When you say "new Optis", how new do you mean? I know the 2010's are as noisey as my 2005. Maybe this is something that has changed over the last year or two? Kevin
No worries Jim. I would never have expected you tell me something you didn't know or experienced yourself. Anyways, most of the intel I've been able to find on these new 4 strokes is from other forums that revolve around fishing boats and pontoon boats. I also received 2 show ski driver reports on Merc's new four stroke that were objective and favourable. So, I pulled the trigger this afternoon and bought a 2012 four stroke 150hp Merc for my 17.6 Dyna-Ski. Should be able to pick it up by month's end and have it rigged over the winter. Hopefully by mid-July next summer I should have pics posted and a humble report. Thanks for the input guys,, much appreciated. Kevin
Ok, new 150 Merc four stroke now rigged on my 17.6 Dyna-Ski (pictured in Avatar) and,, so far, so good. We mounted the new four stroke one hole up on the transom (the same as the 150 Optimax) and kept the 4 deg wedge on the transom as well. The boat handles very nicely with this new motor and the four bladed 16p Merc Alpha 4 prop seems to be a good fit. There appears to be ample torque out of the hole but the real test will come later when we start pulling skiers again. Driver updates and pics to follow. Kevin
Hi Greg, Well, as I mentioned above, so far so good. But this new motor is not an Optimax. I've only pulled our flat wing kite once this year behind the new motor but there were no issues. I pulled two slalom skiers out of the hole yesterday with no problem at all. We put my old '05 150 Optimax on my '74 Dyne. I bought and old Opti hood and attached the front chrome Mercury face plate (see below) and stickered the cover up as a '74 Merc. I started a new thread called something like "modified '74 Merc" and attached a picture. It's really an Optimax but nobody bit. Everything behind the the chrome face plate is Optimax. Anyways,, what I want to do is take some video of the two boats side by side doing things like hole shots. This would give people a better look at the differences between the two motors. I know the Optimax on the lighter boat will pull ahead of the other boat with the new 150 Four Stroke, but not by much. Overall, I am very satisfied with Merc's new Four Stroke. Because Dyne's and Dyna-Ski's are built so solid, you can always feel every vibration from the motor coming off the 4" transom. Now with the smoother running Four Stroke, the boat doesn't shake at lower RPM's like it use to. Of course the motor is much, much quiter and makes for more enjoyable low speed cruise trips. Hope you're having a good summer (winter). Kevin
Kevin, I looked at that picture several times and only noticed the old style front cover and retro decals on the side covers. Now that you point it out you can really notice the shape of the Opti cowling. ( " LOOKS COOL " !!!) How did you attach the front cover to the new style cowl? Bob
Hi Bob, I'll attach more pictures when I get home. You know it's an Optimax from a side shot, but it looks more like an old Merc from the front. I wanted to keep my '74 Dyne looking retro so I decided to retro the Optimax hood. Attaching the front cover was quite simple actually. Some gentle bending of the the outer sides of the front plate and then four screws on the outside corners. I bought a decal kit online and matched it as best as best as I could to the old Merc cover. You could do the same with your big block. Old Merc covers can easily be found at most Merc dealerships. Keep your original cover and find a used big block cover online. Attach the front Merc plate and put a retro decal kit on it. I'm gonna keep my old '74 Merc in storage for now and hope to some day have it rebuilt. Kevin
