Which Engines

whizzpopper · 21 September 2003, 21:55

I am going to buy a Ribtec 585, primarily for cruising. Can any one furnish me with advice on which engine to chosse between Honda, Yamaha and Suziki. Apart from horsepower the manufacturers’ sites do not offer much info. i.e. Torque or fuel consumption. What about service costs? Are there any websites that show outboard tests?

Any advice or experiences gratefully received.

stuart hedges · 21 September 2003, 22:19

I had a Ribtec 5.85 with a Mercury 135hp Optimax on. It was brilliant and bloody quick. We chose that engine for it's economy and had alsways owned Mercs and never had any problems.

Mercury have just introduced a new 115hp Optimax which is a three cylinda rather than the V6. I don't know loads about it but bet it would suit a 5.85 very well.

Alex Brown · 21 September 2003, 23:14

To look at the Suzuki side, if you goto www.suzukimarine.com they have several engine tests on various craft giving max speed attained, prop info, fuel used etc... - I found all that quite handy after I had bought my Suzuki (didn't see it before purchase)

As for service, my local dealer set me back by £100 to service my 140 4-stroke Suzuki - I haven't a clue really what they did/do, the expensive parts were oil for the engine block, and oil for the gearbox.

My engine seems quite happy running at 4000revs (max is around 6000) for a lot of the time, which gives around 25 to 26knots cruising speed - plenty fast enough for my needs, and 'economical' too at around 1 litre to 1.3 miles.

I think if you search 'which engine' or something you will find a whole host of info on which engine would be best - I know there have been several discussions recently on 2 stokes or 4 strokes.

-Alex

whizzpopper · 22 September 2003, 07:51

Thanks both for the info, there does seem to some debate as to 2 vs 4 stroke. As I am primarily going to be going over to the Scillies and fuel there is currently £1.08 per Ltr economy is a priority. How quiet and economical are the Optimax compared with a 4 stroke?

jwrhold · 22 September 2003, 10:11

Hi, i have a ribtec 585 , (actually it is the 6m version), with a Yamaha 115hp 2 stroke.

The engine is the original supplied with the boat in 93, and still runs well. It has superb acceleration with a 19 inch st/st prop, and that is really great in rough seas, where bursts of acceleration are needed. Also, i can do about 25 -28 knots with 12 people on board! It's a top boat, and i have good faith in the engine. Incidentaly, another friend of mine bought a rib with the same engine on, and it ran like a dream, very quick, good starter, smooth, and moderatley economical.

we both found that from Poole to Studland, plenty of skiing / doughnutting and wave jumping costs about £50 in fuel. If every one chips in a tenner, no problem!

If i were to re-engine, i would lean towards Yamaha again, and i understand that you can now get a fuel injected Yam 115 four stoke, which has more grunt than carberetta 4 strokes such as yam F100. I would miss the 'zing' of the two stroke! But then think of the fuel economy..

Also, i see in one of the other replies, some one talks of an opitimax 135 on the same boat! Wow, i bet that flew! My boat states on the plate max hp = 120!!! and with 115, it's no slouch...

So there you are those are my experiences.

Hope it helps......

Johnny

TIPS · 22 September 2003, 11:05

Quote:

Originally posted by jwrhold
............

we both found that from Poole to Studland, plenty of skiing / doughnutting and wave jumping costs about £50 in fuel. If every one chips in a tenner, no problem!

If i were to re-engine, i would lean towards Yamaha again, and i understand that you can now get a fuel injected Yam 115 four stoke, which has more grunt than carberetta 4 strokes such as yam F100. I would miss the 'zing' of the two stroke! But then think of the fuel economy..
.................

We regaurly go from Poole to Studland exactly as you do, messing around, wakeboarding etc, and then bak to Poole, we rarely use any more than £20 in fuel, and thats a good days boating.
The boat is an Avon 560 with Yammy 115 4-stroke, very nice engine, both accelartion and top speed are good, topping out at around 42knots on a good day.

Mark

Mark

jwrhold · 22 September 2003, 11:20

Well there you go, that shows you the difference in fuel comsumption with two vs four strokes!

