Hello all,
I have a 12 ft Saturn SD365 with aluminum floor. Had it coupled with a Mercury Sea Pro 25 HP 2-Stroke engine that worked really well with it. Had this combo for 3 years, but I just sold the Merc and want to go for a 4-stroke engine (just upgraded my larger boat as well to a 4-S).
I don't mind the price or dealer availability, I've been looking at the following models, want to keep it to rope start and manual tilt:
Tohatsu 20 HP - I like what I've seen. Cons would be the short tiller handle and it's probably loudest at cruise and WOT along with the Merc, but they both also look like the most powerful.
Yamaha F20 - Long tiller handle, smooth, but, the performance is a big question mark. Anyone have experience with this one?
Honda BF20 - Best fuel economy and quietest, however from the vids and comments I've seen it looks like the less powerful of the four, and slowest out of the hole. Might be just my perception or a bad prop.
Mercury 20 - The shifter integrated into the throttle worries me. Will I be able to troll at idle speeds without it shifting to neutral?
Basically I want the most powerful motor out of these four. My Merc 25 HP could plane with 3 guys and loaded with gear, but not with 4. Now, I will try to keep this boat for 2 persons and fishing gear only.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. A couple of pics of my boat:
