trolling with big outboards

[times two]

Considering strongly the possibility of moving up this fall. Currently

have a 22' Larson walkaround i/o. Really like and would lean strongly

towards the 23 Seaswirl WA, but in an outboard. Does anyone

have any information regarding how some of these big outboards

are with extensive trollling? One of the ones I have found has

a 200 OMC ocean pro, and the other a 175 Johnson.

Thanks.

John

[muskybob]

The OMC might be OK, but I'd be very careful trolling with your Johnson. :shock:

[Just Fishin']

I have a 1995 Wellcraft 210 with Johnson 150 and Honda 9.9. Trolled for 2 years with the Johnson and it would troll down to speed but smoky and chugged. Just too noisy, smelly, and uneconomical.

Went to the Honda and would HIGHLY rec. it. Extremely quiet, cheap on gas (runs on pennies all day) and almost maintenance free. I would never dream of trolling with a bigger motor again, the $$$ for the kicker makes it a much more enjoyable troll.

The Johnson cruises at 32mph with no problem and the single big motor leaves plenty of room for kicker and 3 riggers.

As for the comparison between the OMC and Johnson, I can only say I have been happy with my Johnson. (That sounds pornographic)

[spoonfed-1]

I would not recommend trolling with any big outboard UNLESS it was a 4 stroke. It is harder on the motor than running full throttle for extended periods of time. I just bought a Yamaha 200 hp 2 years ago. The place where I bought it had the exact same motor as mine and it was in parts on the bench. I asked what was wrong with it and the mechanic told me it had 385 hrs on it and 320 of them was trolling. Washed out a cylinder and this was one of the newer HPDI 2 strokes. The older 2 strokes are worse. If you buy a 2 stroke put a kicker on it. You will pay for the kicker with the gas you save and will save the ware and tear on the big one as well as having backup power. If you want a dual purpose big motor get a four stroke.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Glen

[off track]

We troll with our Yamaha 115hp 4 - Strokes. Easily slow down to 1.5

We have twin 115's and turn 1 off. We have nearly 150hours of trolling on each motor over the last year

No Smoke, No Smell, VERY VERY Quiet

[Just Fishin']

Just as a follow up...my Johnson is not a 4 stroke. Nice to see others who have 4 strokes and can troll with them. Avoiding the expense and space for a trolling motor is very nice.