2007 Optimax - your thoughts?

Hey guys - time to upgrade motors. Been running a 130 Honda 4-stroke on a 19ft Tyee. With a group of people on board it takes half the lake to get up on plane, so I'd like to get a more powerful motor. Have an opportunity to deal on a 150 Optimax - wondering what you have to say about them, good, bad or otherwise.

Thanks for the answers. Boat maxes out at 175. I've been told switching from a 15-pitch to a 16-inch prop would give more power out of the hole, just sacrifice some top end speed. Might explore that option first.

1 for preventative as it is a cheap fix for peace of mind on a expensive motor. 1 for one of the fins was starting to show signs of cracking/spitting if I can find it I will take a pic and post. yes 1 could wait up to the 300 hrs the book says but cheap preventive maintainance is better than not having a boat when the fishing is hot, as that is typically my bad luck.

1 for preventative as it is a cheap fix for peace of mind on a expensive motor. 1 for one of the fins was starting to show signs of cracking/spitting if I can find it I will take a pic and post. yes 1 could wait up to the 300 hrs the book says but cheap preventive maintainance is better than not having a boat when the fishing is hot, as that is typically my bad luck.

On average, you should change your impeller every 3 years or 300 hours. However, if you typically boat on a river, or a shallow mucky lake, you should change your water pump every other year, or potentially every year if you use the boat frequently in murky, sandy conditions. Conversely, if you typically boat on clear deep lakes, and you don't hit bottom, you could push your impeller off to 4 years, maybe 5 if your pushing it.

I have an '04 225 Opti I purchased used 8 years ago. It had 105 hours on it at that time. It starts everytime and runs great. I have only run DFI oil in it per the dealer I bought it from. $43 a gal last week at the dealer. One gallon has lasted me a single season the last 8 seasons. I typically run around 4500rmp at ~40mph on my 20' ProV. I pull skiers and tubes 2 to 4 times a season. Your boating habits and oil consumption may vary. I'm not a huge Merc fan but there are certainly many black motors on the water. I'd buy another if the circumsatnces were right. Good Luck!

thanks for ther info scrub, mech says it is fine also. he is a retired merc mechanic so i take his word. and no i am not so lucky either so deff. not me.

i am on my 3rd opti, all 115hp. a 05, 07, and now a 2010, no issues with any of them. all ran great no issues except the 2010 had water in the seperator once that set the beeper off. drained collector and monitored for summer, no issues. bad gas is all i came up with. had to change impellars in both the 05,07 at 100-110hrs of use. and you can use the quicksilver premium plus oil in opti's that is $28 a gallon at fleet, was told by merc that it is ok, have it in writting from dealer rep back in 05. been running premium plus for 6-7 years no issues. would buy another in a heart beat and support a local bussiness.

I have been running a 07 115 Optimax since I bought it new in 07. So far the motor has been great with zero problems. The only thing that I have had to do was to add oil and routine maintenance. Based on my experience, I would buy another Optimax.

What is the max hp of that boat? I always feel maxing out is the best bet if you can afford it.