Optimax or Four Stroke

[bludog]

I'm in the process of looking for a new boat and would like to power it with a 150 optimax or a 150 yamaha fourstroke. I like the simplicity and low maintenance of the optimax but I also like the idea of having an extra storage compartment afforded by the four stroke.

For those with either of these motors, can you tell me if you are satisfied with the perfomance, reliability and cost of service associated with them.

By the way, I plan on putting the motor on an 1860 Angler, 1800 Pro V or 1880 Skeeter, I haven't settled on a boat yet either.

[Hot Runr Guy]

recently Pete Harsh (Mr Tiller) posted about a 150 vs 150 vs 150 test that he was involved in, albiet on a much different hull that you're looking at. If low end "grunt" is your objective, the Optimax (and E-tec) get the boat up on plane quicker. No doubt, the F150 Yamaha is a fine motor, and you'll get the gamut of "Ford vs Chevy" opinions on here. Thankfuly, the water is soft once again, take every opportunity you can to get some on-water time with your choices, and see which you prefer.
HRG
http://www.walleyecentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1105210&postcount=11

[Hombre Robusto]

I had a 135 Opti on a Lund Sport Angler. It got out of the hole instantly, was fast, and sipped gas and oil.

I recently got a Reata 2050 with a 225 Opti. It gets out of the hole instantly, is fast, and sips gas and oil. Surprisingly, the 225 is a lot quieter than the 135 was.

I have a buddy with a Yammy 150 four stroke, and another with a 225. They don't get out of the hole as fast (but very adequate), are very quiet running motors, and neither has complained of fuel consumtion. Both are very pleased with their top end speeds.

If a Merc wasn't available to me, I would have no problem going with a Yamaha.

[tbob101]

I just bought an '08 1850 (similar boat) and got it with a 150 opti. Very happy with the motor and quite frankly I couldn't warm to the performance of the Yamaha. My oil tank is on the same side as my starting battery so the way I look at it I lost minimal storage. I think if you compare hole shot, the opti wins in a big way plus my gas mileage is at least as good - but it is louder. Depends on what you want, if I was buying a tiller I'd lean more toward a 4 stroke but I won't be trolling with a 150 so to me I just need a motor to take me from spot to spot and the opti is good for that. 5 year warranty isn't a bad reason either . . .

[Matt V]

Have you considered the 150 Verado? It cost's a little more than the Opti, but is faster at top end, quicker on plane and more fuel efficient than the Opti.

[SLE]

Have you considered the 150 Verado? It cost's a little more than the Opti, but is faster at top end, quicker on plane and more fuel efficient than the Opti.

I would like to see some data proving that! It MIGHT be on par performance wise (very debatable) but I've never seen anything saying it's more fuel effiecient. In past tests it often times had the worst fuel effieciency!

Now it has a lot of merit in other areas like the entire control setup, ease of operation, noise level or lack there of, actual driving manners, and the best performance of all 4-Strokes. I will however stick with an Opti for outright performance and fuel consumption untill proven otherwise.

[K Gonefishin]

I would agree with SLE, I haven't seen anything that proves that a Verado is better on gas or performace, as far as I know and have seen they are worse. I own a 250 Pro XS and it's awesome on gas and it's performace is top notch I had my choice of of any Merc or
F-250 Yamaha for my boat and went with the XS, 145 hours later and still happy. The only reason I would go with the 4 stroke is the quietness which is nice but for me it wasn't a concern as I don't troll with it, I actually like it's loudness, kind of like how Harley guys like the bike loud.

[Matt V]

I would like to see some data proving that! It MIGHT be on par performance wise (very debatable) but I've never seen anything saying it's more fuel effiecient. In past tests it often times had the worst fuel effieciency!

Now it has a lot of merit in other areas like the entire control setup, ease of operation, noise level or lack there of, actual driving manners, and the best performance of all 4-Strokes. I will however stick with an Opti for outright performance and fuel consumption untill proven otherwise.


