15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Optimizing the performance of Boston Whaler boats
drewread
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15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Mon Jul 31, 2017 12:11 am

Hello,
I just picked up a nice 15' Super Sport Limited this weekend, so now my 13' Sport has a friend until it finds a new home.. The lower unit on the Johnson 70 VRO that the 15' SSL came with is pretty badly banged up, and rather that replace that I am considering purchasing an ETEC 60 as a replacement.

It seems like the ETEC 60 and the Yamaha F70 are the only real choices for this hull these days due to weight limitations. I like the idea of reduced maintenance hours on the ETEC, and the ability to easily take it for a run on a nice fall day and easily re-winterize it, which is what is swaying me from the F70.

Has anyone here put the ETEC 60 on their 15' whaler, and if so how happy are you with the performance?

Any propeller suggestions to get me started on the right foot with that hunt? I generally go out with a few people on board, and the kids are young now, but a bit of tubing/skiing/wake-boarding may be in their future.

Thank you.

Drewread

macfam
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Re: 15' Super Sport Limited Repower - ETEC 60?

Postby macfam » Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:29 am

The mooring next to me has a 15 classic with a 50 (not 60) E-TEC. The boat sits beautiful at rest with the 50, which weighs the same as the 60. I've never driven his boat but I know he's pleased with performance and he's had zero problems. He's had it for 5 years. His larger Hydro Sport has twin 200 Johnson's, and what a smoke show when he fires them up. The E-TEC is quiet and smoke free.
I would think the 60 would be an ideal match for your 15.

Surfhunter
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby Surfhunter » Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:26 am

I would not worry about the maint hours on a F70. There is a bolt on the outside of the engine to drain the oil. Process takes less than 30 min.

If you run the engine some during the winter, no worries with fogging.

Either way you go, I'm sure you will have fun.

rtk
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby rtk » Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:37 am

I have had an E-TEC 60 horsepower on my classic 16 since 2015. I purchased the engine new.

Best top speed with this engine is approximately 34 miles per hour- best conditions/light load.

It has performed flawlessly over the three years I have had it. Turn the key and it starts immediately every time. Programed for XD-100 oil there is no exaust smoke and the engine sips oil.

I highly recommend the E=TEC 60 on a realiabilty and quality basis.

Rich

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:04 am

Update -

I ordered my E-TEC 60hp engine yesterday. I am hoping to have it rigged by this weekend, but as it is a long weekend here in Canada I imagine it will likely be rigged by mid-week next week.

Anyone have prop suggestions for this rig? I'd at least like to start in the right ballpark.

Thanks for the input, I look forward to coming back with some definitive reports on the performance.

Drewread

drewread
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15' SS Limited with E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Wed Aug 02, 2017 9:25 pm

Hello. [Give] a suggestion for a starting point for a propellor for an E-TEC 60 mounted on a 15 Super Sport Limited.

I'm looking for something that offers overall decent performance while occasionally pulling a tube or a skiier as my children get older.

rtk
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Re: Propellor suggestion for 60hp E-TEC on 15' SS Limited?

Postby rtk » Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:27 am

You will need to clarify which 60 E-TEC you will be installing.

http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/engines/e ... html#tab=1

The 60 model has a gear ratio of 2.9:1. The 60 HO model appears to be available with various gear ratios. The gear ratio will dictate prop pitch.

I have a 1966 classic 16 with a E-TEC 60. Engine manufacture year is 2013. I purchased new and installed 2015.

The gear ratio is 2.9:1. I have a simple ALUMINUM GENERAL PURPOSE & ECONOMY Evinrude propeller. It is a 17 pitch. General perfomance is very good. Top speed is 34 miles per hour light load best conditions. RPMs will go to 5,950 so I suspect I am a bit under propped with a minimal load just me but since this is a low horsepower choice for this boat it works just fine for me.

http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/accessori ... llers.html

My use varies- mostly fishing- inland lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

If you could borrow this propeller with a 17 pitch from your dealer I think it would be a good starting point for propeller testing. I was going to look for a stainless propeller but to be honest I am so happy with this current propeller and engine height I simply have not bothered to test other propellers.

Hope this helps. Enjoy that E-TEC- it is a fun engine- little bugger has some spirit!

Rich

drewread
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Re: Propellor suggestion for 60hp E-TEC on 15' SS Limited?

