In theory you will not be able to troll as slow w/ the 50 as w/ the 40.
Both engines should idle in gear at about 600 to 700 rpms. The 50 will have
a slightly larger prop in terms of pitch so you will be moving faster.
Probably only by 1 mph or so. However, your minimum speed is based on this
rpm.

On a boat rated for the 75 - I would personally not go lower than the 60 but
you have to decide. W/ the 50 chances are you will be wide open the whole
time you are pulling the tube. Do you really want to run the engine wide
open all the time.

--
Tony
my boats at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com

"Marko" wrote in message
om...
I'm prepared to go with the 50hp if my dealer is willing to work with
me. My boat is rated for a max of 75hp so no problem there. My only
question is can I troll as slow with the 50hp as I can with the 40hp?
I have little experience with 4-strokes but I hear you can idle right
down to 1 mph.

Thanks for the responses.

I wonder if you can ride in one (with a load) with a 50hp Honda (lightest
50hp 4 stroke) and a 60hp Yamaha ( lighest 60hp 4 stroke and FI for 2005)?

Sometime we buy certain brands of outboard motors becuase we like a
particular dealer's service department and they carry only brand X and Y but
not Z.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"Marko" wrote in message
om...
I'm prepared to go with the 50hp if my dealer is willing to work with
me. My boat is rated for a max of 75hp so no problem there. My only
question is can I troll as slow with the 50hp as I can with the 40hp?
I have little experience with 4-strokes but I hear you can idle right
down to 1 mph.

Thanks for the responses.

On 22 Aug 2004 08:36:40 -0700, (Marko) wrote:

I'm buying an 18' pontoon that weighs 1050 lbs. I decided on the 40hp
Honda but I'm wondering if the 50hp would be better for pulling my
kids on a tube. Besides tubing, I'll also be trolling for walleyes,
trout, etc. Both motors weigh 212 lbs.

Any recommendations? I need to decide soon.

Four stroke? The fifty hands down.

If you can, look around at other brands. Suzuki is pricing their four
strokes very competively at the moment and I believe the Yamaha
four strokes in this horsepower range are direct injection. Not sure
about that though.

And of course, look at the Evinrude E-Tecs in this range.

In any case, I would try to stay within 20% of your max for that boat.

Good luck.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
-----------
"Angling may be said to be so
like the mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt..."

Izaak Walton "The Compleat Angler", 1653

It looks like theses motors use the same block, likely intake and
exhaust. HP difference may come from carb and rpm.

Weight of these motors is pretty much the same. Often the more
powerful motor will use less fuel at certain speeds as it doesnt have
to work as hard.

The only issue that would point at the 40 HP is money. If cost for the
50 isnt prohibitive then get that. I wouldnt recommend getting the 40
and lateron tweak it to get 50 HP (not worth it).

I dont know how well tubing with a pontoon boat works ... might
require twin 400HP ?

Matt


(Marko) wrote in message . com...
I'm buying an 18' pontoon that weighs 1050 lbs. I decided on the 40hp
Honda but I'm wondering if the 50hp would be better for pulling my
kids on a tube. Besides tubing, I'll also be trolling for walleyes,
trout, etc. Both motors weigh 212 lbs.

Any recommendations? I need to decide soon.

!!! Boat Purchase Update !!!

I called my dealer and asked what it would take to upgrade from the
Honda 40 to the 50. He said "don't waste your money, they're basically
the same engine." He also said you don't gain much moving up in
horsepower with pontoons, which I've heard before. He was very
insistant that the 40hp was the best motor for my "smaller" pontoon. I
don't believe everything this guy says. The 40 I agreed to is a 2003
so I'm wondering if he just wants to move it. It's a huge store so I'm
sure he has 2003 50's too. Honda told me that the 2003's and 2004's
are IDENTICAL so I thought I'd save a couple hundred bucks.

Should I stick with the 40 or push for the 50?

On 26 Aug 2004 06:35:29 -0700, (Marko) wrote:

I called my dealer and asked what it would take to upgrade from the
Honda 40 to the 50. He said "don't waste your money, they're basically
the same engine."

Get a spec. sheet and read it. If everything's the same, why not have
10 more HP?

Scott W.

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 09:58:58 -0700, Scott W. wrote:

On 26 Aug 2004 06:35:29 -0700, (Marko) wrote:

I called my dealer and asked what it would take to upgrade from the
Honda 40 to the 50. He said "don't waste your money, they're basically
the same engine."

Get a spec. sheet and read it. If everything's the same, why not have
10 more HP?

Another good answer, but I suspect that it's a case of leftoveritis on
the part of the dealer. I have a good friend in the boat business and
he will turn himself inside out to move New Old Stock in particular
engines.

However, it makes sense to go with the 50 if only because, as Wayne
said, in this case, morererer is betterererrerrrrr. When I talk to
folks about boats, the main complaint is almost always underpowered.

Unless he makes the 40 VERY attractive, stick to your guns and get the
50.

Ten horse power can make a difference here - the additional 10
horsepower is like adding 25% more Kw.

By the way, when they say they are the same engine, that's true to
this extent - they may be the same long block, it's the timing and
computer controls controlling fuel flow that give you the extra
horsies.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
-----------
"Angling may be said to be so
like the mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt..."

Izaak Walton "The Compleat Angler", 1653

On 26 Aug 2004 06:35:29 -0700, (Marko) wrote:

Should I stick with the 40 or push for the 50?

=========================================

It's very rare to hear someone complain about having too much power
but the opposite is quite common.

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:40:58 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On 26 Aug 2004 06:35:29 -0700, (Marko) wrote:

Should I stick with the 40 or push for the 50?

=========================================

It's very rare to hear someone complain about having too much power
but the opposite is quite common.

Short, sweet and succinct - the perfect answer.

Later,

Tom

There is some degree of truth that more HP doesn't change the speed that much.
Pontoons are not speedboats and they never really "plane". You do get a degree
of laminar flow across the pontoons and there is definately a step but it takes
a lot more power to get a tad bit more speed.
When I went down from 75 to 60 my top speed changed about 1-2 MPH.

Ask them what the prop recomendation is for both and what the predicted RPM is
with that prop.