feel the solid performance of that boat designed for that engine when he goes into a turn at high speed and hits some turbulence. It sort of tells me what "good" at that speed ought to feel like in that situation. My speculation is that my X would not feel as solid as that in the same conditions going the same speed. Even with a 50, WOT has it limitations in certain circumstances.

[gyroplanes]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I sold a few toys and have the cash for a 90 conversion. I have 3 Suzuki dealers within 60 miles of me.

• Should I let one of the dealers do the install? I am an aircraft mechanic and really don't think it would be too hard to install a 90.
  
  What length motor, I believe they have 20" & 25" (one said 25', but I assume that is a typo and out of the question anyway)
  
  "Get a 6-10" jackplate prine/seal it with Tuff Stuff & paint it right" What is a jackplate?
  
  Is the control lever fwd for fwd and aft for aft (not up and down like my Tohatsu 50's)
  
  I see a MSRP of $10,000 for a 2016 Suzuki DF90A. Can I expect to pay XX% less? I will play the dealers against one another.

Any tips or hints (like 6061-T6 3/8" thick aluminum stiffeners in & out)

Once again, thanks so much. I put my in the slip April 15 and have not been on it yet. My season starts now.
Tom

[Gazmn]

see retry

[Gazmn]

Should I let one of the dealers do the install? I am an aircraft mechanic and really don't think it would be too hard to install a 90.

What length motor, I believe they have 20" & 25" (one said 25', but I assume that is a typo and out of the question anyway)

"Get a 6-10" jackplate prine/seal it with Tuff Stuff & paint it right" What is a jackplate?

Is the control lever fwd for fwd and aft for aft (not up and down like my Tohatsu 50's)

1. Non Dealer install may void or lessen your warrantee

2. You want the 20" shaft

3. See below

4. See dealer for control lever options. Mine are basically up & down : Fwd & Rvs




A Picture is worth a thousand words:

The Blue is a 10" Jackplate. Bass boats mainly use them to get their props up higher in skinny water. I found it helped raise my motor ~ 5"s which helps it stay completely out the water when lifted up. Also sets right cavitation to hull bottom height. It is painted with an epoxy barrier coat, Tuff Stuff fr SeaHawk & then a bottom paint suitable for Aluminum or metal, so there's no more EXTRA galvanic corrosion
eg:-That's white Tuff Stuff in pic above ladder. I used it to seal transom when I raised bottom paint line. Note pink cap showing motor well drain.

Notice the amount of extra real estate I got putting my motor back on a jack plate. While I sawed off the horizontal of my captain's seat for extra cockpit room. It also removes any thought of hitting the hinged seat. I covered over my SS steering bars, so I gained almost 30"s with the motor moved back. It's also very easy entry/exit off stern ladder, in or out of water

PS: I also switched my Captain seat hinge from Port to Starboard to free up area by my rear boarding ladder

[Signaleer]

Should I let one of the dealers do the install? I am an aircraft mechanic and really don't think it would be too hard to install a 90.

What length motor, I believe they have 20" & 25" (one said 25', but I assume that is a typo and out of the question anyway)

"Get a 6-10" jackplate prine/seal it with Tuff Stuff & paint it right" What is a jackplate?

Is the control lever fwd for fwd and aft for aft (not up and down like my Tohatsu 50's)

1. Non Dealer install may void or lessen your warrantee

2. You want the 20" shaft

3. See below

4. See dealer for control lever options. Mine are basically up & down : Fwd & Rvs




A Picture is worth a thousand words:

The Blue is a 10" Jackplate. Bass boats mainly use them to get their props up higher in skinny water. I found it helped raise my motor ~ 5"s which helps it stay completely out the water when lifted up. Also sets right cavitation to hull bottom height. It is painted with an epoxy barrier coat, Tuff Stuff fr SeaHawk & then a bottom paint suitable for Aluminum or metal, so there's no more EXTRA galvanic corrosion
eg:-That's white Tuff Stuff in pic above ladder. I used it to seal transom when I raised bottom paint line. Note pink cap showing motor well drain.

