Trolling speed 2 vs. 4 stroke.

[Walley Guide]

I troll with a 40 hp Johnson and I was looking to upgrade to a 4 stroke motor...40 hp. I was wondering what the trolling speed would be in comparison. On another post it sounded like the 4 stroke motors has a higher idle speed??
Thanks in advance for your help.
Walley

[Hawgeye]

I am not sure about the 40 hp but from past experience with others, the 4 strokes do not troll down as low RPMs and do not troll as slow as its comparable 2 stroke.

[KP]

My 30 HP four stroke trolls down to a tick over 1 MPH at 650 RPM and will do that all day long making barely a sound and not a bit of smoke.

[jerryr]

My former 115 HP Mercury 2+2 2 stroke slow trolled about 2.0 mph based on my two speedometers. My new Honda 130 hp 4 stroke on the same boat gets down to 1.5 mph with no smoke, noise, or fouled plugs. I love it!

[Shellback]

What size boat are you running that 130 Honda on? I've got an 18 ft Starcraft with a 90 Merc on it ( my first outboard ) and am about sick of the 2 stroke smell! Also, what kinda bucks is that Honda? Really would like to upgrade to a 4 stroke. Shellback

[MarkG]

My 40hp Yamaha 4 stroke is brand new,but I had to bump my idle up a touch,as it would not run in gear when adjusted to spec at 900rpm in nuetral.If it dropped below 800 in gear it died. Had to bump up to 1000 nuetral ,runs at 800-850 in gear. VERY smooth,but a little fast for back trolling,without going in and out of gear. unless into a stiff wind,But seemed about right for forward trolling with cranks. I am not drawing any conclusions about the idle until its broken in,and might loosen up a bit. I will try backing down the idle about 100 ,hoping it will run below 800 after things a bit loose.But Overall very impressed and happy with the Yamaha 4 stroke.

[Mac]

Hang in there Mark, it will get better. After reading the start of this post 2 days ago, I set the idle on my 40 Yamaha 4 stroke (that I got last year) down to a little under 800 last nite and it actually now goes slower that I need (1MPH) and so I'm going to set it up tomorrow. Like they all have said, no noise, no smoke and no gas comsumption.

[Northern Manitoban]

I have a Yamaha 40 four stroke on my 18 foot Alaskan,i just got back from fishing Lakers i found it ran awesome slow enough also.But for walleye fishing if your ripping jiggs to fast,unless you want that fast speed at times i will.But i always just use the electric for walleye fishing.But you can put around the lake all day and it wont smoke or sputter.FISH ON.

[River_eye]

I use Merc four stroke 40's on a regular basis. In my opinion, they are a bit fast at idle. I am constantly flipping it in and out of gear. Although I'm still a big fan of the four strokes.

I've also tried 30 four strokes, Honda and Merc, and they seem to troll down just fine.

[jerryr]

My 130 Honda is on a 1775 Lund ProV. New cost in fall of '99 was $9800 which included mounting and setup. The one "issue" of the 4 stoke is the weight. The 115 Merc 2 stroke I had on originally weighed 375# and the 130 Honda weighs 458#, so the boat does squat a little more in the back, but have had no problems with planing or operation, so I don't see the weight as a problem with anything. Hole shot's probably a little less with the Honda vs. the 2 stroke, but hey, I'm not in that big of a hurry, and its more than plenty for skiing, and isn't as likely to spill "beverages". My top end speed is about the same, 45mph with just me and calm water. Loaded with gear and 2 people it runs about 40. The noise factor, smooth trolling, and reliability are fantastic. It's a great motor so far, no regrets.

[Funkin Frank]

I have a yamaha 25 4 stroke and it trolls my 16 foot v hull as low as .6 mph all day without complaining. Will never buy another 2 stroke outboard again unless it bigger than 200 hp.