Horsepower requried for a 1988 20 Overnighter

[jaseese2]

I have the original 1988 Johnson 225 on the boat that runs great. Burns a ton of gas and smokes.

A friend has offered his 1999 Evinrude 175 hp and all controls.

What is the minimum required horsepower for the boat? Would a 175 hp work?

 

[cdwood]

175 is not gonna be what your used to but will stll push the boat, 150 I would think is the minimum.

 

[gradyfish22]

150 was minimum, or atleast the smallest I've seen. A 175 will be enough power for sure, but it will be less power then what your used to currently. A 225 is one of the biggest engines offered on that boat and close to max hp, honestly it is a bit much for that boat, but since that is what you've had, your used to it. I'm sure you will see a nice savings in fuel. We saw a huge savings going from a carbed engine to a fuel injected engine. Any engine newer then what you have will be better on fuel, also going to less hp will help. You will likely see about a 3-5mph drop in cruise speed and top end going from a 225 to a 175, but that also depends on if each is/and will be propped correctly for your boat to see the best performance. Going to a 1999 engine may not relieve your smoke issues, that isn't the newest engine either, but it will save on gas. If this friend is giving you the engine at little to no cost, this could be a good move assuming you do not have the funds for a new motor or to buy a rebuilt motor that is newer then a 1999, since 1999 there are a lot newer technologies in outboards where you will see significant savings in fuel and less smoke. The Yamaha HPDI and the Merc Optimax would be the best 2 strokes for your boat. The Evinrude Fichts had lots of issues, and needed updates to parts to keep them from failing badly, they still have issues to date. This would be your best bet if you could get either an HPDI or Optimax for cheap that is in good shape, but if the other engine is free it might be worth it, worst case in a few seasons you can always look newer again when this one gives out.

 

[CJBROWN]

I have the original 1988 Johnson 225 on the boat that runs great. Burns a ton of gas and smokes.

A friend has offered his 1999 Evinrude 175 hp and all controls.

What is the minimum required horsepower for the boat? Would a 175 hp work?

Isn't that a FICHT motor? If so it's a boat anchor :wink:

 

[wahoo33417]

Jaseese2: First, welcome to the forum.

I have two friends each of whom has a 204 Overnighter. One has a 225 four-stroke, which seems to be way more power than needed. The other has an F150, which seems a bit light on power to me, but he is happy with it. I think the 175 is about right.

I had a 1995 208 with a 150 Evinrude followed by a 150 HPDI. The power was fine unless I put in 4 divers with all their gear. But with a buddy or two just fishing, 4,000 rpm got me 30 mph, which, at the time, was Wiley Corbett's target for Grady's.

Anybody as old as I am remember Wiley?

Rob

 

[gw204]

My old 204 used to run super nice with a 2-stroke Merc. 150. That was a lighter boat, but I still imagine a 150 would work fine on an Overnighter. I would top out around 42 mph with heavy load, T-Top and enclosure. You have to keep in mind that it's still a 20' boat, so how fast can you really go most of the time?

You also have to throw out the thinking that the newer technology in that '99 motor will get you better economy....unless it is a DI engine. My 204 originally came with a 1985 carbed 2.0 liter Merc 150. When I repowered, I put on an '02 carbed Merc 150. However, the new motor was a 2.5 liter. Sure it was a bit faster up and out of the hole, but it burned about a gal/hr more than the 2.0.

If both engines are carbed...and unless your current 225 has something wrong with it...there's a good chance you could end up burning more fuel with the 175 because it will have to work harder.

That's my $.02.

 

[NIGHTIDES]

I have two buddies that are rigged w/ a 150hp without any complaints. You are perfect w/ the 175hp. More is overkill.

 

[Gman25]

My father had an 89 overnighter w/ the Evenrude 150 and it pushed the boat just fine

 

[Sands]

I have a 1986 Overnighter with a Suzuki 140hp 4 stroke. A recent sea trial by my marina had it up to 43mph. They said it was a perfect match of boat and motor.

 

[Bob's Cay]

I think my '88 Overnighter with a 200 HPDI is a great match of power and economy without overloading the boat. Do not think I would want to add much more weight to the transom as it would sink the scuppers.

 

[RUMBLEFISH]

Id beat that 225 until it blows up. Hell that thing could last you another few seasons and really think about the hours you do a year and how much would you save in fuel over that time. Anyway thats what I would do and keep the other motor ready to go when you need it.

Id love to have a couple back ups waiting to go at anytime.

