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I need to buy a new motor for my old Bass Tracker. I can get a new (2006) four stroke Mercury 50 for the same price as a two stroke. Is the four stroke engine a major improvement over the two stroke? I have no experience with four strokes.

Four stroke all the way. I love my Opti 225 but I can afford my four stroke 115 a lot better. My four stroke is peppy and strong. Hole shot is just as good considering setups. Fuel Mileage is four to one better. Go with the four stroke. IF I were to go back with a two stroke, Id look strongly at the Etec. I like my motors, but I really like the Etecs Ive been on. Talk with Barhopr about the Etecs, he can tell you more if you decide on a two stroke!! Good Luck,BB

BAD BEHAVIOR wrote:Four stroke all the way. I love my Opti 225 but I can afford my four stroke 115 a lot better. My four stroke is peppy and strong. Hole shot is just as good considering setups. Fuel Mileage is four to one better. Go with the four stroke. IF I were to go back with a two stroke, Id look strongly at the Etec. I like my motors, but I really like the Etecs Ive been on. Talk with Barhopr about the Etecs, he can tell you more if you decide on a two stroke!! Good Luck,BB

I like the idea of the E-Tec, but She Who Must Be Obeyed won't approve of that much of tha family money being spent on what she perceives as a toy. (This is after we just spent a bunch of money on new granite countertops that she just had to have. I didn't see anything wrong with the old Formica.)

Its easier to get forgiveness than permission................just sayin!!!

When you buy a Mercury Four Stroke, you are in essence buying a Yamaha motor

I just bought a Yamaha 2 Stroke but as a sales pitch to get to get me to buy a four stroke the dealer showed me dome test studies from Yamaha where the two stroke is expected to last 2000 hours before a major overhaul but the 4 stroke was 10,000 hours!! Pretty big difference but I was concerned with the weight difference. I had a 4 Stroke before this one and they are very very nice! I hope that helps you.

BayGator wrote:Its easier to get forgiveness than permission................just sayin!!!

Words to live by !!!

4 strokes are a little quieter and a little cleaner.

4-strokes are nice. My Suzuki's are 5 yrs old now and havent missed a beat. By the way alot of Johnson 4-strokes are Suzuki's dressed in white. Even when flushing the motors there quite. With the cost of fuel, efficiantcy is a major factor. Good Luck with it.

I love my Optimax 2 stroke.

Etec numbers are close if not better than some 4 bangers in the "Clean" column. they're pretty quite too, which I never understood why that is such a big deal. Baygators got it right by they way....Does she really know the difference in one engine from the next?

Barhopr wrote:Does she really know the difference in one engine from the next?

She will know the difference in the checkbook.

Saturday afternoon: She's starting to joke about it so she must be coming around.

Tracker:

You need to be very aware of the weight difference between a four and a two stroke motor, especially on an old Tracker. I like my four stroke Suzie a lot, but my boat was designed to take the weight of one. Check out the difference and think about it - you don't want to make the boat stern heavy.

For an old Tracker I would go with an Opti - ETEC is a good two stroke but costs a lot more, I think.

EJ

Check on etecs in the lower hp range, they are heavy. I would think a lighter 2 stroke would be your choice. A 4 stroke is also heavier than carbed 2 strokes and could cause some porposing problems.

Redbelly wrote:Check on etecs in the lower hp range, they are heavy. I would think a lighter 2 stroke would be your choice. A 4 stroke is also heavier than carbed 2 strokes and could cause some porposing problems.

A two stroke Mercury 50 weighs in at 204 lbs. An E-Tec 50 weighs 240 and a four stroke Mercury weighs 247 lbs.

The boat is rated for a maximum of 80 hp so I would think that it could take the weight of the four stroke with no problem.