Help in chosing a 4 stroke 15 hp for trolling

[crunchie]

Hi Guys and gals.
I've owned a 15hp 2 stroke Johnson for 38 years (1981) and I've decided to  upgrade to a 4 stroke, it'll be on a 14 foot Mirrocraft.  I'm leaning towards either a Yamaha or Honda.  I tried my buddies 15hp Honda yesterday but I found the trolling speed too fast for walleye, 2.5 mph. 

I looked for a trolling speed adjustment knob but couldn't find one.  I'd like to hear from the owners of a 15hp 4 stroke engine. 

How do you like the trolling speed and is it easy to adjust?  My 2 stroke was a no brainer, there was a dial on the side that adjusted the low idle speed plus a slow speed dial jet on the front.  thanks in advance.

[crunchie]

Just finished watching a video on youtube, looks like the adjustment needs to done under the cover, if someone can confirm this, would be great.
Also finding out that the 4 strokes, due to the oil pump, need a minimum rpm to ensure sufficient lubrication, which might just shift me into looking for a good used 2 stroke, I need to be able to troll at about 1 to 1.5 mph.

[crunchie]

There's got to be someone who owns a 15hp 4 stroke that trolls for walleye on this board, c'mon people, please give me some of your thoughts, experience.  I'll beg if I have to.  My 1981 15 hp 2 stroke is on it's last legs.

[smitty55]

I've always run a 20hp in my 14ft Yukon, it's rated for 25. No doubt your old Mirro is at least that, they were always heavy well made boats. Most of my trolling was for lakers dragging gang trolls at 1mph. I had a 68 for many years, it ran well but was kind of baffed, you could easily pull it with one arm over in gear if it stalled. Then I upgraded to a used 81 Commercial 20hp that you need to stand and use 2 arms. But I paired it with a low pitch prop that was offered from the marina I bought it from so I was still able to go slow enough, but just barely. It still has tons of power yet, no comparison to a 15, specially with a good load or rough water.
What I'm getting at crunchie is have you considered getting an older engine as a replacement, you could save lots of coin for a start. Or are you dead set on going 4 stroke? What is your boat rated for? When I think of Mirro I think 15 is way under powered for a 14ft. You could even jump up to 25hp and install a trolling plate. Lots of options anyway. Cheers

[Jay Thomas]

Hi crunchie,

I first purchased a 5 HP 4 stroke Honda for trout fishing in small lakes - because I simply got tired of trying to use the crap equipment that the outfitter was providing. It was a single cylinder and I hated it because if you let go of the tiller, the boat could go anywhere. After my first 4 day trip with it I returned to the dealer for a solution. Solution was to upgrade to a 2 cylinder 8 HP Honda four stroke. That was a great little motor that satisfied all my requirements. Eventually, in 2007, I upgraded again to a 15 HP four stroke Honda. Another great motor that I love and still have. I concur that these Honda 15s troll too fast for my liking. My solution was to switch to back trolling - trolling speed between 0.7 and 1.3 mph. When I'm forced to forward troll because of wave conditions, I throw out my drift sock to slow down my trolling speed - works like a charm.

However, if I were buying a new 15 HP four stroke outboard now, I'd look really hard at the Yamaha because its so quiet - I used one 2 years ago. But then again, I haven't got any experience with a 2019 Honda 15 HP four stroke. Maybe, it's just as quiet.

From my own experience, my 2007 Honda 15 HP four stroke is easy to maintain/winterize.

Jay

[Balsams]

I have a 15 honda...might be 6 or 7 yrs old. It R, N & F is a manual gear...obviously throttle on the tiller. It trolls dead slow...always has, never had to adjust it. The tough part is sometimes fine tuning the throttle to the perfect speed as after trolling for awhile it sounds like it wants to conk...so you have to give it a shot of thrust. Takes some futzing but once you tune the throttle it trolls good at low speed. My idle must have always been set real low...I have never taken the cover off, always have my boat guy tune it up and change the oil. Good luck. Wish I knew how to tune down the idle on my 18 ft sea ray, again...boat guy......

[Mr3seasonscamp]

I have a few 15 suzuki 4 stroke for sale trollinh around 1.5 1.7 m/per hours if it helps but benne with Suzuki since 2008 and nothing but good things from my clients

[Rico]

Hi Crunchie.
One thing to remember if buying an older 2 stroke is that the engine's HP was rated at the head (like your 81 Johnson) and the newer ones are rated at he prop. I believe Yamaha started rating there engines at the prop around 1984. OMC did the same in 1984 or 1985. A friend of mine runs a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke kicker for trolling and it is super quiet and has not had a single problem. One thing to take into consideration is that a 4 stroke is a little heavier than a 2 stroke but the extra weight is minimal compared to the performance of a 4 stroke. Just my 2 cents.