I got it off of Mercury's website. I am not saying it is true or accurate, just that this is what Mercury is claiming. Both 150 hp engine's mounted on 1800 lund Fisherman. Verado get's 12.1 GPH at WOT, and 4.9 GPH at cruise. The Opti get's 13.6 GPH at WOT and 6.2 GPH at cruise. Speed and acceleration are very close between the two motor's, but the Verado has a slight edge in both.

[bludog]

MattV, I plan on putting a kicker and vantage on the back of the boat. Because of that, I'm shying away from a verado simply because of the extra weight; it's 79 pounds heavier than the optimax and 44 pounds heavier than the yahama.

[teamlund]

The generation 2 verados are alot better on gas than the old generation 1...... The generation 2 started in 08...Get the verado. Right now merc has a 1000 dollar rebate on the verado so it ends up being about 400 dollars more for a verado but if you got an opti set up the same as a verado with digital throttle and smartcraft gauges than the opti is going to be more expensive since all of that comes included in the price of a verado....(i was just at a mrec dealer yesterdsay)

[teamlund]

Also I have a 1800 prov with a 175 verado and a 9.9 pro kicker and all the extras.....You wont notice the extra weight of the verado....The verado is alittle heavier but that extra weight produces for you.....ITS SUPERCHARGED

[Matt V]

MattV, I plan on putting a kicker and vantage on the back of the boat. Because of that, I'm shying away from a verado simply because of the extra weight; it's 79 pounds heavier than the optimax and 44 pounds heavier than the yahama.

I have a 175 Verado and a 9.9 Prokicker on the back of an 18' Lund, without any problem's. I doubt you would even notice the difference in weight.

[bludog]

Okay...I'll take a closer look at the verado. Thanks for all the responses.

[teamlund]

Where do you live. I would think that we could find someone on this site that would be willing to take you out for a spin in any of the engine you are looking at....If you are around the WI area or more specifically appleton WI I can help you out

[cprost]

I have a new angler 1860 w/ yamaha 150 and 9.9 kicker. IMHO the only way to go. Why? Storage. Where the battery and oil tank for the 2 cycle sit is tackle storage for my boat( Port & Starboard). Quietness in the 4 stroke. Dependability. I see very few posts complaining about the Yamaha f150. Hole shot, important only if you are skiing and my Yamaha seems to pull it out of the hole in 4-6 seconds. I've not tried it but think I could ski behind it. WOT 50. As for boats, had a Lund, never ridden in a Skeeter, like the Ranger. I will have it at Port Clinton this weekend if you want to see it/ ride in it.

[bludog]

cprost, thanks for the offer. Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the holiday weekend. However, If the offer still stands, I may take you up on the ride at a later date. Thanks again.

[cprost]

I'll be up at the lake the 14-20 of June as well.

[Observation]

I got it off of Mercury's website. I am not saying it is true or accurate, just that this is what Mercury is claiming. Both 150 hp engine's mounted on 1800 lund Fisherman. Verado get's 12.1 GPH at WOT, and 4.9 GPH at cruise. The Opti get's 13.6 GPH at WOT and 6.2 GPH at cruise. Speed and acceleration are very close between the two motor's, but the Verado has a slight edge in both.

What is that saying? "Figures don't lie, but liars sometimes do figures". Actual real world speed and acceleration figures between the 150 Verado and 150 Optimax might surprise you.

[bludog]

cprost, sounds good, I'll plan on coming down for a ride next month. As the dates get closer, we'll confirm a time. Let's stay in touch.

