After 33 years she still gets it done!

[SirGrady226]

This was the longest trip I have taken in my 1987 226, we ran over 80 miles total offshore fishing for Mahi here in South Florida. Now it's one thing to say a 33 year old hull is still going strong, but how about original twin Johnson 140 loopers that sport original power heads? They still purr right along and guzzle the fuel. I surely do not see any other outboards this age out here. We burned at least 40 gallons trolling and running out and back in, so I'm at least happy that Rec fuel is down to 2.89 a gallon here. Caught a few nice fish and had a great day, it just amazes me how well this boat does for its age.

 

[magicalbill]

This is great; I know the environment your in, I live here too.

1.) Do you flush your VRO's and if so how? Muffs? As you probably know, the Yamaha's have a flush attachment port to connect the garden hose to. You've certainly done something right to keep them active for this long.

2.) I wish there were shots of the boat itself, ( no disrespect to the fish..) In any case, congrats..What a lifespan!

 

[SirGrady226]

This is great; I know the environment your in, I live here too.

1.) Do you flush your VRO's and if so how? Muffs? As you probably know, the Yamaha's have a flush attachment port to connect the garden hose to. You've certainly done something right to keep them active for this long.

2.) I wish there were shots of the boat itself, ( no disrespect to the fish..) In any case, congrats..What a lifespan!

I use muffs and mix the oil directly in the tank. Here is the boat picture.

 

[Lite Tackle]

Awesome! Love to see a classic like that being used for its original purpose. Congrats.

 

[Sparkdog118]

Routine maintenance, no oil pump, and Rec fuel is the key. (Non ethanol). My boat is an 88 and has never seen ethanol.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

So cool. Back in 87 you could that boat with twins!!! I wish you could get the 228 226 today with twin 150s or 140s. That's solid ride right there.

 

[SirGrady226]

So cool. Back in 87 you could that boat with twins!!! I wish you could get the 228 226 today with twin 150s or 140s. That's solid ride right there.

I try not to push her too hard, but I have seen 42 mph at 5,000 rpm with more to spare. Had her at 46 mph once just seeing what it would do, and probably could of trimmed a bit more out out of them. Certainly a little hot rod back in the day. The fun part is how she jumps up and goes, those V-4's have a bunch of torque . Not a fan of the ride in 1 to 2' chop though, mostly because your standing right over where it all happens. Hoping I will be able to do a modern re power in the future, but the cost of twins is crazy, heck, even a single is out of reach at the moment.

Ordered new tachs for the 140's, still original OMC units in place and are sticking from time to time, other than that and an occasional stall of an engine when backing down to idle, everything's doing great.