Newboy

Wishing everyone a merry x'mas, and a bumper catch for the coming year.

In the reviews it says the Etec has a lower trolling speed/rev than TLDi is partly incorrect. The TLDi may have a standard higher trolling/rev, but the TLDi has an unique feature which with a press of the ignition key, it lowers the rev by 50, you can do this 3 times before it returns to 700 rpm.

As I said it was only a minority of owners who complained about vibrations, maybe they were used to 4 strokes or maybe simply they expected too much. The early Optimax were known as Optipop because they go wrong so often, but as you said that was the earlier one and the later one have all been fine. Correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't think Optimax do a 40hp. On Dave's website there's a report from an Etec owner and he loves it (I think). Just remember another Etec's pro. All Di engines need electricity to wotk the cpu in order for it to fire. So if you have a very flat battery, your chance of hand starting the engine is pretty close to zero..... except in the case of an Etec. It source the power from the flywheel so spinning of the flywheel itself is enough to provive power for the cpu.

Paul, Etec is actually the 2nd attempt by Evinrude trying to make a Di engine, their (although I must say it wasn't owned ny Bomberdier then) first was a ficht and it worked excellently when it worked! If they failed they failed miserably, you either get a good engine and you get a lemon. Unfortunately there were more lemons than apples.... . Do check it out on another boat as the 40hp has only 2 cylinders and there are reports of a few owners complaining they vibrate more than the larger ones on idle.

One of the many charter boat skipper uses itand have a spray bottle ready for angler to use, he swears by it and recommends spraying it on deck after each trip..

Ever need an example of an own goal, here is one....

Towsure has 110a and 85a bright orange batteries, I guess you will want the 110 for your Optimax, can't remeber how much they cost but are around

I think it has something to do with the Suzi 60 being the largest displacement 60hp out of all the manufacturers, it displaces around the 2 litres mark. A fine example of why larger cc doesn't mean worse consumption a cracking engine.

I take the Yam is a 4 stroke?! Whether the 300 hours/3 years no servicing (except impellors etc) claims holds water is down to Johnnyrude, they gave the guarantee and the first batch of Etec are just coming to the end of 3 years now. So I guess we will have to keep our eyes peeled for any warranty claims. No other manufacturers of Di make any similar claims, Tohatsu still need yearly service, but I was given estimates to be around

I admit I based my 'recommendation' on research I did on my TLDi 90. No one outboard is economical across the whole rev range. I know for the 90 hp outboards, my TLDi is the most econmical at trolling, half of what Mercury F90 uses, slightly better at wot, but losst by about 10% at around 4000 rpm. If I am correct, the Honda is the most economical on average, better than any other makes. Even with this considerations, the differences are reasonably small, can anyone say all the 4 strokes are as economical as each others? Obviously one is gonna be better than the others. The fun of choosing an outboard is to weigh up ALL pros and cons for ALL the outboards and then make a decision. If it is running cost alone, Etec wins hands tied behind its back, no service for 300 hours or 3 years, that alone will save you hundreds of pounds. When I considered an Etec, the guys at Powertech Marine @ Hayling were really helpful with anything I wanted to know. In the end I chose the TLDi because it was a fair bit cheaper than an etec, plus Extreme Marine gave me a discount for fitting and pdi.

Who say we anglers have no hearts .....

Nice fish(es) They might be Great White last congers, but I'm sure the new Great White will just just as well if not better.

The Etec 40 is heavy compares to a 40 4 stroke is because it's a de-tuned Etec 50 (or was it a 60?). The Strong selling point is 300 hours no service and 4 stroke beating proformance and economy, not to mention the ability to limp home on low rev with NO oil . Dealership wise, Northney Marine (Hayling Island) is a dealer. Just think, tow it to work, leave it with them for services and tow it back home aafter work.... Tohatsu is a viability but performance not as strong as the Etec (but only just), it's really a last year Di technology wise (they were bringing out a 2nd gen improved TLDi to pit against the Etec in the State, but not sure if they are here yet), but it's the cheapest by far and there's a dealer -Extreme Marine- in Southampton (his yard is off the A354 to Salisbury) and Tohatsu UK is in Lymington. Servicing is cheap(er), but not as cheap as the Etec, and economy is pretty much the same I believe. Honda is good engine as is the Yamaha, but don't discount the Suzuki, just listen to James' and tell me that isn't quiet!!! Or indeed a Johnson 40 which is in fact a rebadged Suzi. Take a look at HERE It covers all the engines you have/will consider, it covered 4 strokes vs Di and Etec vs TLDi vs Honda vs ...... you get the picture. PS link is down at the mo, but should be up soon. And to answer your 'You get what you pay for...', Tohatsu have been making outboards for decades, since the 50's. It is the natural choice of many commercial boaters in the far east. Most importantly, there is only one major outboard manufacturer who has never issued a major safty recall of any of their product, and I can tell you it ain't, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Johnson, Evinrude or Mercury.

Is she the same lady with the giant rod?

I think you're asking for too much.....

Aww.... the joy of an anchored boat with no rods and the boat bobbing from side to side..... it seems only yesterday me and my ......

Flipping 'eck, big aren't they? the set up I meant....

Very festive A little too pink for me tho.... and my initial thought was 'men at work'

I've just got my head round this basss fishing malaky after losing most of my lead...... and not to mention countless storm shads..... . I fish using different tactics depending on the state of the tide. When it is slow, try using a set of hokki with a Shimano butterfly jig it really get the fish going, loses is low IF you keep the jig off the bottom. When thereis a bit of tide, use shads on a running ledger or portland rig with about 7' of trace or 2 sandeels paternoster style secured with dropper loops. The way to fish it with these is drop the rig to the bottom, wound it up a few turn and holds it there (plus lots of praying ), from time to time drop it back down just to keep in touch with the bottom. Sometime you will find the bottom and get stuck but then that's fishing as one skipper says. . Sometimes when the tide is really racing, I found fishing slow as the drift is far too fast.

It was on board Revolution, not my boat.

We were drifting the usual marks, right of the bill and then in front of the lighthouse. I caught a dozen mackeral yesterday, all large one, caught a 2 1/2 lb 2 weeks ago. , it was larger than most of the bass caught that day.

We went out with Lady Godiva from Weymouth yesterday, caught 46 bass between 2 of us. Dave the skipper certainly knows his stuff, we fish morning and afternoon and both session were very good, which is a rarity, whenever we were out with Pat or Josh only one session is brill the other tends to be pants. We used different tactics thru out, we used shads, then sandeels when it slowed down, then pirks with hokki. Fishwise, mostly small one, a few 2-3 lbers. Still plenty of mackeral around.

I spoke to a customer about it and he suggested it might be an angler fish (one with a daggling bit off its nose), Colin Penny of Flamer 3 caught one about 30lb this year, it got hold of a pout already hooked.

We were fishing on board Lady Godiva from Weymouth yesterday. Apparently a few cod and pollocks have been caught off the bottom using pirks and lures. Adam, when you gut the cod you caught, what was in its stomach? Sprats/herrings?

Diesel already has an anti freezing additive added. It's good for something like -20c.