MONTAUK 17 Re-power Anxiety

[Wull]

I have several questions regarding a 1986 MONTAUK 17 re-power in which I have narrowed my [choice] of possible engines to:

--a Suzuki DF70
--a Suzuki DF90a
--a Yamaha F70la

(I have excluded Evinrude because I do not like our local Evinrude dealers and there are not many choices.)

I cannot, however, make up my mind. The prices are so similar there is no concern for the cost difference.

Does the 341-lbs Suzuki cause the stern of the MONTAUK to sit too low?

For those with this setup, did you have to move batteries or other weight to the console or bow?

I would prefer not to do this as storage is already limited. I really wish I would have put some sand bags on the cowling of my old motor before it died to answer this question, but unfortunately, that never happened.

How does the Yamaha F70la perform with a fairly full load of four to five adults?

Does the engine struggle getting the boat up on plane?

I have found plenty of reports that it performs well with one or two people but almost nothing about it with more load.

Thanks for any help. Sorry if I missed this information in previous threads. I will [end] by saying I know this topic has been discussed to death, and have searched for prior threads.

Will

[jimh]

I don't recall anyone ever saying their boat had too much horsepower. A MONTAUK 17 with 90-HP is a really good set up based on the number of boats with that combination and the general enthusiasm of recommendations for the combination. An E-TEC 90 weighs 335-lbs and has been proven by dozens and dozens of re-powers with a MONTAUK to be a great combination, so I don't think a weight increase of 6-lbs to 341-lbs is going to be a huge difference.

Some MONTAUK 17 owners have said there was too much weight on the transom with some of the heavier engines. Moving the battery to the console is a good compromise if the engine weight is heavier than you'd like. A battery usually weights at least 60-lbs, and some of the larger case styles weigh more.

A 70-HP is probably good for lighter loads as you speculate. If you go fishing with five guys, a cooler for beer, and a cooler for fish, you probably won't like the response of a 70-HP, especially a four-stroke-cycle engine. I had a friend with a nice 17-foot center console boat and a 70-HP four-stroke-cycle engine. He almost always fished alone. We went out one evening for a little after dinner cruise with four of us in the boat, and the boat was reluctant to get onto plane without someone going to the bow to bring it down.

[Phil T]

Does the 341-lbs Suzuki cause the stern of the MONTAUK to sit too low?

No. To test, add weight (use sand, water- weighs 8 lbs per gallon- bags of ?) to the stern to make the difference between current motor weight and future.

For those with this setup, did you have to move batteries or other weight to the console or bow?

In most cases owners moved battery, but not necessary.

How does the Yamaha F70la perform with a fairly full load of four to five adults?

For that load a 90-HP motor mounted at the right height and the appropriate stainless steel prop is recommended.

Does the engine struggle getting the boat up on plane?

If not propped correctly, yes it will.

[Wull]

Thanks for the help. I see a Suzuki DF90a is in my future. This website has been an excellent resource and your collective knowledge and insights are much appreciated.

[macfam]

Go for it!!!

[PJMSport15MY1984]

Hello Wull. I wish you the very best in finding an ideal power plant for your Montauk 17. I agree with Jim H, however, on the 70-HP four-stroke-cycle outboard engines. The weight and hull configuration of your Montauk 17 is going to be too much for a 70-HP four-stroke-cycle engine. They are ideal power plants on the little SPORT 15. Some people will argue that they can even work on the Montauk 17 if you are going to be carrying a light load one-hundred-percent of your recreational boating time. This, as we both know, never happens in real life. You are always carrying more weight during recreational boating time than anticipated even if it is only some of the time. You are still going to want optimal performance out of your Montauk 17 no matter how much weight or people are with you.

You will be much better off putting your effort into finding a 90-HP or greater power plant for your Montauk 17. Good Luck--Paul

[jimh]

Actually I never said that "the weight and hull configuration of your Montauk 17 is going to be too much for a 70-HP four-stroke-cycle engine," so no one can agree with me on that--because I never said that.

What I said was that a MONTAUK 17 with just a 70-HP four-stroke-cycle engine would be sluggish if you have five guys and two coolers aboard. The weight of the hull and its configuration are fine with a 70-HP, but if you add over 1,000-lbs of crew and gear, the combined weight of the boat and crew might be too much for a 70-HP engine to give great acceleration.

What I also said or alluded to was that re-powering a MONTAUK with a 90-HP was a very common occurrence. You can be guided by that. You can agree with me on that.

[kwik_wurk]

I run a [Mercury 90-HP two-stroke-cycle engine that weighs] 305-lbs and a 6-HP four-stroke-cycle auxiliary that weighs 63-lbs on a bracket off to [starboard], and the height [or does he mean weight] is fine, albeit there is a list to starboard when [at rest] due to [the auxiliary engine mounted on starboard].

I would definitely go 90-Hp if [the engine is a four-stroke-cycle engine] and would move the battery forward. If you will never, ever, have another passenger, [then] a 70-HP will be fine. However a 70-HP will affect resale value.

[jimh]

Trying to sell a MONTAUK with a 70-HP engine is not going to be a problem because the engine "affects resale value." It does not affect the value of the MONTAUK. A 70-HP engine costs less than a 90-HP engine, so it is natural that when you buy a boat with a 70-HP engine the price of that boat has the lower cost of a 70-HP engine figured into it. You cannot say that all 90-HP engines will sell for more than a 70-HP engine. Some old smokey two-stroke-cycle 90-HP is not worth more than a modern Yamaha F70 four-stroke-cycle engine.

It is not particularly important to contemplate the future value of a boat on the notion of what it will bring in some future time when you sell it. Just figure out the present value of the boat when you are about to buy it. If you find a boat set up with a particular engine that suits your needs, I would not lose a moment of sleep worrying that ten years in the future the boat's value will be reduced because the engine does not have the horsepower some guy on some forum told you was the proper horsepower. If the boat is priced attractively now, then buy it. If, as suggested, the presence of a 70-HP engine would reduce the value of the boat in the future, then why wouldn't it be reducing the value of the boat right now? This argument about "affects resale" is not particularly logical. If a MONTAUK with a 70-HP engine is a boat doomed to be hard to sell and must only be able to fetch a low price in the future, why would you buy it now in the present for a high price? Of course, you wouldn't--you'd buy it for a price that reflects its present value. And in the future, the price it will bring will reflect the boat's value in the future--which will be entirely proportional to its value right now. The cost of a 70-HP being lower affects the price all the time, in the present and in the future.

If someone wants a MONTAUK with a 90-HP, of course they are not going to be good prospects in the future to sell a MONTAUK with a 70-HP engine. Those buyers want a 90, not a 70. But, if in the present a buyer exists, like you, that is fine with having a 70-HP, then--guess what--in the future there will be a buyer who is happy to buy a MONTAUK with a 70-HP.

Again, if a 70-HP affects the price of a MONTAUK, that effect occurs in the present with the same influence as it will in the future. If anything, in the future the presence of a 70-HP might become more valuable as the cost of gasoline fuel increases, leading to buyers preferring boats with lower horsepower in order to obtain economy in operating the boat.