Hey all. A recent trip on a friends boat has me hitting my head against the wall harder than before after seeing the performance difference between his 4-stroke and my 2. It really has my family looking at how much we spend in gas and how quickly we burn it off in our boat with our motor.
Doing some quick searches on the net has me only finding new motors or motors that are like 1 year old. I can’t seem to find a good source for finding used 4-stroke motors, and how much they would cost.
I guess my first question is what would be a good local source to start asking questions about swapping out my 2-stroke for a good, used 4-stroke?
I sure will Phin. Right now, it is just in the “what if” phase. My wife and I were talking about it over pizza last night. I know I can sell it for a good price (according to the NADA website). That money will really help offset the cost of a 4-stroke. We just don’t have the money to make up the difference right now. Besides, I really don’t know where to look to just get a motor.
“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel .” Benjamin Netanyahu
Yeah, I did come across that site last night. But, I just can’t figure out is, on the NADA website, 4-stroke motors that were made around 2004 show a value of like $7,000 - $9,000 dollars, in the 200 - 250 hp range. Later models get more expensive, obviously. What I’m getting at is, I have no idea where to start. Are the early 4-strokes (2004 - 2006) for the bigger motors any good given they were new technology back then? Is it worth the extra money to buy one that is only 2 years old or so? Because newer motors are a lot more money than I could even scrape together right now to even consider this. I kind of feel like I don’t even know what question to ask here because I’m looking at a ton of possibilities with no frame of reference. If I’m going to pursue this, I’d like to have a good direction to start in for my first few steps. I know this is kind of vague, and I apologize for that.
F250’s got variable camshaft timing around 06 or 07 along with command link compatibility.
Variable camshaft timing makes a considerable difference on offshore boats…
4 strokes are far less tolerant of lazy upkeep than your OX66. You need to look for one with very low hours and religiously maintained or either go for a newer one with some portion of warranty left. Best one to buy would be from someone you know or know the history of. Parts for the 4 strokes are NOT cheap in any way, shape or form. You are almost doubling the cost of parts over your OX66 if anything major is needed…
Flame away on me, but with HPDI’s and four strokes vs carbed or plain EFI motors it’s the truth usually.
You can buy a WHOLE lot of gas and oil for what a 4 stroke costs.
Used OX66 250’s sell for 1200-3500 bucks, btw. NADA and the county say my 200 HPDI is worth near 5 grand also. Doesn’t mean they don’t sell for 2500-4000 all day long. A motor someone knows the history of and can put some faith in is worth a lot more than a mystery motor.
The earlier 4 strokes are good on fuel and quiet, but they are not going to perform like your OX66 because of the torque band and heavy weight. Expect about a 30% increase in fuel economy perhaps. The brand new 4.2L Yamaha’s will outperform your OX66 and have the quiet gas sipping characteristics. Do you want to pay taxes and insurance on a brand new motor though?
Like I said, you can buy a WHOLE LOT of fuel and oil for your OX66 for the actual cost in ownership difference.
I get what you’re saying Phin. This motor has lived up to its rep so far with me. I have no complaints about how it operates.
My beef with it is that I can only seem to average about 140 miles round trip to go do an offshore run. Running 50 miles out, troll for 20 or 30 or so, then run back in with a quarter tank or so (with Shem being 7 miles from the rocks to the dock) is all I can do in a day. This is with bringing an extra 15 gallons with me.
I’ve had to leave fish biting, with PLENTY of daylight left, because I was running out of gas.
Half the reason I bought a boat was to do this kind of fishing. I feel like I’m limited compare to what most everyone else can do as far as range, and time spent on the water. If I spend $350 on a tank of gas, I’d like to know I can go longer than just a half day run. That’s what is getting my goat right now and has us asking the question about replacing it. I hate to get rid of a perfectly operating piece of equipment (as far as running is concerned) . . . . but this is where my head is right now.
