New Motor Size and Price

[jasonbailey]

I need some help in deciding what to do with my current rig. It is 18.5' long and it has roughly a 6.5' beam. It is a tri-hull built in 1984 by Rivieria Boats in Florida. I believe Rivieria has long since been defunct. It came equipped with a 75hp manual tilt Chrysler. The boat is rugged, but spartan. And the trailer is 3 years old. I am considering buying a new 90HP Mercury for it, or, and I have blessings from my wife to buy a new boat. The new Merc is $5,100.00 plus $225.00 for the controls. The new boat motor and trailer is about 28k. Does it make sense to put the new outboard on, or to buy the new rig. I don't know if I want to take that much debt on for a new boat and is my current boat worth a $5,300.00 new outboard? The reason I'm even considering a new motor is the reliablility factor and future parts availability.

 

[teamstromer]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

RED NECK,<br />this past spring my wife gave me the option of new engine on old boat or buy a whole new outfit. i bought the 175 cs alumacraft navigator with an 03/04 90hp merc. as of today this rig has been fishin 48 times. if you are going to "use" your boat a lot, buy a new outfit, you and your wife won't regret it. did i mention that my wife spoils me.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

It depends on how well the current boat works for you, and its structural condition. If the boat is sound, does what you need it to, is comfortable, and does not make you want to vomit when you look at it, then repower is a viable option. If the boat has issues, or would take a large amount of work/money to retrofit to what you want it to do, then maybe another boat would be best. <br /><br />Another compromise is to find a well cared for used boat that meets your needs without spending obnoxious amounts of money. As far as I am concerned, if you have to ask the question you asked, a new boat will probably push your budget outside your comfort zone. In my opinion, unless a person makes significant money and has little or no debt, a new boat is easily the biggest waste of money. Nothing depreciates faster than a new boat. You can find well cared for boats with little hours on them for a fraction of the cost of its new counterpart. My friend just bought a 91 Chapparel 19 footer with 5.0 Mercruiser, barely even used, always garage kept, for under $9000. The boat is flawless, probably had less than 50 hours on it. There are a lot of boats out there like that.<br /><br /><br />One more thing, is 90 horses enough for that boat? I have 125 horses on a boat that is 2 feet shorter in length (it is a tri-hull) and I wouldn't mind having more juice, something in the 150 horse range. It would seem like an 18.5 foot tri-hull would be better motivated by a 150 or even 175 than a 90. How did it run with the 75?<br /><br />If I got a great deal on a new motor, I would probably repower my boat, as it does what I need it to, and the total cost would be much less than if I bought a new version of my boat. In the end, its up to your wallet and your priorities. Good luck...

 

[KM2]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

If it was me, I would compromise and find a 2-5 year old boat that fits your needs and is in good condition. It's a good time of year to find a deal.

 

[jasonbailey]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

To answer JasonJ, the 75 will push it at WOT 37 MPH, as measured by my GPS. I'm not really looking for more speed just more reliability. More speed would'nt be a bad thing but I'm happy with the speed I get now. I was considering a 115 as well. The hull is sound, I just put new seats in it. Plus the trailer is brand new. Its not much to look at, but it works very well. The used boat may be an option.

 

[jasonbailey]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

JasonJ, btw, I'm to a US Army Sergeant, Maryland National Guard.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

Boy, that boat must be real spartan, or I have loaded the snot out of my rig. I get about 37-38 mph on my boat with a 125 horse motor. Yeah, my motor runs perfect. Maybe its time to get rid of all the batteries and casting deck an trolling motors (electric & gas)....I'm too slow.

 

[jasonbailey]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

The boat is basic. Six seats in it, two storage compartments and no hull gas tanks. I have two 12 gallon tanks that sit in the stern. It'll do 37 with me, my wife, and 2 of my kids plus our cooler.

 

[tee-boy]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

new boat=waste of money. Buy an old boat, most if not all of the headaches have already been had by the previous owner. In other words, buy an old piece of junk rather than a new piece of junk.

 

[Solittle]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

Another option would be to get an auxiliary "get home" motor and keep what you got for now. 37 mph is not bad for a normal load.

 

[cajun555]

Re: New Motor Size and Price

I would keep what you have. You know what it can do and what its limits are. If your like me all we do is fish. Can't see 5,000 to 10,000 just to put some ol stinkin fish in.