MacGregorSailors.com

I was once stuck in some big following seas during one trip and I told my wife "you know it would be more comfortable/safer if we had a bigger motor and could just ride the back of these swells." She agreed and I got the green light to look for a new motor

Why didn't I think of that when I wanted to repower???

@Starscream: Will do. It may be a few weeks before I can get it into the water. The weight of the motor is the same as the 1st gen DF90a/DF70a motors. The water line should be the same as Viktor's I'm pretty happy with size of the motor and it really doesn't interfere with anything except the helm seat when almost at full tilt. Even then it is just a kiss.

@C Buchs: I actually had the dealer install it for me. I believe the lower bolts just have large fender washers. I'll try to take some pictures of the steering setup this weekend, but its the same as the old motor. Actually I'll try to see if I have picture of the old setup which should give you an idea...

@Be Free: You still can... Just got to find some big waves

@C Buchs: I believe this is the stock steering setup that came with the boat.



The bolt with a nut attaches to the outboard's tiller bracket and pivots/rotates for steering and tilt.

It looks like your steering is like this one http://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/5701-1x0.htm. Mine had this one http://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/5712-1x0.htm.

It's interesting to see the little differences in our boats. Yours has a piece of angle by the water ballast value handle. Mine doesn't have that. However, my ladder is mounted on a piece of angle that your's doesn't have. I had to modify this angle to get the jack plates to fit. When I removed it I could see that some of the fiberglass around where my ladder mounts was cracked. I bet the angle was added to mine to reinforce after an incident.

Jeff

They would have to be some really big waves. I replaced my BF40A with a new BF40D a couple of years ago. It's still under warranty.

Greetings,

I have been following this and many other repower threads since the Admiral gave me the green light over a year ago. Last year just sucked all around but 2021 is the year my Honda 30hp moves to my fishing boat and Untethered is re-powered. I was originally looking at E-tec 90hp but with BRP killing the line it's no longer number one. The Suzuki DF90 is now my choice.

Now I have two problems. First, dealer inventory (of all manufacturers, especially Suzuki) is damn near non-existent in Florida.

Second, I'm having a hard time finding a dealer that will hang a DF90 on a Mac.
How have you guys located dealers that will look past the "50hp" design specs? I really don't want to settle for a 50hp when I've seen so many successful 90hp (and bigger) installs.

I'd like to take advantage of Suzuki's 6 year warranty but have been told that if I install the motor myself, the warranty will be void. Is there any truth to this?

Has anyone purchased an engine from one of the online retailers? If so, how'd it work out?

Any advice is appreciated.

John
2000x, Honda 30hp
Atlantic Beach, Fl

@jcasale

I hear you. I ordered my outboard late Sept 2020 and it was finally installed by the dealer in early April 2021. One good thing though is that Florida seems to have cheaper quotes and better inventory than on the west coast where I am. With regards to having the dealer install the motor, I didn't really encounter any issues. The dealer did say that they usually install 50-70hp outboards on these boats. I mentioned that the df70 and the df90 are essentially the same motor with different tuning and they mentioned they always typically recommend to go higher if possible .

If you are having issues, I would mention that Blue Water Yachts (which is as official as it gets when talking about Mac dealers) routinely installs DF70a Suzuki outboards. Your dealer would essentially be installing the same motor with just some better tuning

You could also try pointing them to the Blue Water Yachts website which talks about the DF70a reasoning. http://www.bwyachts.com/engines.html

BTW there are no online retailers for a DF90a and Suzuki requires dealers do the Pre Deliver Inspection for warranty purposes.
BTW2 Just insured the boat. I got quotes from BoatsUS, Progressive, and AAA. No one 2nd guessed the DF90a and they all gave me quotes. I ended going through AAA and got a rate 3x cheaper than BoatUS with more coverage.

Are the wedges necessary for the X model? I understand the M model transom is less angled or vertical and definitely needed on it. I am concerned about getting motor high enough to be out of water while sailing, is this an issue? And is the angle of the motor full up adjusted to less than max for clearance in front of motor? Any thoughts on these issue would be welcome

We went with ETEC 90s and 5 degree wedges on our X's. We haven't actually gotten them in the water yet but it's clear that tilting the motor completely out of the water will not be an issue.

- Devin

@starscream: Here's a pic of the mac sitting in the water.

Thanks for that photo. It looks like our drain-holes are about in the same position vis a vis the waterline.

The Suzi seems wider in the mid-section area, I'd guess a couple of inches at least. I really like the white motors on the white boat.



100L of water and two batteries on the port side will create a bit of a list. When the 5 of us are on board, in the cockpit, that's about 600lbs additional and pushes the drain-hole to the waterline. It's always made me nervous.

Just got back from a weekend at Newport Harbor. Still performing the break in procedure, but it was still a night and day difference with the old motor. In the water, the motor was extremely quiet at idle and the family could actually have a conversation while we were under way.

Oh BTW it's funny how on the road the boat feels so big, but on the water it feels so small! Can you find the in the picture?



@Starscream: Yep I love the white on white and I'm pretty happy with fore/aft balance of the boat. The boat seems to be pretty level to the boot stripe and water line.

@Sheppie62: I would not worry about wedges and getting the motor up and out of the way. You can see in my previous post how high the motor is tilted up with the wedges and that is not even at max tilt. The limiting factor in my installation was actually the rigging tube/cables. I stopped tilting right when the rigging tube started touching the steering rods, but it actually could go further.

Welcome to club 90!

You will have a lot of fun running that motor. Our boat went from "what ever" to WOW!

Victor

I'm late to the party here. I bought my Suzuki 90 from a dealer several years ago. The dealer said they had to install it to keep the warranty. I think my total price with install, prop wedges, etc was maybe $11,000. certainly an upgrade. I have a problem in that the swim ladder can not be used as it hits the motor housing on the way down. I have yet to find a more narrow replacement. Anyone else?

I was disappointed in the actual speed at WOT. Just slightly over 20 MPH (GPS) My boat is laden with many cruising items. I see the kids flying up and down the east coast with theirs, but maybe their boats are gutted, like when Roger promoted these boats back in the day?

Since I don't post much anymore (or sail either) (3 times in the last 4 years.) Health, covid, etc. Maybe this year I can play with my toys?

I have a bunch of MacGregor parts and accessories I will be parting with. I will post them here first. If anyone needs anything OEM let me know.

Good to be back, Tom

Tom do you fly gyroplanes?

Victor