Honda vs Evinrude vs Mercury vs Yamaha etc

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Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
I have found that boats smaller than 18 feet are significantly more unstable and are rocked by waves much easier. I would not buy a 17 foot boat.
The smaller Boston Whalers are stable for their size.


As are RIB's.
 
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I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Agree whole heartedly on the inboard/outboard preference. Of course, I use my boat as a fishing machine primarily, so that may factor into that...

As far as Mercury goes, lets just say our family grew up on OMC/Johnson engines, and still use them today. We have a mid 70's 6hp Johnson that I swear has likely trolled to the moon and back again. Beat up looking, been out in the weather every summer for 40 years. Still fires up on the first pull every year.

When Johnson/Evinrude went downhill and were having problems, that's when Yamaha's became popular as a non-Mercury choice. Nobody I know who switched to Yamaha has regretted it.

First hand experience with Merc's being bad? No. First hand experience with their major competitor - yes, and no reason to look elsewhere...


agree I probably would pick Yamaha over everything else.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.


The OB's are expensive, I'll give you that.

The newer 4 stoke inboards don't break any more often than an inboard and they don't take up interior floor space. The best part to me though is they are light. Look at the weight of your 220 hp engine/drive combo against a 225 Yamaha sometime. Its about 300 pounds difference. Now imagine everytime you go boating you have to bring along your 300 lb neighbor to sit on your stern...
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.


I am in this camp simply because of familiarity with the engine. A "regular" V8 or V6 is common and easy to fix. Outdrives are practically trouble free if carefully maintained and kept water free in the gearbox and such.

Personally though i am intrigued by Evinrude's ETEC series. They are remarkably compact and light, and they have 500 hour service intervals!!!
 
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.


The OB's are expensive, I'll give you that.

The newer 4 stoke inboards don't break any more often than an inboard and they don't take up interior floor space. The best part to me though is they are light. Look at the weight of your 220 hp engine/drive combo against a 225 Yamaha sometime. Its about 300 pounds difference. Now imagine everytime you go boating you have to bring along your 300 lb neighbor to sit on your stern...


actually more like 400 lb difference.
 
I really enjoyed the 1994 Evinrude outboard I bought new at the end if the year in 1994. Kept for 16 years, had to rebuild one carb and a fuel pump. That's it. I just like that big honkin' car engine that's in there now. The Chaparral 18 actually has a sundeck, so very little waste for storage.Storage goes into the compartmrnts beside the motor.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I really enjoyed the 1994 Evinrude outboard I bought new at the end if the year in 1994. Kept for 16 years, had to rebuild one carb and a fuel pump. That's it. I just like that big honkin' car engine that's in there now. The Chaparral 18 actually has a sundeck, so very little waste for storage.Storage goes into the compartmrnts beside the motor.


That sundeck is still valuable florspace any way you cut it. In general I don't like the way modern boats are designed. Too much seats, sundecks etc. I prefer an open deck that I can configure the way I like. In the used market, they are next to impossible to find. The new pontoons are even worse, look like a living room on floats, couches and stuffing all over the place.
 
I ran 2 Yamahas on my last two boats I owned. A 2001 150HP HPDI, and a 2002 150hp Vmax HPDI. Both engines were flawless.

Regarding the reliability between Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha. I see very little 'real world' difference between the 3 brands. All are very reliable engines.

The issue really is dealer support and pricing. If price is NOT an issue, and you have dealer support, I would probably put Honda at the top of the list....but again, any of the brands will live a long life.

I know the first generation of Etecs had some issues; I have not followed the brand enough to determine if subsequent generations have improved.
 
I've owned 2 stroke Evinrudes and Johnsons and both were good. I currently own a 4 stroke 25hp Mercury on a small pontoon boat and I love it! Quiet, no smoke, power tilt and EFI for quick startups. I was never fond of the older Mercury outboards but this newer one ('12) has been great for me!
 
We have a 15hp Johnson at the cabin that has has been trouble free. My grandpa bought it new in 1983. We replaced the water pump once 10 years ago only because my brother managed to fill it up with sand and we had it open to clean it out. I have a 1974 9.9 Johnson that has been great as well. I bought it from the shop when we picked up the pump parts for the 1983.
I prefer Evinrude/Johnson because we have never had a bad one in my family, and we have had quite a few.

My uncle has a Mercury on his pontoon that was a pain for a while but has been OK for the last year. It was in the shop several times for different things. I think it feels weak for a 40hp. Our neighbor at the cabin had an older Mercury 2 stroke that he fought with for years.

My friend is really happy with his 60hp Yamaha. He really does not do much to take care of it, but it always starts and runs good when we take it out. His Lund came with a 60hp Mercury. He told them he did not want a Mercury. They special ordered the Yamaha and he had to wait 2 weeks for it to come in. He ended up paying a little more but not much. He split the cost difference with the dealer.
 
