surtees 5.5 repower
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: General Forums
Forum Name: The Boat Shed
Forum Description: Discuss all things boating.
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91059
Printed Date: 10 Jun 2026 at 8:26am
Topic: surtees 5.5 repower
Posted By: yknot
Subject: surtees 5.5 repower
Date Posted: 20 May 2013 at 6:42am
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Currently I have a 90hp yamaha on my 5.5 surtees and am looking at the options of repowering.
Looking to get better fuel consumption when dragging lures.
At this stage it is either the F100 yammy or the suzuki 90 four stroke. Has any one else been thru the same process, or who can offer feedback on the motors and how they pefrorm with the 5.5.
------------- Those that say it can't be done are being overtaken by those doing it. |
Replies:
Posted By: hogdog
Date Posted: 20 May 2013 at 8:31am
| I have had 4 5.5 surtees and the best engine I had was the F100, otherwise Suzuki would be good too, I had a 90 Honda on one and personally prefered the F100 any of the fourstokes are going to give you far better economy than the 90 yammy though |
Posted By: otdrmn
Date Posted: 20 May 2013 at 6:11pm
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Do it NUMBA 2 - F100 ------------- The 4 R's ~ Rods, Reels, Rifles, Rooting |
Posted By: family affair
Date Posted: 20 May 2013 at 7:22pm
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100hp min man ------------- mv maui |
Posted By: Davo
Date Posted: 20 May 2013 at 7:29pm
| i've got the Suzuki DF 90h on my 5.5 hardtop and it goes just fine...in fact better than fine...it's as cheap as chips to run...and quiet as a quiet thing. I cruise at 18.5 - 22 knots. Can do 30+ if I really put the hammer down. I've considered powering it up from time to time, but it aint worth it to get another 2 or 3 knots of speed. If ya skiing or pushing a lot of weight then things may be different. I normally fish with me + 1 other, and often also have either a 115 or a 180L bin full of ice/fish so i guess thats the equivalent of a few extra fellas. I have filled both bins before and had 2 people on board and it was slow going coming back...but we were so stoked that didnt matter :-) |
Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 22 May 2013 at 4:17pm
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I wonder how a 90HP Etec or Optimax would go, lighter faster and damn great on gas too. But if you are gonna upgrade I'd go 115HP.
 ------------- "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau |
Posted By: Falco
Date Posted: 22 May 2013 at 5:02pm
I have no problems with my set up,bar crossings skiing what ever..i cruise on 3900 doing 22knts or 5100 doing 32ish.
I would probably go 4 stoke for resale only. ------------- as dead as dead is |
Catchelot wrote:Posted By: riga
Date Posted: 22 May 2013 at 5:29pm
| One reason I would go fourstroke is no expensive oil all the time. Especially if doing a lot of trolling, not just fuel you are burning but the oil as well. Not sure what xd is going for these days. |
Posted By: Moki Marko
Date Posted: 22 May 2013 at 6:17pm
not sure that you will notice a lot of difference if you replace a 90hp motor with a 90hp motor and as falco points out going from a 90 2stroke to a 100 4stroke will be a backwards step. Agree with catchelot re the 115 - the best option for these boats seems to be the 2stroke 115 V4 yamaha - its grunty and lightweight - 2 things that these hulls need |
Posted By: captain.Gav.
Date Posted: 23 May 2013 at 7:01am
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I re-powered my 5.5 from a 90 two stroke to an 115 opti and the difference was great for cruise speed and carrying extra people and gear. However, the oil costs were huge for the spec oil and i believe the etec oil is even dearer. AND the opti was a crap motor and well earned its nickname of "OPTI-BOMBS" I would go 4-stroke 100 hp or higher. Better for towing lures around, less oil costs, less smoke, quieter, more reliable! Unless doing lots of skiing then fast holeshot is not that important but if a modern 4-stroke is proped right then they holeshot pretty good aswell. |
Posted By: Denny Boy
Date Posted: 23 May 2013 at 8:30am
Captain gav-could you tell me more about the "Optibomb" as I would like to know what it is they do? Do they blow up or wear out, it would be good to know? I have the 115 but everyone I talk to with Opti's love them and as yet I haven't found one person who has had trouble. Even the dealer here says he hasn't had many issues and the issues he did have were real early on in the piece when the 2-stroke oil wasn't up to spec apparently. I have had a few motors and I find this one the sweetest running and the most harmonically balanced motor of them all. Maybe that is a bad sign??
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Posted By: Moki Marko
Date Posted: 23 May 2013 at 10:12am
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I think the opti 115 would be a good option on the Surt5.5 - my understanding is that from about 2006 on the opti's are as reliable as any other engine - I dont think the 4 strokes are a good option on this hull, the smaller ones are too gutless and the bigger ones are too heavy. |
Posted By: Kings Marine
Date Posted: 23 May 2013 at 10:43am
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The Optimax nickname really only came about because of the early 3.0ltr 200-225HP, they where withdrawn from sale at one point to do updates to the system, some of the failures where due to incorrect servicing of the engines and also incorrect prop fitted, from the point that the newer versions of the Optimax where launched there are not that many issues compared to other DI two strokes Certain items on the engine need special attention, but they will do over 2000hrs in the domestic market with the correct servicing. ------------- The Mighty Waikato http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kings-Marine/100476476662857?%3Fref=ts |