Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

[nam6869usmc]

Just bought a FM165 that comes with 50hp Merc and I should be able to pick it up probably next Monday. My main concern is, will the 50hp be ok, I will not be tubing/skiing , just 2, 3, or 4 people in boat fishing. I see where a lot upgrade to the 60 or 75 but the cost difference is pretty big. of course the stock prop can be changed to help out some(I don't know what stock pitch is on it)...... I had a 4 blade 10 5/8
12p on my Yamaha 50 I traded in & it ran great poped me right up on plain. Any Pros & Cons will appreciated.

 

[lakertaker165]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

i would stay with the 50 the bigger motors are going to weigh more and your not going to gain maybe 5 to8 mph more speed because of the way the haul is made on the fm165 plus you will be happy with the gas you save. i run a 10/38 by 13 quick silver prop on my 2009 fm165 and get good hole shot and about 27 to31 mph top end at 5300 rpm depending on how much weight i have in boat. thats with the mercury 50 2stroke. if your just going to fish you cant ask for a better boat for quality and price. i love mine took it up to lake george last saturday ran great plus caught two nice lakers around the brook mouths the smelt are finally starting to run. good luck i would stay with what you have you wont gain much, take the extra 2000 you would pay for the upgrade and buy some good fishing gear.

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

i would stay with the 50 the bigger motors are going to weigh more and your not going to gain maybe 5 to8 mph more speed because of the way the haul is made on the fm165 plus you will be happy with the gas you save. i run a 10/38 by 13 quick silver prop on my 2009 fm165 and get good hole shot and about 27 to31 mph top end at 5300 rpm depending on how much weight i have in boat. thats with the mercury 50 2stroke. if your just going to fish you cant ask for a better boat for quality and price. i love mine took it up to lake george last saturday ran great plus caught two nice lakers around the brook mouths the smelt are finally starting to run. good luck i would stay with what you have you wont gain much, take the extra 2000 you would pay for the upgrade and buy some good fishing gear.

Thx Laker, I'm going to call the dealer & ask what prop they plan on putting on my 50. Your prop will be mentioned. Can't wait to get it, Bimini top coming in tomorrow so hopfully they can immediately start putting it all together,,,, Anchor Mate, Remove of the (Lowrance? X50DS ) then Install my HB 385ci Combo on the console, Bimini Top, & the motor.
The XD50 will be going up front.
And yes, the extra 2000k would by a bunch of extra gear..

 

[lakertaker165]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

your tradein looks like a preety nice rig if you could can you send a picture of your 165 when you geter all together i would love to see how she looks with the bimini top on her. good luck on the water this year nam6869.

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

your tradein looks like a preety nice rig if you could can you send a picture of your 165 when you geter all together i would love to see how she looks with the bimini top on her. good luck on the water this year nam6869.

I'll definitely post pictures for ya,,, Bimini should look pretty nice in burgany. I thought my other bought was awesome, pretty fast for a 14ft(it had a 40 cowling) but was a 50hp(sleeper).

Blue Marsh here in Pa...

He piloted my boat a lot, since he is a Pilot(Captain) & sets in this for 7 days at a time.....,,

 

[rouge1]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Yes please post pics, and to be difficult as is my nature, could you post with the top up and down.

Semper Fi

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Yes please post pics, and to be difficult as is my nature, could you post with the top up and down.

Semper Fi

Just got that great call yesterday, dealer called & said Bimini Top is in and they have everything to finish up all the installs. He said my FM will be ready to pick up Tuesday and I will be in it this weekend. I'll take all angles of the Bimini, I give you a complete 360 view.
Semper Fi,,,,,,,,

 

[Tiggyboot]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Hey Rouge1. I was reading some of your posts. You and I have the exact same boat. Good choice lol. I wanted to ask you what brand of prop you ended up going with? Was it a Turning Point or the Merc. Black Max. I was surprised to hear you got up to 32mph and was it 6000rpm? I'm curious when the rev. limiter kicks in. On my brothers 90 4 stroke Merc. I think it kicked in around 6200. His boat was propped wrong by the dealer too.

Looking forward to seeing the bimini pics.

Marcel
Ontario
Canada

 

[rouge1]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Re: Lowe FM165 ???

Tiggyboot,

I went with the merc, went back to the dealer and traded at no cost, and I usually run at about 5700-5800 rpm.

Rouge1

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ???/ Maiden Voyage

Re: Lowe FM165 ???/ Maiden Voyage

Well yesterday my Son & I hit the lake with my new FM165. Just an awsesome boat, Merc started right up with the cold procedure & started up after with just a crack of the key. Took it easy at first the as the day went on got alot more aggressive with the motor. Dealer put a 14p Prop on, it got up on plane pretty good, trimmed it out & at WOT @ 5100 rpm's it held steady with GPS @ 30mph & Console gauge at 31mph. My weight load was my Son @ 245lbs, me @ 185lbs, a very big tackle box, nice size cooler, 4 seats, 15 gal of gas, fishing equipment odds & ends, & a Bimini Top(it was down). It steered great & was so very stable in turns or held bone straight even when leaving go of steering will.
Ok for the Bugs,
1 - Motorguide Wireless foot Remote went dead, lost the ID(fixed it when I got home> in the maual was (((plug it into 12V, hold the - & + down together until a long beep)))(fixed it)
2 - Tilt/Trim Gauge went up when I Trimmed it up for the trip, but it just stays pegged in the "UP" position & will not move now.
3- Motor cavitates/Blowout going into sharp turns, just tap the trim down a little and corrected it.
4 - Stability is great, walk around anywhere in the boat with no issue's.
What a machine, this boat is a class act,,,,,,,,,,,,,

As promised, I will take pictures of the Bimini Top today & post them....