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.


The OB's are expensive, I'll give you that.

The newer 4 stoke inboards don't break any more often than an inboard and they don't take up interior floor space. The best part to me though is they are light. Look at the weight of your 220 hp engine/drive combo against a 225 Yamaha sometime. Its about 300 pounds difference. Now imagine everytime you go boating you have to bring along your 300 lb neighbor to sit on your stern...


Generally outboards are really great up to a certain point boat weight wise. Search 350 Yamaha power head failure...my buddies popped last year, repair was around $25k under warranty!

The problem with putting 2 or in my friends case 3 behind a boat is you get a ton of speed, but they burn a fair amount of fuel and don't last. They are a very power dense package and in the marine world that translates into a shorter life span. OTOH you can cruise at 40 knots, something inboards simply cannot match.

Personally I dislike having a cluttered stern, you can't boat fish to the rear of such boats.

IMHO the best way to power a vessel is with straight shaft inboards, preferably with Cummins stamped on them.
 
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Center console... mid size motor... open the phone book and see what brand is nearby for service. Very open question... I had great luck with optimax... bad luck with etec...
You got a great board here for any questions you may have... quality parts and fluids... ETH free gas... you should have a good boating experience
 
All the engines you mention are good, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a boat with any of them.

The 2 strokes are much lighter than the 4 strokes, but typically get worse mileage, carrying pre mix is a pain but they don't have any valve train to maintain so are simpler to work on.

...and speaking of working on them - Ive been boating all my life and own two boats today.

I love my japanese products as you can see by my sig line.

The thing is wherever you go that has any kind of boating environment from the big cities to the tiny little lake towns - you will find a mercury dealer and mercury parts on a shelf.
 
They are all pretty good nowadays. I've owned several Mercury/Mariner products with no issues. A shop i know swears by the Hondas. If you travel to the coasts, you'll find an overwhelming majority of Yamaha 4 strokes which speaks volumes.

My biggest factor would be what the dealer supports moreso than the actual brand. It's a boat. You'll need dealer support eventually.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.


The OB's are expensive, I'll give you that.

The newer 4 stoke inboards don't break any more often than an inboard and they don't take up interior floor space. The best part to me though is they are light. Look at the weight of your 220 hp engine/drive combo against a 225 Yamaha sometime. Its about 300 pounds difference. Now imagine everytime you go boating you have to bring along your 300 lb neighbor to sit on your stern...


Generally outboards are really great up to a certain point boat weight wise. Search 350 Yamaha power head failure...my buddies popped last year, repair was around $25k under warranty!

The problem with putting 2 or in my friends case 3 behind a boat is you get a ton of speed, but they burn a fair amount of fuel and don't last. They are a very power dense package and in the marine world that translates into a shorter life span. OTOH you can cruise at 40 knots, something inboards simply cannot match.

Personally I dislike having a cluttered stern, you can't boat fish to the rear of such boats.

IMHO the best way to power a vessel is with straight shaft inboards, preferably with Cummins stamped on them.


Sure OB's CAN be power dense, but those models can be avoided. Most 4 strokes today will outlast the owners life, not an issue. My biggest beef with an inboard or I/O is the noise and vibration. There are just obnoxious compared to outboards. That and deck space on some models is eaten up by the engine and cover.
 
Absolutely not true of all inboards.

My old Ski Nautique had a built Ford 351 in it and was quiet as a mouse. Almost no vibe either. Many times the superior torque from a larger inboard makes the boat require very little throttle to move out smartly. Got better fuel economy than many large outboards I have had.

No question in a smaller boat they take up space. Compactness is unreal in modern engines these days...

Even my current sliver with a blown 572 is surprisingly quiet and smooth until you open it up...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Even my current sliver with a blown 572 is surprisingly quiet and smooth until you open it up...
Then a smile comes on my face...... I had to complete .
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Even my current sliver with a blown 572 is surprisingly quiet and smooth until you open it up...
Then a smile comes on my face...... I had to complete .


haha, you should see the look on my passenger's face when you hit it at around 80 mph and the thing rears up and starts to FLY! It has water cooled headers that are surprisingly quiet up to half throttle or so and folks don't always expect it to roar and go like it does...
 
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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Even my current sliver with a blown 572 is surprisingly quiet and smooth until you open it up...
Then a smile comes on my face...... I had to complete .


haha, you should see the look on my passenger's face when you hit it at around 80 mph and the thing rears up and starts to FLY! It has water cooled headers that are surprisingly quiet up to half throttle or so and folks don't always expect it to roar and go like it does...
From my experience below 80 mph all is good over 80 things seem fast over 100 mph the water looks like concrete! Woo hoo!!!.
 
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