Postby drewread » Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:38 am

It is a 60, not the heavier 60HO due to the additional weight.

jimh
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Re: 15' SS Limited with E-TEC 60

Postby jimh » Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:50 pm

If you want good pulling power for water sports and towing, you will have to set up the propeller for that application, then take whatever the rest of the performance will be. However, with the E-TEC engine typically having a broad torque band, you should be able to get good lower-speed pulling power without having to use a propeller pitch that is too much lower than optimum for all-round performance.

I would proceed with propeller selection on the basis of hitting the recommended optimum engine speed range at full-throttle with the typical boat load, and then try that propeller for water sport towing. If that propeller is not up to par for water sport, you will have to drop pitch slightly and try again.

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:26 pm

Hello all,

I had the 15' Super Sport Limited out with the new 60HP E-TEC for the first time yesterday. I headed out to Bellwood Lake Conservation area to test things out and get some data on the prop choice. The dealer calculated the correct prop to be a 19 pitch, and judging by the results I think he chose well.

The water was not exactly glass like yesterday, it wasn't what I would consider rough out, but there was a bit of chop and definitely quite a bit of wake chop later in the day. Being the weekend, there was quite a bit of traffic on the Lake, so long distance WOT runs were not easily possible, but I did have some decent results with a few nice runs.

36.2 (as reported by iPad Mini2 with internal GPS running Navionics) - 36.8 MPH (reported by Lowrance Elite 4x HDI GPS) at 5850RPM at WOT with just myself (230lbs) in the boat.

That seems like a decent set of numbers for this hull with a 60HP engine hanging off the stern.

My only concern was a bit of porpoising that I noticed early in the day when the water was more clear of traffic and chop, but I didn't have the trim worked out at that point. I will be on the water all week next week, so I will have more data to report after that week.

Overall the engine is nice and quiet, had a decent hole shot, and frankly 36+ MPH is more than fast enough in this boat when alone. With myself and another adult, plus three kids aged 5 - 7 years old we were able to easily achieve 32.5MPH at WOT - I estimate that would have been about 670lbs of people alone.

drewread

rtk
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby rtk » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:29 pm

Thank you for your great report. I appreciate the performance data feedback on this engine's performance. Looks like a great fit for the boat! As a small boat runner 37 miles per hour is quite fun!

I'm glad you are experiencing the same performance joy I have experienced with this engine. You'll love it more over time when every time you turn the key it starts in seconds. I have mine programmed to XD-100 oil so no smoke at all.

Are you running the Evinrude aluminum propeller or a different propeller if you don't mind? I'm thinking about going a size bigger on my propeller and I really like the Evinrude aluminum I have now.

A very enthusiastic E-TEC 60 owner,

Rich

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:52 pm

The propeller is an Evinrude Aluminum one:

http://shop.evinrude.com/product/0/76...2_Pitch_RH

Aluminum 19RH, 3 blade, 13.2" Diameter, 19" Pitch, Standard Rotation

I think I need to possibly tweak the mounting height to deal with the potential porpoising concern, but I'm happy so far.

I'm only using the XD50 oil and I can't sense any smoke whatsoever.

I have an entire week out with the boat next week, so I will have a better idea of how things are setup by the end of next week. I'm looking forward to it :)

Tim
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby Tim » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:03 am

Great thread; looking for a slightly different "twist":
I've got an 89 SuperSport Limited. I just replaced the 60 HP Merc 2-stroke with a 2006 Honda BF50 50 HP 4-stroke. The prop is 11 3/4 x 10.
The Merc had no tach, but would push the boat at 36 mph at wide open throttle. Nice.
The Honda revs to the limiter @ 6500 before reaching WOT, achieving a top speed of just 22 mph. All data at sea level.
Which prop do I need?
Thanks for your help.
Sapienti sat.

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:04 pm

Well, after spending a week on the water I am quite happy with the overall performance. The numbers haven't changed much from my initial report, and once figuring out the proper trim I don't have porpoising problems.

I could probably play around with the prop selection endlessly and eek out another mile an hour or maybe two.. but frankly 37mph in the 15'er is fast enough, and it comfortably travels on plane at around 20mph using only 9.8l/h of fuel which seems to be a nice comfortable speed in anything but the roughest waters.

If I do any further tweaking (it is probably inevitable that I will next year..) I will report back.