Notice the amount of extra real estate I got putting my motor back on a jack plate. While I sawed off the horizontal of my captain's seat for extra cockpit room. It also removes any thought of hitting the hinged seat. I covered over my SS steering bars, so I gained almost 30"s with the motor moved back. It's also very easy entry/exit off stern ladder, in or out of water

PS: I also switched my Captain seat hinge from Port to Starboard to free up area by my rear boarding ladder

Dude, I want your boat.

[Terry]

I have to second the vote for Yamaha 70, best power to weight ratio available for an outboard, and best match for an M. I have seen a few 90s on the X and think that is best for the X with it's flatter hull. Over all though the ability to swing a 14" prop is the main advantage of any repower decision.

[Gazmn]

Dude, I want your boat.

Thanks Bro... me too - or at least the time to enjoy it

[gyroplanes]

I did it, I pulled the trigger. Funny, 3 dealers near me. One never bothered to call me back, that other two were close in price, so I chose the closest.
When I told them the Suzi 90 was for a sailboat, the owner asked "what kind". when I told him it was a 26X power sailor, he said "they did one last year or so, but it was a 70HP"

They hedged around my request to have the throttle lever vertical, so fwd is fwd and aft is aft. They said I probably wouldn't have enough room to turn the cables.

When I went for my last Tohatsu motorboat experience, the motor seemed to have a failing fuel pump. Squeezing the primer now and then got us home.

I forgot how horribly sloppy my steering was. I believe I tried to take the play of the rack last year to no avail. I remember seeing that the PO had replaced the whole unit (Or cable) at some point. Since I am fixing up the boat, I thought about replacing the helm with a Baystar unit. I found their website to be fairly useless, and found several threads on here, but none with model numbers for use with the 26X.

You guys have been a ton og help to me since I got my 26X years ago. I promise to repay.
Thanks, Tom

[Herschel]

They hedged around my request to have the throttle lever vertical, so fwd is fwd and aft is aft. They said I probably wouldn't have enough room to turn the cables.

My Yamaha dealer voiced the same concerns, but his tech finally found a remote reference in their tech manual for mounting the controls "backwards" that is on the right of the pedestal so forward is forward and aft is aft. I should think that it is doable, just requires some creativity from the techs since they are so used to mounting the throttles differently on motor boats.

[Starscream]

Congratulations, you're going to LOVE it. My boat came alive with the 90 and offered up a whole new world with added range and activities and running around at 20mph with full ballast.

What prop are they suggesting to start you off with? My stupid ETEC dealer put a 14x17 on at first because they had no experience with a Mac. With the 2.0 gear ratio of the ETEC it only hit 3k rpm. If I had to guess, a 14x15 would be where I would start with the Suzuki 90 but then again I don't have one and that's only a little better than a guess.

[gyroplanes]

I asked for an Amita 13.75- 14 prop per recommendations on here. 6 degree wedge, etc. I am excited. I need to fix the sloppy steering or I will be weaving all over the lake.

I plan a Fall cruise to a foreign port or two. If I enjoy cruising (mainly sleeping in a MAC) I'd like to do an around-the-lake trip (Lake Michigan) as I have driven around it and flown around it.......... I think sailing around it would be the best.

I will ask this before a search because I am on here.

Will my rudder cleats handle a bridle for tubing, skiing or wake boarding? Any experience pulling with a MACX26?

[C Buchs]

Will my rudder cleats handle a bridle for tubing, skiing or wake boarding? Any experience pulling with a MACX26?

I didn't attached to the rudder cleats. I used them to guide the line. Check out this thread. http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... ing+a+tube

I want a 90hp too.

Jeff

[gyroplanes]

Once again, you guys are great. I forgot about using the mooring cleats. Problem solved!