Max HP on a V20
 

My friends might be needing a new motor for their 86 V20. Right now they have a Johnson 150, but with the weight of the 4 strokes, what's the max HP they can put on the boat. I told them I thought a 150 just might be a bit too much, because of the weight.
Thanks

probably closest match to what they have is the 150 optimax. not sure how much longer they are going to be around.

I went from a 94 150 mariner to a Merc 150 4S. bout 55 lbs heavier. could not really tell any difference

150 4 s from Suzuki,Yamaha or Mercury would be perfect.

A zuki 140 will do fine too and save some $

Max rated hp was 235hp. Weight wise, back in 86 a 235hp outboard weighed about 375lbs iirc(what's funny is a 225hp weighed 450lbs, 235 was a wimpy flywheel rating, the 225 was propshaft rated). I would do my best to stay under 500lbs engine weight, and get as much hp you could under 500 lbs.

Hey guy's thanks for the info!!! Now they said, they don't need a new one. Thanks again.

Been running my V21 with 525lb Evinrude for years now......deck remains dry.

Back in the day the old Pipe Dream had a 155 (commercial) Evinrude on it. Okay for two people, it tended to bog down with 4-5 people, fuel, gear, etc. That was why we moved up in HP.

All you guys with 150s: are they adequate for a loaded V-20 or V-21 with bottom paint?

V21 with mid 90's looper Evinrude was definitely adequate....even with 4 people on board and full fuel. I had one......till decided to sell and rig the 200.

Rude dealer told me those loopers produced around 165 prop hp, so plenty of power. Top speed was high 30's. Some guys claim as fast as mid 40's with 150 on V20's........maybe down hill....:)

A prop change probably would have made all the difference in the world. Prop selection is far more crotical than most believe, and can make the difference between a boat that works or not. That 155 evinrude was nothing more than a regular 150 with flat exhaust chest. Theres alot of v-20 owners out there who still run them on v-20's and even larger boats with no problems. But if you put a prop on with not enough blade area or too much rake, and the boat won't ever want to plane or even run out on top.

A good example was my 16 foot flat bottom jon boat I had. With a 3 blade 11 pitch prop it was all it had to get on plane with 3 adults, but did okay with just me. Switched to a 4 blade 11 pitch solas, and it would jump up with 1 or 3 people in it, and actually gained almost 2mph top speed. I saw similiar results with my carolina skiff 19 dlx. With the blade it did okay until you gotsome weight in it, then the prop just slipped, and the bow went for the sky planing, changed to thesame pitch in a 4 blade, and that sucker would take you off your feet planing. Just to throw a curve ball in there to sgow the importance of having the correct prop, I switched to a different 4 blade, same exact putch and diameter, but it was a michigan wheel instead of a solas, and the boat became a complete dog that gulped fuel to run on plane. Or my current Sundance. With the factory reccomended 3 blade prop, the boat barely got on plane, and porpoised so severely it was unuseable on plane. I have a feeling thats how I got theboatso cheap was the prior owner was fed up with it not being useable. I went through 8 props before I found 2 that would work on it(I wanted an aluminum andal a stainless for it), and actually made the boat safe to run.

Many people have formed bad opinions about boat/engine combos simply because they were in a boat that was setup incorrectly.

My uncles V had a 130 Yamaha on it and moved well with 4 guys on it. He was happy with it until he had an issue with the lower, then power head. His mechanic gave him a credit towards a rebuilt 225 so he put that on. Otherwise he would’ve been perfectly happy with the smaller engine.