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:48 am

OK, it is the time of year that I am once again thinking that there is more juice in my boat than my current mounting arrangements are allowing for.

I have created a video of my engine running at full throttle at it's current mounting height (https://youtu.be/2uNWmN0M8RI)

Any feedback on the current engine running height is appreciated.

60ETEC-height-1.jpg
60ETEC-height-1.jpg (105.11 KiB) Viewed 20603 times


You can see that moving the motor up or down will require some epoxy work and drilling of holes in the proper location from this image. The top hole should be a bit higher, and the bottom one should be lower. I'm willing to do the work, just wondering if any one thinks it will be worth it.

Thank you.

Drewread

jimh
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby jimh » Tue Aug 14, 2018 11:06 am

Due to the camera lens getting some spray, the position of the anti-ventilation plate is not in sharp focus in your nice recording. As best I can tell, it looks like the engine mounting height could be raised more, as the AV-Plate seems to be still running under the water.

As for the present location of the engine mounting holes, I agree with your comments: the upper pair of mounting holes appears to have been located too far below the top of the transom. The usual location for the upper mounting hole pair according to ABYC recommendation is given in the FAQ. See

Q9: What is the Standard Transom Hole Layout?
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q9

The holes in the transom should be 1 and 7/8-inch below the top of the transom....but not less than 1-3/4-inches...


Using the hole spacing as a reference, the upper hole pair on your boat looks like it was drilled at least 2 and 5/8-inches below the transom. This means the upper holes are too low by about 2-5/8 - 1-7/8 = 6/8 or 3/4-inch or "one-hole."

Since your engine is mounted three-holes up and the mounting holes are the equivalent of "one-hole" down, the effective engine height now is two-holes-up from lowest, if describing it as if the transom holes were normally located.

The problem now is to know in advance if all the work of plugging the existing upper holes and drilling new ones will be worth the time and effort, that is, will being able to raise the engine to the maximum three-holes-up mounting height bring about a marked improvement. That is hard to say. I'd go boating and have some fun with the boat for a while before taking on all that extra work.

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Phil T
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby Phil T » Tue Aug 14, 2018 2:41 pm

Drew -

I am sorry I missed this thread when you originally started it.

My prop sheet shows the recommended prop (by Boston Whaler owners with the same hull/engine) is 13-7/8" x 21" Viper. I also have a note it should be mounted 2 holes up for this prop.

With your mounting... "the effective engine height now is two-holes-up ,you may be right where you want to be.
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
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drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:09 pm

jimh wrote:Due to the camera lens getting some spray, the position of the anti-ventilation plate is not in sharp focus in your nice recording. As best I can tell, it looks like the engine mounting height could be raised more, as the AV-Plate seems to be still running under the water.

As for the present location of the engine mounting holes, I agree with your comments: the upper pair of mounting holes appears to have been located too far below the top of the transom. The usual location for the upper mounting hole pair according to ABYC recommendation is given in the FAQ. See

Q9: What is the Standard Transom Hole Layout?
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q9

The holes in the transom should be 1 and 7/8-inch below the top of the transom....but not less than 1-3/4-inches...


Using the hole spacing as a reference, the upper hole pair on your boat looks like it was drilled at least 2 and 5/8-inches below the transom. This means the upper holes are too low by about 2-5/8 - 1-7/8 = 6/8 or 3/4-inch or "one-hole."

Since your engine is mounted three-holes up and the mounting holes are the equivalent of "one-hole" down, the effective engine height now is two-holes-up from lowest, if describing it as if the transom holes were normally located.

The problem now is to know in advance if all the work of plugging the existing upper holes and drilling new ones will be worth the time and effort, that is, will being able to raise the engine to the maximum three-holes-up mounting height bring about a marked improvement. That is hard to say. I'd go boating and have some fun with the boat for a while before taking on all that extra work.


Yea, the camera took some spray.. I don't think it would ever stay dry back there, but as you said you get the idea from what you can see. The anti-cav plate is below the water - probably an inch or two. Pretty hard to get back there and measure accurately while driving under WOT in a 15' Whaler as you well know... ;)

I took some more accurate pictures today with a tape measure and a pencil from almost straight on.

ETEC-H-1.jpg
ETEC-H-1.jpg (112.6 KiB) Viewed 20578 times


ETEC-H-2.jpg
ETEC-H-2.jpg (169.95 KiB) Viewed 20578 times


Although it is hard to get an exact measurement (there is some lens distortion due to various angles here) it is somewhere between 5/16" and 3/8" too low, dependent on the angle of the transom, tape, camera and/or your eyeball. I'm of the opinion that it is around 3/8" out of place. Like I said, it is a lot of work to get it up 3/8" and I am busy enjoying it as is right now. I'm just seeking advice for future tweaking.

ETEC-H-3.jpg
ETEC-H-3.jpg (134.99 KiB) Viewed 20578 times


The top of the pencil line is at exactly 1-7/8" in this photograph.

I have tried adding weight forward to counter any problems with the additional weight from the newer engine. I have added a trolling motor to the bow as well as a rather heavy Group 31 battery under the front bench on the port side. I have also moved a few hundred pounds of crew around the boat many times, on many a trip, to see if I could get the weight change to counter the porpoising and no luck. I still get porpoising when hitting top speed at optimum RPM no matter where I move that weight.

My current thinking has me thinking that maybe the prop is not getting up to RPM unless I trim it up too high, which is causing the porpoising, and that perhaps I should be trying a new propeller to get the RPMs up instead of relying on trim to get up there to the sweet spot.

Based on Phil's recommendation (thank you) of the 13-7/8" x 21" Viper propeller do you think that would achieve the increased RPM without trimming up as much?

Thank you both for your input.

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:54 pm

Phil T wrote:Drew -

I am sorry I missed this thread when you originally started it.

My prop sheet shows the recommended prop (by Boston Whaler owners with the same hull/engine) is 13-7/8" x 21" Viper. I also have a note it should be mounted 2 holes up for this prop.

With your mounting... "the effective engine height now is two-holes-up ,you may be right where you want to be.


Phil, I've seen your comments in many threads and I value your input.

That seems lie a big prop (and stainless to boot) which seems like it will be harder for my ETEC 60 ( not a HO) to turn... is that indeed the way I should be heading? In my mind that seems like the opposite direction I would have headed and I'm looking to learn why this is the prop of choice.

Are there some threads that reference this prop on the 15 hull?

Thanks!

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Phil T
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby Phil T » Thu Aug 16, 2018 7:12 am

Drew -

I just reviewed this thread and entered all the salient information into a prop calculator and upon reflection believe my recommendation sheet is wrong. In entering the WOT rpm of 6000, gear ratio of 2.67, slip of 5% and a target speed of 37, the calulator shows a 19" pitch.

I would not change the engine height recommendation.

Mea culpa.
1992 Outrage 17
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flymo
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby flymo » Wed Aug 22, 2018 6:18 pm

Drew, I see no reason to redrill the lower holes. You could redrill the upper holes in the standard location, or a bit higher, to give yourself room for experimentation. Since they're not below the waterline the upper holes wouldn't need to be sealed so carefully - more a matter of cosmetics.

I'm not precisely clear what prop you have on there now. But if you're comfortable with the top speed, you could drop down an inch in pitch to bring it right up to redline and give yourself more pop when running loaded.
Last edited by flymo on Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

drewread
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby drewread » Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:29 pm

I'd have to epoxy (with filler) the upper holes anyway, as I would be drilling through a portion of the hole anyway :)

flymo
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Re: 15' SSL Re-power E-TEC 60

Postby flymo » Thu Aug 23, 2018 5:58 am

OK, finally had time to read the full thread. Seems like you're still having porpoising problems, you're hitting 5850 RPM when running light, and you have a basic 19-pitch aluminum prop.

One cause of porpoising is the motor being mounted too low. So while it may not make a lot of difference, redrilling and going up the equivalent of one hole might help. I'd work on the prop first, though. You definitely want a quality stainless prop to get the most from your motor.

I can't tell the characteristics of the prop you have on there (the link you posted just goes to a generic page) but I'd be inclined to go to a prop with less rake and thus more stern lift, and to drop down an inch in pitch. That should help the porpoising and let you get up to speed without as much trim. I don't think I'd stress too much about blade area - the eTecs have a wide torque band.

I had good luck contacting PowerTech and getting a recommendation from them, which worked out well for me. Most of their props are available in 1 inch pitch increments, unlike other manufacturers, so you can fine tune the WOT RPM.

It takes some work to find the perfect prop - I'm on prop #5 and I think I'm done, but you never know.