the 300 hour dealer servicing/warranty
interval. The Evinrude allowed me to
re-use my spare propeller from the 150,
a 17 inch three-blade stainless Viper. The
propeller would provide some interesting
results, but again I will come to this later.
Better trolling efficiency was also a
consideration. Finally, the E-Tec deal was
sweeter financially, with slightly lower
purchase price and better trade-in figure.
It was a tough choice overall, but I
decided to stick with the E-Tec, as the
life cost, coupled with the weight of
the benefits noted above, helped tip
the scales. Also, my generally positive
experience and familiarity with the 150
E-Tec sold me. Chris from Southern
Outboard was pleased when I told him
that I was going with his proposal and
ordered the motor the same day.
The fitting process went as expected,
and I picked the boat up at the end of
the week, sporting its shiny new motor. I
opted to use my Viper propeller to start
with and would then look at my options
once I saw how this performed, as I like
to have a spare prop.
THE RUN-IN PHASE AND
OPERATING EXPERIENCE
From day one something had changed in
my whole set up. The boat felt different.
bank would use around 100 litres of fuel,
depending on combination of trolling
and cruising. My last two trips to Sanders
on the new motor used 91 and 101
litres of fuel respectively. So, while the
gauges seem to be telling me that my
point in time consumption is up, pump
results actually seem about the same or
potentially even better.
The boat seems better overall – more
balanced and more sure footed on water- and my experienced crew members
have also noticed and commented on
this phenomenon.
Top speed with my Viper prop fitted
is 33 knots, which was as expected,
although the revs at 5500rpm were at
the low end of the optimum rev range
for this model E-Tec. This top speed
was fine for my purposes, but well
down on the 40 knots that the punchy
150 could attain.
To address the hole shot issue, I tried
a few different propeller combinations,
with a 14.5 inch/15 pitch/ 4 blade
Cyclone stainless being the best option
found. The first measure refers to
the prop size, while the pitch refers to
how far forward the prop would move
through the water in one revolution. The
Was it heavier or more sure footed? All
I knew was that it was different, but
strangely better. I tried moving weight
around and eventually had to put a heap
of weight up in the nose with the old set
up to balance the boat.
The motor was oil thirsty and a little
tight at the start, but is now well and
truly run in with 202 hours on the clock
in just over six months.WHAT DID I LEARN DURING
THE RUN IN?
Most noticeably, the hole shot (the time
taken before the boat climbs onto the
plane from a standing start) was poor
compared to the 150 E-tec with the
Viper propeller. Economy was about
the same overall, but with distinct
differences through the rev range. At
22 knots the 150 used 23 litres per hour
and at 30 knots used 36lph according
to Evinrude I-Command gauges. While
trolling it used seven litres per hour at six
knots. At 22 knots the new motor uses
26 litres per hour, at 30 knots it uses 38
litres per hour, and at six knots it uses
4.6 litres per hour. The cruising economy
results made no sense initially!
At the fuel pump, however, I was
putting in about the same or slightly less
overall. Historically, a trip to SandersRoutine maintenance can be done at homeTop speed with the Viper prop is 33 knotsuoS
th^ Australian (^) An
(^65) regl