20,25, or 30 hp?

[hipster dufus]

i have picked out the new retirement boat. now the question is what to power it with. 1648 mv aluminum.tohatsu engine choices. the 20 has only one carb and no tilt. the 25 and 30 have efi. it kind of scares me because the repairs i cannot do. gas tilt on both of those. top speed is not important, the weight is something to consider. how does everyone feel about efi? i am kind of leary of ethanol issues and wonder how everyone deals with these on an efi. i currently run my 9.8 dry after use, run stabil.what are some maintenance issues with the efis? thanks for ur opinions. oh yeah please dont tell me max hp is the way to go, i dont think the speed is worth the extra money. reliability is always my main concern, followed by ease of maint.

 

[Philster]

Re: 20,25, or 30 hp?

EFI.30.

Nothing special about EFI. Less maintenance versus a carb. Good starts. Ethanol matters to people who don't use their fuel, don't treat their fuel or don't care for their boat/fuel.

 

[5150abf]

Re: 20,25, or 30 hp?

Your car is EFI, how worried are you about that?

When they first came out with it it was matbe alittle sketchy but they have it sigure pretty good now and as I understand it Tohatsu makes a really good engine and I am sure they took the steps to make the new engines alcohol safe, that is an issue with older engines.

Sounds like you got my retirement boat too, always wanted a nice 16-18 jon, I would go with the 30 myself, it can't be that much more weight if any and that is a pretty decent sized hull to push, I don't think you would like a 20, you say top speed isn't important but you still want it to move.

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: 20,25, or 30 hp?

If you want to save sume bucks go for the 25 Efi has same 525 CC as the 30 and both weights same, although the 20 weights less has just 351 CC, probably too poor to move your boat.

Happy Boating

 

[steelespike]

Re: 20,25, or 30 hp?

Another thought the 20 would probable;y be running close to wot most of the time. The 25 and 30 could run at partial throttle and make the same speed.Just loafing along.And when you start adding your buddies or the grand kids you'll have the power to move them.
You never here someone say" gee I wish I had less horse power".

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: 20,25, or 30 hp?

Yes, definitely better go for the larger 30 HP as both weights same and engine will live bolted to transom, you never know when you will have more passengers that usually boat with, convert a 25 into a 30 will be too costly. Better to have more and don't need than to have less and need...

Happy Boating