Mark, you are getting good speeds out of that boat! it would be fun to have a standing start with you though!!! I think it would be 'see you at studland!!!'

No, you'd probably catch me with that kind of top speed, but then you might have to slow down if it was rough, where as i would speed up! good old ribtecs!

Johnny!

stuart hedges · 22 September 2003, 11:45

You are comparing standard 2 strokes to 4 strokes. Standard 2's will be a lot thirstier.

I am talking of the later technology 2 strokes such as Optimax, Ficht, Hpdi. All direct injection engines and will match 4 stroke economy, have better perfornace but are usually noisier than 4's.

thewavehumper · 22 September 2003, 12:06

Whizzpopper,

Arent the names whizz and popper associated with something norty, in which case I guess your RIB is going to be a Party boat.

In naswer t your original question, I wouldn't recomend the Honda cos them boys is heavy and thirsty (not the ideal combination for a RIb)

I own an Optimax and am still surprised by it's performance and economy.

I own a Yamaha 2 stroke and am inpresed by it's build quality and reliability and performance.

How can someone with a name like Whizzpopper be concerned about noise! Get a modern 2 stroke and be happy.

If you have to go four then Yamaha or Merc/mariner ( i don't know Suzuki's) but make sure that the length of warranty plays a part in your Judgement. A new CPU on a 2.2 year old enging can be dead costly

whizzpopper · 22 September 2003, 12:31

No sad to say despite name, middle aged non-partier. Whizzpopper will be the boat nname, I entered the details registration details wrong. I suspect howver my son will be partying on it!

No sure I'm any the wiser on engines. I currently have an old Humber 5.5m with a Mariner 75ELPT. It certainly goes well in fact it seems quicker, certainly off the mark, than the Ribcraft 585 with Suziki 115 (4 stroke) that we had a demo on. No where near as comfortable though (one has to take these things in to account at a more advanced years!).

TIPS · 22 September 2003, 12:41

Quote:

Originally posted by jwrhold
Well there you go, that shows you the difference in fuel comsumption with two vs four strokes!

Mark, you are getting good speeds out of that boat! it would be fun to have a standing start with you though!!! I think it would be 'see you at studland!!!'

No, you'd probably catch me with that kind of top speed, but then you might have to slow down if it was rough, where as i would speed up! good old ribtecs!

Johnny!

we'll see about that johnny, once in gear our boat has a tendancy of getting stuck at 6000rpm, must be a faulty cable or something

In reality, we rarely hit 42 knots, this is only really possible 1 up on a calm day. late thirties is more accurate once theres a few people on board and a bit of chop.

Mark

Big A · 22 September 2003, 16:13

With Ribtec being part of the Ribeye empire are you not tied in to using Yamaha engines as these are their packaged engines ?

I'm sure you are also aware that Ribtec's are now being made in South Africa.

whizzpopper · 22 September 2003, 20:24

Whoops,

I'm having a brain storm, I meant "Ribcraft" in the original post not "Ribtec".

Anyway Suziki 140 looking favourite at present.

Thanks for your info.

overexposed2x · 23 September 2003, 05:37

I bought a Suzuki 140 four stroke two months ago. I have since logged nearly 100 hours most of it cruising at about 4500 rpms. It's on a Bombard 730. I find with the boat empty she has a top cruising speed of about 34 knots. Not fast, but when I bring her down to cruising at about 23 knots she burns around 5.5 gallons of fuel per hour. With the 50 gallon tank on board, this gives me a good bit of cruising range between fill ups. The engine is also super quiet. I decided to go with engine based on fuel economy, cost vs. other 4 strokes and that here in the states as well as Canada both Evinrude and Johnson are both made by Suzuki. This means when it breaks down, I should be able to find parts in most any place I'll be.

jwrhold · 23 September 2003, 09:47

Mark,

I used to have a throttle cable like that when i could afford it!!!!

It would be nice to link up one day... if you are going out, let me know...I'll see if i can fix that cable for you...!

Regards

Johnny