alaskaops
12-26-2005, 06:07 PM
I have a fleet of 7 boats all using single F225 4 strokes. I switched from the standard saltwater 2 stroke 225's to the F225's when they came out a few years ago. I have used Yamaha's on all of our boats since 1992 and we perform very good maintenance on all the engines exceeding Yamaha's recomendations. We always keep two spare units in the shop ready to bolt on at anytime which means we need to have 9 engines always in operating condition. Since purchasing our first F225's we have had 5 powerhead failures.
Three had blown headgaskets- Yamaha covered the parts on two, no labor on any.
Two had cracked cases both on the starboard top just under the flywheel- Yamaha covered parts on one, nothing on the other.
The blown head gasket engines had about 600 hrs on them and were the first run of F225's from yamaha.
One of the cracked case engines had 1400 hrs on it and the other had 1601 hrs on it. These two engines were the longest running F225's we have had to date. Not very impresive, as we could get a very reliable 1600 hrs our of the origanal two stroke 225's. All of our boats are of the same make and carry the same loads.
We put right at 500hrs a year on our engines (all in the months of June, July, and August), our boats must leave the dock every day for 90 days straight, so we REALLY need reliability with no down days.
With all this said, I am adding two more identical boats to the fleet. At this point in time I have two F225's in the shop needing new powerheads (again...) and I'm really questioning purchasing my 9th and 10th F225 concidering the service history I have had with them.
Here is my question:
Should I try the HPDI 300 (which is less money), but has a very questionable past, or should I stick with the F225's (which is more money), but is supposedly is a more reliable engine than the HPDI. Cost really isn't the factor here, I just need to find an engine that will be reliable for more than 1600hrs.
Does anyone think that the HPDI 300 could be more reliable than the F225??
I don't like mix matching engine makes and models so I'm looking for the best possible engine available and stick with it. I have a heard a rumor that Yamaha will be releasing a 300hp four stroke soon and at that time will stop producing the HPDI 200hp plus versions. Does anyone think this will happen?
Any suggestions would really help,
Thanks!
scott@elcapitanlodge.com
Three had blown headgaskets- Yamaha covered the parts on two, no labor on any.
Two had cracked cases both on the starboard top just under the flywheel- Yamaha covered parts on one, nothing on the other.
The blown head gasket engines had about 600 hrs on them and were the first run of F225's from yamaha.
One of the cracked case engines had 1400 hrs on it and the other had 1601 hrs on it. These two engines were the longest running F225's we have had to date. Not very impresive, as we could get a very reliable 1600 hrs our of the origanal two stroke 225's. All of our boats are of the same make and carry the same loads.
We put right at 500hrs a year on our engines (all in the months of June, July, and August), our boats must leave the dock every day for 90 days straight, so we REALLY need reliability with no down days.
With all this said, I am adding two more identical boats to the fleet. At this point in time I have two F225's in the shop needing new powerheads (again...) and I'm really questioning purchasing my 9th and 10th F225 concidering the service history I have had with them.
Here is my question:
Should I try the HPDI 300 (which is less money), but has a very questionable past, or should I stick with the F225's (which is more money), but is supposedly is a more reliable engine than the HPDI. Cost really isn't the factor here, I just need to find an engine that will be reliable for more than 1600hrs.
Does anyone think that the HPDI 300 could be more reliable than the F225??
I don't like mix matching engine makes and models so I'm looking for the best possible engine available and stick with it. I have a heard a rumor that Yamaha will be releasing a 300hp four stroke soon and at that time will stop producing the HPDI 200hp plus versions. Does anyone think this will happen?
Any suggestions would really help,
Thanks!
scott@elcapitanlodge.com