Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I have the 22 lp3 party barge with 4 stroke 150hp mercury O/B, it has hydraulic steering which i'm not impressed with. would like to upgrade to power steering. looking at the new 4 stroke 200hp v-6 mercury O/B which can come with power steering. its not a verado but a new motor for this year. anyone have experience with this motor ?

Are you happy with the 150, just not the steering?
If so you can add power assist for way less than a new 200. I personally don't know anyone who has the new motor but they sure do look good! I was planning on getting one on our new boat but ended up buying a 2018 model with a verado. The new motors seem to be well liked from what I've read. Being naturally aspirated I guess there could be less to go wrong !!!

Have you had a mechanic check your hydraulics? Need fluid? My old center console ran twin Yama F200's and had hydraulic steering. It was never that unpleasant to handle unless fluid went low.

I won't disagree that one finger steering your toon isn't terrific. I have it on my 150 and love it. Great when it's time to maneuver around the docks.

fluid levels are fine. the 150hp 4 stroke has a known condition where you can't really trim it out before the prop cavitates, annoying. and as Tim Allen would say "more power"

broken paddle wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2019 1:03 pm

22 lp3 party barge

Pardon my ignorance but what make/model boat is that?

One of the reasons I ask is some 22' pontoon boats are not rated to handle a 200hp motor.

Sun tracker 22 DLX party barge LP3 rated up to 200hp

I'm with you on the "more power" idea, but my question would be what's the reason you want to repower? If it's for speed, realize you'll probably only going to get 3-5 more MPH. Adding power steering to your existing hydraulic setup is an easy upgrade and a whole lot cheaper than a repower, about $2000-2500. I have it on my boat and steering is easy with one finger.

steve1313 wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:02 am

what's the reason you want to repower?

for more pleasant steering & more power & a motor that hopefully doesn't cavitates the prop so easily.

broken paddle wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:05 am

steve1313 wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:02 am

what's the reason you want to repower?

for more pleasant steering & more power & a motor that hopefully doesn't cavitates the prop so easily.

More pleasant steering with engine swap?

Is it cavitating because motor is too high? A new engine wont fix that and with more power will blow out easier, right?

bansil wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:50 pm

Is it cavitating because motor is too high? A new engine wont fix that and with more power will blow out easier, right?

the 150hp has a known condition where exhaust gas leak around outside of prop, instead of thru prop. result in cavitation,
has something to do with lower unit. and I don't know if the 200hp motor has the same fault, why I ask if anyone has one ?

My son has a tri-toon with a 150 FS Merc, and AFAIK, he doesn’t have any such problem.

When I had a new prop put on my 60 FS Merc, I had a terrible problem with it (cavitate over 2000 rpm), because the marina didn’t put the nylon ring on the front of the prop when they installed it.

Took it back, they found and installed the nylon ring; problem solved.

yeah, they did mention the nylon ring and installed it. it helps but does not completely solve the problem. actually my local lake (3 miles away) is gonna be closed to boating till they can make the dam earthquake compliant. no time frame on that, bummer...

I honestly haven't heard of the "exhaust" issue on the Merc 150's. I know mercury has a few different "barrel" diameters for the prop in which the smaller ones are designed to bypass some exhaust for hole shots on lighter boats. Are you running one of the larger diameter Enertia props? I had to try quite a few props on my Zuki 140 to find one that worked well, mine flat out doesn't like any 3 blade aluminum, even with the engine as low as it will go. 3 blade large ear stainless or 4 blade aluminum lets me trim until It porpoises, even lifting the motor up to the middle holes.

broken paddle wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2019 1:03 pm

I have the 22 lp3 party barge with 4 stroke 150hp mercury O/B, it has hydraulic steering which i'm not impressed with. would like to upgrade to power steering. looking at the new 4 stroke 200hp v-6 mercury O/B which can come with power steering. its not a verado but a new motor for this year. anyone have experience with this motor ?

I did not know mercury had power steering for the new v6. I thought it used aftermarket like uflex and seastar. My plan is to use the uflex protech 1 hydraulic that I used for my f115. I won't be using power assist.
Go for it if you can afford it. What is your current top speed.

don't really know top speed, my adult son's use it more than I do also motor only has 9 hrs on it. but that long enough to see the steering not that effortlessly.