79 mako 20 repower questions

[wiredawg]

Alright guys I own a MAKO 20 with an old force 125 sitting on the back. It is time for a new motor, I have read pretty much all I can, and I plan on going with a SUZKI 140 4 stroke. It weighs in around 420, and the old force weighed about 300. Now here the kicker, I have a 27 gal bait tank mounted over the old 2 fish boxes in the back portion of the boat. I plan on moving the batteries under the consol to move some weight forward. What else would you do (besides bracket, not enough funds available for that too, maybee some time down the road later though)?

Is there anyone out there with a MAKO 20 with the suz 140 on back? I would like to get some info on how the boats sits in the water and what size prop would you recomend?

Jay

[michigan dave]

Hay Jay, I have a 1979 mako20 with a 115 suzuki and a 25 merc alongside it to the weight should be simmilar. it sets with about 5 inches of freeboard at the transome. can be a pain while bottomfishing. I bet your gonna love that little suzuki over that force. Your fuel econimy should be great. good luck.

[wiredawg]

Dave,

I thought the 115 was a 4 cyl eng also and only weighed 10 to 20 lbs less than the 140? If so how much does your 25 merc weigh? Also what kind of numbers do you get with your 115?

Thanks Jay

[gmcauliffe]

Jay,

I've got a '74 20' with a Suz 140 2stroke on the back. I'm very happy with the reliability of the Suz, and while mine is a 2strk, I hear nothing but good things about Suz 4strks.

HOWEVER, when it comes time for me to repower, I really think a 140 is only at the lower end of what is acceptable for this boat. Remember, it's rated for 200. Put three guys on it and some gear, and at WOT my 140 is straining and only getting maybe 30mph on a calm day. That's not how I want to run my boat long-term.

If I were repowering today, I'd be looking for a 175 (I think Yam has some?). Or if you can wait until spring, rumor mill seems pretty certain that Suz will be coming out with a 175 4strk. I believe Honda already has (or is about to?) introduce a 175-4:

http://www.fishvictoria.com/pnewgear...28outboard.php

Good luck -

[rhmc]

i, too, have a '79 mako 20 with a 140 suzyQ two stroke.

works just dandy until i severely overload the boat with 4 people and 500 pounds of camping/fishin' stuff.

but for 90% of what i do, the 140 is just fine.

[cgmiller]

Jay,

Personal preference goes a long way with making your decision. My dad recently bought a 2002 19 Mako with a 150 Yamaha 2-stroke and I would not want him to have any more horsepower (max for the boat is 150). The boat cruises at 30 mph and tops out at a little over 40. My neighbor has a pair of the 140 4-stroke suzukis on the back of a 254 Mako. He loves them and would not trade them for anything. He can run the NE canyon here in NJ on about 90 gallons of fuel. It is no race horse and he cruises around 21-22 knots, which in the typical sea conditions is uncomfortable to go any faster than that. 20 years ago I repowered a 17 CC with a 90 hp from a 70 hp and the only major difference was noticible when 3 or 4 people were in the boat, but once she got going, the cruise was similar. I am running at 66% of the recommended mx horsepower and the boat runs real nice with a 25-27 mph cruise and a 36 mph top end. With a 140, you would be at 70% of the max rated hp for the boat.

Good Luck!

[kwilliams]

Jay,

I repowered my 73 20' mako in 2002 with a 225 opti. I was buying a 150 opti until I was offered a deal I couldn't pass up. I've been extremely pleased with the motor and performance. 4100 rpm's = 40 mph downhill and 37mph uphill (river). 8 gph burn rate. Plenty of torque for backing off rigs and beaches or when it occassionaly needs to back out of shallow water. The level of the transom hasn't been a problem for me. I just don't back down on fish offshore. I'd like to tell you a story concerning the low transom. I hauled my boat to Orange Beach from south Louisiana for a week's vacation. I had it parked in Little Lagoon for the week. While we were there we had a severe thunderstorm hit right after dark. This was last July if any of you remember it? The point is that this storm produced gusts of over 50 mph with a 2-3' chop that kicked up in this shallow lagoon which was a slamming into the transom of my boat. My wife was hollering at me in the condo to trailer it before we lost it. I ran down to check the boat. When I jumped in to go move it I was calf deep in water at my console. I cranked it up and drove it on the waiting trailer. Immediately after being pulled out of the lagoon with massive amounts of water pouring out of my boat I decided that I had to check under my bilge hatch. Would you believe that there was No More water than normal in there. Less than an inch! I was pleased to see that. Kenny

[wiredawg]

Guys,

All of you thanks for the info, that is what I need to hear from from a bunch of 20 owners. Now I just have to make my mind up???

Jay

[wiredawg]

Guys,

All of you thank you for the info. Now I just have to make my mind up.

Jay

[wiredawg]

Guys,

All of you thanks for the info. Now I just have to make my mind up.

Jay