Re: OT: Honda "Power Thrust" Outboards - Bolger Recommends Yamaha
Both John Bartlett and I have a Yamaha 9.9 4 sroke, mine is rated as a high
thrust. Both engines perform remarkably well. His is used in salt water
half the year, mine always in fresh water. The tasks of pushing the various
Bolger boats are performed well beyond any reasonable expectaions, all with
just routine maintenance. The houseboat, #481 moves at hull speed (6mph)
with half throttle and John.s stretched Bantam (26) feet cruises at 8 mph
easily. The Idaho like sharpie, The Turtle, (31 feet) handles as well. I
really believe the houseboat would not perform as well without the high
thrust. A few days ago we were out in the modified sneakeasy using the 9.9
and full throttle gave us close to 20 mph. Of course the beautiful design of
the sneakeasy makes it plane at a standstill. Before I heard of Mr. Bolger
and used many of his designs, I would not have believed this was possible.
Both motors really like half throttle and gas is not even a consideration on
a trip. The religion of good clean fuel, frequent oil changes is imperitive
and anything else is not good enough for dependable performance. Gas
discipline is difficult in a marine environment so we control it with fresh
gas from a high volume dealer and I use ethanol gas and synthetic oil.
Both motors have enough electrical charging capacity to run the routine
stuff on the boats. I use a 3 battery system with manual switching, John
uses one battery and no problems to date. Considering how little gas is
used cruising, the job is easy to control. In summary, I would recommend
these motors for any Bolger boats also.
With respect to the Honda 2 hp I am also in AWE of its performance. I am a
test to destruction type of guy and this little baby has survived a lot. It
has been submerged upside down while running, scraped the hard granite of
the Canadian shield and pushed the stretched Bantam through the intracoastal
at 4 mph, all things equal. They always start and mine is used for a
workboat and shuttled laying down and it really is showing the hard life,
but it always works and does the job better than I can expect. When
cruising with the Houseboat, mine serves as the dingy motor and also as a
backup for the 9.9 but that need has not come up. On a recent test on the
mighty Ottawa River the little motor pushed the houseboat at 3 mph. In a
true Bolger fashion of dual function, I clip it on the bikerack. It is a
bit noiser than I expected at full throttle but most of the time it only
runs at an idle on the dingy or the workboat.
Having lived long enough to remember the pain and suffering related to the
older 2 stroke outboard motors no matter the brand, I fully embrace both of
these motors as they have greatly improved my marine life. Of course the
best times are in the row and paddle boats but they are always on the roof.
It would be interesting to hear other stories of motors on Bolger boats, how
they are used and the performance of both the boat and motor.
Regards all Bolgerados, Paul McLellan, with a summer of boating on the
horizon on the beautiful Ottawa, St. Lawrence and Rideau Rivers and maybe a
lake or 2 of the 40,00 in our vicinity. Too bad we have 6 months of winter
--- gotta build that ice boat some day
thrust. Both engines perform remarkably well. His is used in salt water
half the year, mine always in fresh water. The tasks of pushing the various
Bolger boats are performed well beyond any reasonable expectaions, all with
just routine maintenance. The houseboat, #481 moves at hull speed (6mph)
with half throttle and John.s stretched Bantam (26) feet cruises at 8 mph
easily. The Idaho like sharpie, The Turtle, (31 feet) handles as well. I
really believe the houseboat would not perform as well without the high
thrust. A few days ago we were out in the modified sneakeasy using the 9.9
and full throttle gave us close to 20 mph. Of course the beautiful design of
the sneakeasy makes it plane at a standstill. Before I heard of Mr. Bolger
and used many of his designs, I would not have believed this was possible.
Both motors really like half throttle and gas is not even a consideration on
a trip. The religion of good clean fuel, frequent oil changes is imperitive
and anything else is not good enough for dependable performance. Gas
discipline is difficult in a marine environment so we control it with fresh
gas from a high volume dealer and I use ethanol gas and synthetic oil.
Both motors have enough electrical charging capacity to run the routine
stuff on the boats. I use a 3 battery system with manual switching, John
uses one battery and no problems to date. Considering how little gas is
used cruising, the job is easy to control. In summary, I would recommend
these motors for any Bolger boats also.
With respect to the Honda 2 hp I am also in AWE of its performance. I am a
test to destruction type of guy and this little baby has survived a lot. It
has been submerged upside down while running, scraped the hard granite of
the Canadian shield and pushed the stretched Bantam through the intracoastal
at 4 mph, all things equal. They always start and mine is used for a
workboat and shuttled laying down and it really is showing the hard life,
but it always works and does the job better than I can expect. When
cruising with the Houseboat, mine serves as the dingy motor and also as a
backup for the 9.9 but that need has not come up. On a recent test on the
mighty Ottawa River the little motor pushed the houseboat at 3 mph. In a
true Bolger fashion of dual function, I clip it on the bikerack. It is a
bit noiser than I expected at full throttle but most of the time it only
runs at an idle on the dingy or the workboat.
Having lived long enough to remember the pain and suffering related to the
older 2 stroke outboard motors no matter the brand, I fully embrace both of
these motors as they have greatly improved my marine life. Of course the
best times are in the row and paddle boats but they are always on the roof.
It would be interesting to hear other stories of motors on Bolger boats, how
they are used and the performance of both the boat and motor.
Regards all Bolgerados, Paul McLellan, with a summer of boating on the
horizon on the beautiful Ottawa, St. Lawrence and Rideau Rivers and maybe a
lake or 2 of the 40,00 in our vicinity. Too bad we have 6 months of winter
--- gotta build that ice boat some day