repower

[Tom Stanton]

I have a 1986 24 Offshore I am considering repowering with a Suzuki 200hp inline 4. Currently it has a 200 hp smoker. Any thoughts?

 

[SkunkBoat]

I put on twin DF200APs last year. Great motors.
You will add 100 pounds.

200hp is probably the low end of HP for a 24' boat but if you were happy with it before you'll be fine.

You'll have less hole shot but great cruise and fantastic mpg. And quiet with no blue smoke..

 

[Tom Stanton]

I put on twin DF200APs last year. Great motors.
You will add 100 pounds.

200hp is probably the low end of HP for a 24' boat but if you were happy with it before you'll be fine.

You'll have less hole shot but great cruise and fantastic mpg. And quiet with no blue smoke..

Thanks for the response

 

[UCPA111]

Have you ever felt you needed more power? If so, you may not be happy going to a single 4 stroke 200.
I am running a 300 on a 22' seafarer 1984 model. I know the boat would be fine with less hp....but I run on Lake Erie and when it gets rough....I want the power to run.

 

[family affair]

Can it move the boat? Sure. Will it move it well, not likely. A 200 2-stroke makes a lot of midrange power and probably makes 200 hp at a much lower rpm than an i4 4-stroke. The 200 i4 makes 200 hp near max rpm.
Most Grady hulls were designed to cruise around 28-32 mph. To hit those speeds with a 200 i4 you will be close to max rpm - well outside the optimal cruise rpm where the engine is most efficient.
If you are considering new and want to keep the weight down, look at the new Mercs.
If used, maybe a 3.3 F250 or 4.2 f225-300. The 3.3 will be the heaviest, but if the OS 24's had optional twins, it should not be an issue.

 

[SkunkBoat]

yep new Merc 250 (not verado) would be nice fit

Tough to put that kind of money into a 35 year old boat.

 

[mr_mbuna]

Always add at least 50 hp when going from 2 stroke to 4 stroke.

 

[Tom Stanton]

Thanks all. All good advice. As one of you said it is tough to drop $20,000+ into a 35 year old boat. A lot to think about.

 

[SoLucky]

For $6-$10k you should be able to find a nice used Yamaha F250 with plenty of remaining life.

 

[NH Seafarer]

I priced a Merc 200hp 4-stroke 6 cyl. this spring at my local shop. They were around $17.5 installed with controls and analog gages.
Also a Yamaha 200hp 4-stroke 4-cyl came in at 17K using my old controls and 19K with new controls and gages.
I started to think about the load on a 4cyl , torque and engine working to climb swells and thought I'd call Grady to talk to their tech as my local shops are not engineers (like myself). They referenced their new boats going out with 250hp and 300hp Yamahas from the factory now without any weight issues. I thought the scuppers would be puking water if you stood in the corner and they said not a problem even being 175# heavier than my 200hp 2-stroke. Problem is lead time on Yamahas are out to next year, Mercs are pretty much 6 weeks and Suzuki's are 3 months. I didn't check Honda or Tohatsu.

 

[family affair]

The Merc shouldn't be 175 lbs more. At the most maybe 100 lbs. At 3.4 liters it will out muscle every 4 cylinder 4 stroke by a significant margin.

 

[ocdansar]

I had an 86 24’ offshore it had a single 200 Merc when I bought it . I switched it to a pair of 150 mercs. That was the best repower decision ever. Totally different boat with twins. I fished that boat for 13 years. It was a great boat

 

[chrisk]

Thanks all. All good advice. As one of you said it is tough to drop $20,000+ into a 35 year old boat. A lot to think about.

I recently repowered a 24 Explorer with a Yamaha 250 SHO motor. Yes it was expensive but totally worth it. I would think that a 200 would be underpowered.

 

[magicalbill]

If your current two-stroke is running well and dependably, why spend that kind of money on an older boat, unless you just are not a fan of 2-strokes.

If the engine isn't stranding me offshore, I'd run it 'till it's over. it's likely depreciated as much as it's going to. Another few years won't make a difference.

 

[tilewave]

Always add at least 50 hp when going from 2 stroke to 4 stroke.

i switched from 200 HPDI's to 200 4cyl Suzukis and have same hole shot & higher top end

 

[NH Seafarer]

"The Merc shouldn't be 175 lbs more. At the most maybe 100 lbs. At 3.4 liters it will out muscle every 4 cylinder 4 stroke by a significant margin."

You are correct, I was talking about the 250hp Yamaha 6-cyl 4 stroke. The Merc 200 is a 6 cyl now and was 75 lbs heavier than my 2 stroke. The Merc has 221 output HP btw. I am strongly leaning towards the Merc vs spending 4-5K more for a 250 Yamaha.