Repower. Merc/Yamaha

[Puddle pirate 198]

Trying to make my mind up to repower or not. I have a 2006 198 with a 225proxs. It’s got 1100hrs. Still runs decent, trying to weigh it out sell my motor and another 15,000 and have 5yr warranty on an 06 boat. Or sell mine for 20 put 15 with it and see what I can get for 35. Which will still not have a warranty. I fish some bigger team trails and fixin to try my hand at the bfls. What would other champ owners do. Repower Merc/Yamaha or sell out? A new 198 is coming in at low 60’s so that’s out. Thanks

[dukhntr]

If you like the boat and it's paid for, repower it. Is there any reason to believe it's going to fail soon besides a lot of hours? If it's been taken care of and you run additives in the gas and run quality oil, i would keep running it and save money for a new engine.

[grout-scout]

I’ll prob re-power when the time comes, at least you know how the motor has been treated. A $35k boat scares me, but who knows.

[STLBassBuster]

Those Opti’s can run for thousands of hours so run it until you can save up enough $ for a 4 stroke

[getfished]

You obviously , to me have had a good motor to go 1100 hours. WTS I doubt you can redeem much for it on a sale or trade. The 198 is a great boat regardless of year. If it checks the boxes I would start preparing to repower .

[tablerockslinger]

Unless you're just really wanting to go to a 4 stroke I would keep running that motor till it actually gives out. Start saving now and be ready to upgrade if/when it happens. You can always just get a new powerhead from Mercury as well. Again, just depends on if you really want a 4 stroke. I personally wouldn't sell the boat but that's just me. I fish the BFL's and run a 1998 Champion 203 and love it. I get compliments from every co-angler about how smooth of a ride it is. Just my 2 cents

[Mike Esposito]

You have a really nice Champion, a 4 stroke is a wise choice if you are going to keep the boat. I went from A 2 stroke to a Yamaha SHO 250 on my 2005 Champ 21SX and I really like the performance. The boat is fun to drive and fast for a wide body Champ. Your Mercury wire harness is compatible with a 4 stroke Mercury also.

[bass-o-maticjm]

Sell the boat to me and move on!

[Puddle pirate 198]

Thanks for the input. If work goes good this year I may slap a 4stroke on it. I just know I won’t get that money back out of it if I sold it in a few years. But 5years warranty would be nice. I wouldn’t mind sticking an ulterior on it either

[SCOTT196]

I would run it til it blows up.

[bassfisher444]

Keep running what you have if it still works good.

[Tom Tallman]

I would run it til it blows up.

Do this

The stock market and economy are going to tank big time after another 6 months of all these retail and food businesses closing up and the national debt spiking..... mark my words.. Its all fake expectations that all the business shut downs and lack of jobs is not going to have us go into a recession imo.... i hope i'm wrong... but be prepared....

stay out of debt till we clear this covid recovery phase imo