Re: 4 strokes versus 2 strokes
True Story:<br />When I was shopping for my new boat/motor a few years back, I talked to a local dealer of many years. I had wanted to get a 90 Ficht as my 1968 Evinrude proved to be bulletproof and I felt OMC deserved my loyalty. This dealer sold only Mercs and Yamahas though. He didn't want to start selling 4-strokes but he told me he had no choice if he wanted to stay competitive. He told about how underpowered and gutless they were not to mention brutally heavy.<br />Well, I ended up buying a 4-stroke Honda (at a different marina). I was just about to lay the money out to rig the boat with the OMC when some stranger pulls in with the a Ficht and we start talking. He bought that motor a few months earlier and this was it's third trip back to the marina with a blown powerhead (30 hrs total). I went back inside and compared the specs between the two motors ( I wasn't real apprehensive about getting the Honda - their cars have served me well and after all, they are the world's largest producer of internal combustion engines). When I learned that the Honda was only a few pounds heavier than the Ficht - albeit both sustantially heavier than a regular 2-stroke(but who's gonna buy them anymore) - I said to the dealer 'gimme the Honda'; it was even less money. True, some 4-strokes are heavier but some are actually lighter. Take a look at the Honda 20 and the Honda 50 - both the lightest on the market. The Suzuki 140 is also an impressive little motor). The thing is, fours look big and that's deceiving. ALthough, it does add to one's sense of verility once on the water.<br /><br />I'll never go back to a 2-stroke after now owning the Honda.<br /><br />Anyway, a few months ago I went back to that local dealer. I noticed how most of his stock was now 4-stroke Yamaha's. We started chatting and I asked him what he though about 4-strokes now. Well, had his opinion changed! And he insisted it wasn't just sales talk. He too had an old 90hp on one of his boats that he replaced with a 90 Merc 4-stroke - maybe it was a yammie, i don't recall. Anyway, he sure was impressed with how it performed. He claimed that despite their weight, (guess he hasn't really looked at specs that closely yet) four strokes were especially impressive under load. He stated 'put two identical boat side by side, one with a 2 stroke and the other with a four and load the boats up full, you MIGHT see the 2-stroke gain a boat length or so in the first hundred yards but the four with fly by shortly thereafter. I told him about how I had heard from all sources that 2-strokes can't be beat for acceleration to which he replied 'bull****'. He said, 'you always have a few extra hundred rpm on a four to play with so just step down the prop pitch a notch and your neck in neck.<br /> <br />(I know what he means to. My boat came with a 19" pitch prop. It topped out at 5400 rpm(which happens to be peak HP on my engine)so it is the prop I use on a normal basis. However, I also have a 17" and 15" prop. My motor's full throttle range is 5000-6000 and redline is 6500. The 15" tops out at 6100 (at that rpm by the way, four strokes ARE NOT any quieter)and even has a couple of mph's over the 19". By most methods of determining prop size for your boat, the 15" is still a proper selection for my rig - barely. I swap back and forth betweeen the 17" and 19" depending on what I am using the boat for though. But I'll tell you, the first time I put the hammer down with that 15" on the back, I just about broke my neck! Boat planes in half a length even under heavy loads.)<br /><br />Needless to say I was rather surprised to hear and 'old' diehard mariner change his mind from something he was so used, but he did. Gotta remember, it's just opinion though. If you look at the cold hard facts, you'll find there a very few that are in fact carved in stone, save one: I haven't heard of one person who has said they wished they HADN"T bought a four - and that includes me.