 

[timo14]

I had an 88 150 Merc Black Max. It died and I moved up to a 225 2-stroke (couldn't beat the price). I'll have to say that I'd never go back... ever. A 150 on that boat is way underpowered. Sure, it will "push the boat ok," but so will a set of oars. The hull handles the 225 with no problem, as you know since you have one. I have no scupper issues at all. It definately does require trim tabs to cruise in a chop, but in my opinion, every boat needs trim tabs. The minimum I'd put on an overnighter is a 200, and I'll admit that that is probably the optimum power vs weight choce for it. If you ever pull a water skiier, you better give them a snorkel if your doing it with a 150, I cant expect a 175 would be a whole lot better. Seriously, if you are trying to pull a person up on a slalom ski, it is almost impossible with a 150. I'm a pretty good skier, and the time it took for me to get up and out of the water just about drowned me and was just way to difficult (my arms hurt). Also I actually burned more fuel with the 150 during general use. I used to cruise with the 150 wide open almost all the time. Also, it takes a while to get up on plane. With the 225, i can run at 3500 to 4000 to cruise, and usually do, and it pretty much jumps out of the water when you hit the throttle... skiing is much easier. I top out around 47 mph on the GPS. I almost always have a full tank, tons of crap on the boat and usually 4 people on board. Also my hull paint is peeling and in really bad shape (I trailer). If I were to clean up the bottom, I think it will really affect the performance. Not sure if I'll get too much extra speed, but i think fuel burn would decrease a little. I recently installed a flo-scan, so i do have some numbers, however I'm still trying to fine tune it so they may be a little off. I'm getting about 2.31 mpg at 4500 going 33 mph. At 5500 I'm going 44 mph and getting 1.78 mpg. These numbers are with 4 people on board, and a full load of gear.

A little off track there, but my personal opinion is a 200 2 stroke would be the minimum/optimum power I'd put on an Overnighter. The hull handles the weight and HP fine... and I think overall performance is much better with some more power than the 150.

Again, just my opinion.

 

[sfc2113]

I have two buddies that are rigged w/ a 150hp without any complaints. You are perfect w/ the 175hp. More is overkill.

I just got a 1986 20ft 204c with a 1998 evinrude ocean pro, and we sea trialed it yesterday. 175 is Perfect.... full tank of gas 65 gal, 2- 200lb men we did about 40 knots wot. very happy.

I did not think it would be enough but it has tons of pep. Mine is carbed and they needed some cleaning before we took off. Not sure about the feul injected model for that yeay but my mechanic told me that they are crap. Hi opinion and he has 20yrs working on outboards.

 

[BobP]

The carb'd Evinrude 175 will burn less gas and oil than the carb'd 225. The 150/175 is a smaller block. The 200/225 is the larger block.

 

[Curmudgeon]

One has a 225 four-stroke, which seems to be way more power than needed.

I don't believe I've ever heard someone complain of too much power ... :?

 

[wahoo33417]

One has a 225 four-stroke, which seems to be way more power than needed.

I don't believe I've ever heard someone complain of too much power ... :?

Curmudgeon: You point out a mis-print on my part - it is actually a 225 Evinrude Ocean Pro two-stroke, not four-stroke.

I agree I've never heard of anyone complaining of too much power. He and I ran offshore together frequently, he in his 204C with the 225 and me in a 208 with a 150 HPDI. On all but flat calm days, he had to slow down from what was my most economical cruising speed (about 4000 rpm) because he was getting pounded. So generally, he had to run slower than me and used up more fuel doing it.

Where he had an advantage over me was on those flat calm days with family and guests and much gear. On those days I struggled to keep up with him.

Rob

 

[BUZZCUDA]

If I may throw in .02 to the till, I had to make the decision of hp when repowering my original 85 suzuki 150. I opted for the Suzuki F-150 and would have gone for a bit more hp (175) had it been available. Someone with more knowledge correct me, however I do believe Grady offered these boats with a 150 hp engine as a package. Surely you could have upgraded. Weight was also a deciding factor placing a newer 4 stroke on an older hull. However when doing some checking I found that the wieght difference between the engines Yami hpdi and yami 4 stroke and e-tec and suzuki etc. were all in line by a few pounds. Based upon that fact that took the wieght issue out of the equation. For the use of my boat and motor Iam very pleased with the hp. It seems the newer hpdi and four strokes are around the same weight. However I guess the older 2 stroke DI engines were lighter in comparison.

 

[BobP]

The four strokes you mention are 4 cylinder inline , not V6s like the two strokers.

Then the weights are similar, not with V6 vs. V6.

 

[Bill_N]

I've had a few 20 footers and I always thought 200HP was overkill until I bought my last boat; a 20' Edgewater with 200 Yamaha SWS. A 200 pushes a 20 footer so easily and at a lower rpm that it doesn't burn much more fuel than a 150. A 175 should be fine but a 200 would be the optimum engine based on my exp.

 

[seasick]

150/2 stroke minimum, 175/2 if you have a hardtop. Add 25 horse if you power with a 4 stroke.