Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 21:25:26 +1000, "K. Smith"
wrote:

Billgran wrote:
"Tom Hooper" wrote in message
...

Looking to power a 17 to 19 shallow V scow bow open boat, ply or alum

(I

know it's noisy). I guess that means 4 stroke, 25 to 35 hp. Not going

off

shore, just rivers and swamps. Want to cruise around with scaring away

the

scenery or losing friends. Normally canoe, and love quiet watercraft.
Thanks.
Tom




Tom,

You might want to check out the Evinrude E-TEC outboards in the 40-50hp
class. They are as quiet as a 4 stroke, there is no smoke orof mixing oil,
they do not need expensive oil changes and ridiculously priced oil filters.
They also do not use rubber timing belts that could bend valves when they
break, and are expensive to replace. There are no valves to burn, rust or
stick, and they do not need the cost of labor and a gasket for periodic
adjustments.

They come with a full 3 year warranty that does not lower coverage after 1
year as with some other brands.

The E-TEC does not need any dealer service for 3 years or 300 hours in
regular use. Some 4 strokes need oil changes every 6 months, plus again for
the 10 hr. check.

They also carry the original Ficht design fault forward & will fail
just as Ficht did & for the very same reasons.

Karen,

I don't know what your problem is with FICHT, but the last time I was
hanging around here, I saw the rants and was interested in your
opinion. However, it would appear that there is more to this than
just a good old rant, so allow me to present another side to your
apparent vitriol towards FICHT.

I have three of these doggies - a 1999 200 and two 2001 225s and nary
a problem - mechanical stuff, yes, but nothing that involved the FICHT
side of things. One was a busted fuel line which caused some
uncomfortable moments in the boat and one stator which failed and
honestly could have been my fault. In both cases the problems were
fixed quickly, quietly, no fuss, no muss and they didn't have to
because these are OMC engines, not Bombardier.

With respect to E-TEC, there's a lot of solid engineering time behind
E-TEC, there have been some important technical advances and from the
engines that I've run, mostly 50/70 hp on Polarkraft aluminum fishing
demo boats, I'm impressed. It would appear that the E-TEC produces
more shaft horsepower (meaning more horsepower at the prop), theya re
extremely quiet (more so than a four stroke in my opinion), quick
throttle response and exceptionally clean burning (according to the
specs - I don't own a spectrometer). I think Bill can produce the
actual figures, but just based on my own seat-of-the-pants former
engineer gut feeling, it beats the hell out of anything I've ridden in
including some of the bigger competing engines from Merc. I say that
because I was privileged to attend a dealer meeting (I am not
affliated with any dealer - I just happen to know a couple socially)
where some big engine comparison rides were offered - E-TEC is the
engine of the future.

I'm sure there will be problems along the way once these get into the
main consumer stream, but that's true of any engine. I've already
heard about some Verado quirks that will make your hair curl, but I
can't speak to them directly - this was strictly second hand info. So
far, I haven't heard much about the E-TECs other than my first hand
experience with them which was around 35 hours with a 40 and about 30
hours with a 70.

Just a counter argument - I'm happy with my FICHTs and when I get
ready for an engine change on the Contender, which may happen this
year, I will be using E-TECS strictly based on the performance of the
FICHTs that I have currently installed.

I am one happy, contented and very impressed FICHT owner, user and
abuser. :)

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


In Karen Smith's mind, Tom, you're a liar and your experience is all a
fabrication.

I haven't seen A Verado yet...or heard anything about them. And I just
learned Yamaha has boosted its F225 to make an F250 available.



--
A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush;
A vote for Bush is a vote for Apocalypse.