 

[Tiggyboot]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Sounds like you had a good day. My first voyage in my FM165 was two weeks ago. Been way too cold up here in Ontario to go out again. I'm itching too because now I have the correct prop on it. The 10.625" Diameter, 12" pitch. The Merc. part# for the correct prop is 48-73134A40. That is supposed to be the best all round performer for this boat. I see you have a 14P on there. Might be a tad high. You want your RPM's to be in the upper 5000's...closer to 6000 RPM's to make max hp and performance. It will perform much better with a 12P or 13P on it. You may want to change. If you send me your email, I can send you the calculation sheet for our boat from Mercury that shows the best props for it.

Looking forward to see your bimini pics. Especially where you mounted it etc.

Marcel
Ontario Canada

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Sounds like you had a good day. My first voyage in my FM165 was two weeks ago. Been way too cold up here in Ontario to go out again. I'm itching too because now I have the correct prop on it. The 10.625" Diameter, 12" pitch. The Merc. part# for the correct prop is 48-73134A40. That is supposed to be the best all round performer for this boat. I see you have a 14P on there. Might be a tad high. You want your RPM's to be in the upper 5000's...closer to 6000 RPM's to make max hp and performance. It will perform much better with a 12P or 13P on it. You may want to change. If you send me your email, I can send you the calculation sheet for our boat from Mercury that shows the best props for it.

Looking forward to see your bimini pics. Especially where you mounted it etc.

Marcel
Ontario Canada

Thx for the correct Prop advice, it's on it's way,,,,,,

 

[kpfisher]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

i was thinking of buying a fm165 or 175, was wondering how stable they are on windy days, and over all how they handle? usual winds here 10-20mph during the summer. im sure it has to be better than the old 14ft sea nymph currently using on <10mph windy days.

 

[Tiggyboot]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

The stability of the FM165 is probably one of it's best attributes. It's rock solid. The hull was designed for stability more so then outright speed. Although my boat hauls pretty damn good. Get the 165. You won't be disappointed. It's a great boat, well laid out, lots of room.

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

The stability of the FM165 is probably one of it's best attributes. It's rock solid. The hull was designed for stability more so then outright speed. Although my boat hauls pretty damn good. Get the 165. You won't be disappointed. It's a great boat, well laid out, lots of room.

Well said above:
Walking around is like walking in your house, I've fished when the wind was blowing pretty hard, heavy wind will move any boat but I had no trouble at all. FM165 is a fabulous Machine,,,they did their homework.
Highly recomended.

 

[dvsboy]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Hello!

I've just picked up my "new" 2008 FS165!! Awesome boat, Mercury EL60. 1st time out with about 300lbs and 3/4 tank of fuel we hit 37Mph (Gauge)

All in all i'm VERY impressed with the rigging and design.


I do have one question if anyone may know - is there an electrical panel (not the bottom of the switches under the dash) for wiring in extra lights etc?

-Clint

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Hello!

I've just picked up my "new" 2008 FS165!! Awesome boat, Mercury EL60. 1st time out with about 300lbs and 3/4 tank of fuel we hit 37Mph (Gauge)

All in all i'm VERY impressed with the rigging and design.


I do have one question if anyone may know - is there an electrical panel (not the bottom of the switches under the dash) for wiring in extra lights etc?

-Clint

The only panel I've seen is the "Fuse Panel" up under the left side of dash, there is also two wires that are not used up front in the little Bow storage
area(harness)" . I've never tracked the "Accessory Switch" wiring to see where it goes..
Gotta love thes FM165.....
PS...37MPH is great. that 60 must be the magic behind that.

 

[dvsboy]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Hey Jim!

Yeah I have to say I was VERY impressed when my dealer came in from prop testing and said they hit 36mph. later that day with a bit of chop i was able to pass that. i had 4 people the other day and could hit 33 to 34. I cant wait to get out with just me in and 1/2 a tank of fuel to see what it'll do!

(I'll post prop details when I figure it out if anyone is curious - I do know it's aluminum)

I just assume there must be a distribution point - since there are several switches and devices all getting power, yet only one main power lead going to the battery. I sort of thought it was in the wall somewhere behind the shifter. I'll just do some tracing, I've alread run all 4 courtesy lights but I wanted to put in a power strip under the dash with switches to enable or disable items while acc switch is on (ie so I dont have courtesy lights on all the time when fish finder is on etc.)

Thanks for your time Jim!

-Clint

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

Hey Jim!

Yeah I have to say I was VERY impressed when my dealer came in from prop testing and said they hit 36mph. later that day with a bit of chop i was able to pass that. i had 4 people the other day and could hit 33 to 34. I cant wait to get out with just me in and 1/2 a tank of fuel to see what it'll do!

(I'll post prop details when I figure it out if anyone is curious - I do know it's aluminum)

I just assume there must be a distribution point - since there are several switches and devices all getting power, yet only one main power lead going to the battery. I sort of thought it was in the wall somewhere behind the shifter. I'll just do some tracing, I've alread run all 4 courtesy lights but I wanted to put in a power strip under the dash with switches to enable or disable items while acc switch is on (ie so I dont have courtesy lights on all the time when fish finder is on etc.)

Thanks for your time Jim!

-Clint

You would think the Fuse Block under the dash would be the distribution center, they run 12volts to there then expand out to all 12volt onboard systems...
Watch out with only you & 1/2 a tank of fuel, you might get in this attitude..

 

[dvsboy]

Re: Lowe FM165 ??? Maiden Voyage

LOL - no worries there, this baby's brand new!