Outboard Selection For Bay Boat
 

In the next year I will be buying a bay boat and need input on best power for the hull options im interested in. I am leaning towards finding a hull and trailer package first (used) then buying the motor separately when exactly what i want comes along for the right price (im VERY patient...).

Length - 21'_22'

Make/Style - Nautic Star_Blazer Bay_Champion_Pathfinder, that basic range of quality...

HP - 175hp_225hp

What do you think would be the absolute best value for a power unit? By value I weigh dependability, speed (don't want slow lane, don't need 65mph), efficiency, availability of parts and ease of home/field maintenance and repairs if need be.

I like mercury due to experience with small engines, despise evinrude large engines, hear good things about yami Vmax, and like the 175 SUZ on my companies Tran Cat.

I also get off on having a smaller engine that can that can hang with larger ones (efficiency), is there a 175 in the bunch that could yield near equal performance of other brands' 200 or 225's?

that will really depend on what hull you buy. The weight isnt the same on every 21-22ft boat. Im partial to suzuki, yamaha, and honda four strokes, if you want a two stroke get an optimax

I have a suz 175 on my 2104 frontier. I say the suz is great on gas. Had a 61 mile round trip and only burned 12 gallons on gas. With 3 adults and 2 kids in the boat and 50 gallons of gas. Just finish the 10hr break in so it may get more r less well see! Good luck

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What's your cruising speed and rpm right now?

Gunna be hard to find a bay boat and trailer used without a motor,jus sayin. My pick would be yamaha but suzuki does make good engines. They do corrode quicker than some but if you keep it flushed and cleaned it will be fine.

3500 35 mph. 4000 40 mph. 54 wot mph 5600 r 5900. Id remember exactly. With a full tank of gas 2 -3 adults

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Nothin wrong with that! I'd be happy with cruising in the 40-45 range @ those RPMs.

They have a champion in Laf right now with no motor, they can be found - like I said, I'm very very patient

Watch those champs, especially the one built pre 2000. Have alot of wood. Soft spots in th floor and weak transoms.

That's a no go, thanks fr the heads up!

Know first hand, had a 21' 2000 model. had 2 soft spots @ leaning post, 1 on back deck. And that was a very well maintained boat.
I believe the 2001 and later were wood free. (Not 100% sure.)
Here are some pics of one with wood.. (wasn't mine though)

If y'all ha to choose blazer or Nautic, what would it be?

Alpha got me thinkin I just need to go buy a brand new frontier getup and quit playin around.

Thats the American way:D

I was going with blazer and N star at first but once I saw the lay out of the frontier i was sold
They r the biggest 21ft 1/2 ft boat. Compared to bb and ns. It nice storage looks good. That 8'3 beam make a big diff. Compared to nautic star 7'9 beam.
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Blazer over nautic and frontier over both.

Yam four stroke for me followed by suz, both are good for different reasons. Stay away from the verado and etech. For two stroke opti is the only way to go for a big boat.

The Frontier is a fine boat and I was told they had a smaller fully capped boat coming out

Frontier/Optimax

^^^^^
This

Only reason I like Suzuki better than Yamaha is cause that's what I own. IMO can't go wrong with either one

I looked at them all and bought a 2200 BlazerBay because it was the right deal and it fit all my needs at the time. I looked at Frontier's and think they are nice boats but I wanted a full liner boat. I would do the same again. My next boat will also be a liner boat. The fit and finish is better to me. My next boat will likely be a 24' boat.

As far as motors go I have a 150 4stroke Yamaha and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking at a 22' and under boat. My boat at WOT will run 53/54 MPH on GPS. At 3800 RPM's I'm running around 35/36 and sip fuel. I can't give you exact numbers but I can fish all day and run quite a bit and only burn 8 gallons of gas.

I don't know about you but I don't have the time to put together a boat and try to get everything right. A older used fiberglass boat has tons of things that need repair and replacement. My neighbor bought an older bay boat and all he does is work on it. I would much rather spend my time fishing. Something needs doing on my boat I take care of it immediately and don't put them off so when I get a chance to go fishing all I have to do is hook up and go. That is well worth the expense of purchasing a ready to go boat to me.

The Frontier 2104 has a liner now