Running a 15/20hp 4stroke outboard at wot or an 4stroke

[boater1234]

I have been doing a ton of research online about just running 4stroke outboards at wot for long extended periods of time,it seems that most people don't run there 4 strokes at wot for very long because they say the motor was not made to do so.Is that true?If that was the case then why would the operating rpm be between usually 5000-6000rpm.I would think no matter what as long as you don't go over the rpm range you should be able to run wot as long as you want without hurting anything,no?Most of the people also stated that larger 4strokes are usually the ones that shouldn't be run at wot for long extended times,but they said the smaller 4stroke like the 20hp and down are built to be run hard and at wot more then the larger engines should, but the 20hp and down still shouldn't be run hard for extremely long periods of time.

Most of the research i have read states 2strokes are mostly made to run wot for long periods of time,not 4strokes.That just doesn't make any sense to me.Wouldn't that be in the manual if that were the case?I have had quite a few 4stroke outboards with manuals and i have never read a thing like that before thats why i was wondering if anyone could add to this that maybe knows something more.Like i said i would think as long as your in operating rpm range there should be no issues.But i'm sure someone has some knowledge or facts on this i hope anyway.Any info would be great,thanks

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Running a 15/20hp 4stroke outboard at wot or an 4stroke

I think I'd look closely at the source of "they said X; I saw it on the internet."

seems to me it's more important to be properly propped.

during break-in you want to vary your speeds.

as a practical matter, would anyone typically run for 30 minutes at WOT without a break of some kind?

 

[Capt Ken]

Re: Running a 15/20hp 4stroke outboard at wot or an 4stroke

Your car is also rated to operated within those same rpm's so why not shift into a lower gear and run it at the max?