Well, not what I wanted to hear.... but, probably the best advice. Guess I was just 'thinking out loud'.
God Bless

Lee you gotta know that Tiltman's boat can't be beat in skinny or stumpy water. Rule number one is never follow Tiltman.

Depends are you struggling to get the boat on plane or keeping the nose safely up in rough water or just not happy with top speed? Is the current setup maxed out prop, prop to pad hight and set back? A little tuning may give you a little more without spending alot.

If you run alot and have carbs going to dfi plus warranty may help absorb some of the cost of a repower over time.

I just repowered my BassCat. 94 boat had an 89 merc 200 on it. It was and still is a good motor but I was just not satisfied with the performance. Deal came up on here about a month ago for a 1999 21' boat with a 01 200 efi merc and I jumped all over it for the price he was asking. Now just have to play with my setup to get the right performance but to me it was 3800 well spent. Now the 89 is on the 99 boat and I will fix it up a little and resell it to get some of my money back on the purchase

Lee I will say it this way.
I have never heard anyone say I should have bought a smaller motor
I have lot's and lot's say I should have bought a bigger motor
Alot of the time on boats like yours when sold they don't put max hp on them. It's helps to keep price down.

This is my feeling, if I blew engine out of warranty then I would probably go on and repower if I liked the boat. That would be the only time.

Only way I would repower is IF I was completely in love with my boat and had no interest in getting something bigger/different in the near future or the powerhead blew on my boat and that was the best option financially. Definitely want to put the max HP on any hull you buy though. It doesn't mean you have to go WOT everywhere, it just means you have the power to efficiently move your boat around as it was intended.

Good advice all.... honestly, I run WOT maybe 15 minutes on any fishing trip otherwise, its just slow cruising looking for a good spot using my HB's or the TM. TM probably accounts for 90% of my fishing.
Speed....nah, not really interested UNLESS... I run into a thunderstorm.....then only to get off the water and fast.
I just can't really justify getting rid of my 90HP Johnson in all reality. Dang thing had low hours ( I mean really low ) when I got it and runs like a top.
LOL, for $11k, I can sure get MANY guided fishing trips!! !
God Bless

Lee,...how fast do you need to go ?? your boat should do 40-45,..

Lee I had thought about repowering one of my rigs after I popped a piston ring and fed it to the rest of the cylinders. I weighed the pros and cons. I had actually sold the rig to a friend of mine and when we took it for the compression test we found that problem though it was running fine. I wound up buying him a full rebuild instead. The one thing that really jumped out at me was having a warranty again and could probably have gotten that extended if he wanted.....but this was all back when motors were no where near as expensive as they are now. If you repower, again the warranty thing will be a positive. Also if you are going to the limit of the hull I'd most definitely add at least a 6 inch jack plate. It will give you a better hole shot which translates into better fuel mileage, a lot more stability, did I say better fuel mileage, and more top end speed. Boats that run at their HP limit have a tendency to want to be a little squirrelly on the top end and a jack plate will take most of that away. Even if you run @ cruising speed or less 100% of the time the bigger motor is more than likely going to use less fuel than the motor you currently have running @ cruising speed because it will not be working near as hard as the smaller motor to maintain that speed. My two cents.....

You only live once. Why not just go get the boat of your dreams? I understand there are many reasons one can't but if house is paid for, kids are fine on their own, can still afford to fish a lot if there was a payment, plus you can keep the savings account, take advantage of low interest rates, I am not saying brand new where it is underwater but there some great deals on some awesome used boats with everything and manufacturer warranty that probably could be extended on the outboard.

Well, you certainly make an argument but, nah, no thanks. It's only a hobby....besides, I'm not that good at it...
God Bless

Never buy a boat that is underpowered. You will regret it and it is harder to sell.

Really don't think I would have a problem selling 'THIS' rig, not after everything that I have had done....and boy do I mean 'EVERYTHING', but that was and is not my intention.
I can get up on plane and will run WOT about 40mph....but, I am not concerned with that. I only use WOT just long enough to get across a lake, then it's TM or slow cruising looking for a fishing spot.
I was just curious as to how many had re-powered.
Would like to but, the cost is prohibitive, at least I feel
God Bless

I did not have any problem at all selling my Stratos 175XT with a 50hp on it. Right person, Right time, Right price. Just to get a Skeeter with a 150hp because "I thought" I was under powered. Sure wish I had my Stratos with the 50hp back. 33mph and a great fishing platform. At 63 yrs of age it was a perfect boat. I still don't go out into the middle of the lake when the waves are real rough, even though I have the power for it. WHAT FOR ?