1995 Ranger 481 VS, new 2019 Mercury 150 4 stroke. Old 1996 Mercury 150 XRI gave up.



On to break in.

Life goes on for your Ranger....

Nice

Nice rig!

Very clean looking for its age!

Looking good

Your good for another 10-15 years in the Ranger

Sweet!

Very nice.. how does it handle the xtra weight of the 4 stroke.. performance wise?

The new 2019 motor is lighter than the old 1996 one. Having some prop blow out, not bad working with Josh at Steve's Custom Props in Quitman. This is the old Trophy prop from my 1996 150. He added a collar on the prop near the gear case to close gap. Old motors gear case was a little smaller than the new one. Helped lots but still blows out some.

I've been considering doing to same thing to my '93 Pantera II, but I was wondering how my old transom would hold up to the extra weight of these new engines. I think these new engines weight more than the old ones though. From what I saw on Mercury's website that engine weights 455# dry. An old '96 EFI Mercury 150 HP weighed 407# per the Nada Guide. Not much difference in your case. But my Johnson Fastrike 175HP weighs 375#, but a new Pro XS Mercury 200 HP weighs 505# dry and a new Evinrude 200 HO weighs 535#. I'd be hanging over 100# more off the transom.

Don't do anything by what I say. It is an expensive process and any mistake in decisions could haunt ya for a long time. I chose an onsite mechanic and it was a major regret after wasting 2 months of ordering parts with little or no improvements and $1200+ in cost with insistence it, the old motor, could be fixed. It is a hard road of where to stop and just move on. Last thing you would want is to solve one problem while creating a whole new one. I talked with Ranger support they said the transom would do fine with this repower. I see your concerns AGSWON good luck in your efforts to keep yours running.

Thanks for the advice! I hope you have many more years of enjoyment from both boat and motor!