[doubleheader]

I have a Verdo my buddy an Opti. Every year we take the boats and our wives to Canada for 2 weeks and every year we take one sunny afternoon to just cruise and explore. Last year we took my buddies boat with his 150 Opti. When we got back my wife said, "I don't care if you want to buy another boat next year, buy whatever brand you want, but whatever you do you will buy another Verado". Mine is one of those supposedly gas guzzling 2006 Verados. Last year I never put a drop of Canadian gas in her during the 2 weeks. We fished every day all day. Yes, I babied her some, but still, we fished alot. If someone is making their motor decision on what amounts to minimal differences between consumption rates of fuel I think they are missing the boat, pun intended, and if you max out the HP or at least come close hole shot isn't really an issue whether you go Verado or Yammie. Yammies are great motors no doubt, and as for my Verado, I'm on year 4 with no issues. I love everything about the Verado including the digital throttle. On the other hand, if you're single, your wife isn't interested in fishing, you don't mind the fumes, you like the engine noise, you can't find 4 hours to complete your winterization, or saving $50-100 bucks on operational cost during the course of a year is critical to you, buy a 2 stroke. Truly it is different strokes for different folks, pun intended again.

[teamlund]

My buddy has a 250 yam 4 stk and its a very nice engine. Its on a 07 20 ft skeeter so it is a Very nice rig. Its smooth quiet good on gas but it lacks the punch that the verado has with its supercharger... I think that merc nailed it when they came out with the verado.

[SLE]

I................you don't mind the fumes, you like the engine noise, you can't find 4 hours to complete your winterization, or saving $50-100 bucks on operational cost during the course of a year is critical to you, buy a 2 stroke. Truly it is different strokes for different folks, pun intended again.

Maybe I got lucky (I doubt it) but my 225 Opti doesn't smoke, doesn't stink, is an absolute miser on fuel, yet is an animal when you drop the hammer!

Tourny fishing last year, our flight had 4 big motored boats (200+ hp), Mine, two yamaha 250s one on a 620 Ranger, one on a 2050 Skeeter, and then there was a big skeeter with a 300 Yamaha (I had the only two stroke). When the gun fired and the flag waved, guess who was the first out of the bay??? I'll give you one guess and it wasn't a 4 stroke and wasn't gray in color! question number two, who was the first out to beacon point (6.5 mile run), Well that was also the Big Opti although that was a trickl question, the guy with the 300 Yami ran south and I'm sure he could of out ran be top end. the other skeeter with the 250 was about 4 mph slower than my rig. I actually expected the 620 to be right with us but he seemed to be a 1mph or so behind the skeeter. Of course props and boats and weight all play into this but regardless I should have been out muscled with the other two each having an extra 25HP.

Thankfully for Merc, the Vrod performs considerable better than the other fourstrokes and is a engineering masterpiece in driveablity! If the price is the same or real close I'd be pretty inclined to run a Vrod, however I wouldn't pay much more for it than the opti as the opti is an excellent engine. I like the other persons comparison, If you'd perfer a Mercedes Benz to a GT 500 buy the Vrod, if you're still an 18-year old at heart and have the attitude that "loud pipes saves lives" you'll love the performance of the opti (to bad they don't make a Pro XS in the small block engines). Either way you cann't go wrong!

[REG]

(to bad they don't make a Pro XS in the small block engines). Either way you cann't go wrong!

If you're talking about the small block V6 (2.5L) - Merc has the Opti 175 ProXS.

[SLE]

Good point, although I was more refering to the 150s and 135s. Then again the 135 is pretty darn stout anyway so the only benifit would be to the 150s.

[hiwayman]

One hundred Lbs. less weight and $1500.00 less bucks for my Opti versus a Yamaha. No brainer for me. Got the Opti and love it! The extra noise is not a problem they are quite compared to an old carbed 2 stroke. Besides, fishing with friends with a Yammy or Honda 4 stroke I get tired of other fisherman always running up to the boat to ask, Hey how do you like the Honda, Yamaha, or whatever.

[tbob101]

Agreed, have a 150 opti and I'm not sure what it doesn't do better than the Yam (aside from making a bit more noise). Better performance, gas mileage, hole shot and less weight.

[1shooter]

I have a 150 Opti and my fishing partner has a 150 4 stroke Yamaha. I love my opti but my next boat will have a 4 stroke.

It's not that my motor is bad it's just that the 4 strokes are so quiet.