Honda vs Evinrude vs Mercury vs Yamaha etc

[gonefishin]

OP - Sounds like you are leaning towards an outboard. My suggestion - Once you have narrowed it down to the boat of your liking, insist on getting the engine checked out with a compression test.

You can test drive a boat out on the water all you want while the whole time a ring is wearing away on one of the cylinders. The test is worth every penny. Ask me how I know.

 

[philipp10]

but that's what, a 20 ft boat that runs around 80k? Get down to the common persons boat, its maybe 30k and trust me, not whisper quiet. In fact, most low end I/O boats are so bad the hull resonates as you go thru the rpm range. If I had known that when I purchased my present I/o, I would have stuck with the OB. The low end of the boat world is all about costs before quality.

Look at it this way, I have this 3.0 Mercruiser, the motor was designed in the freakin 60's and the drives are ancient too. Even the 4.3 6 banger is a dinosaur. I call them pig boats cause the engine/drives on these I/O's weigh so much. There is just NO modern technology being applied on these designs. I will say, they sound nice, if you can stand the vibration that goes with it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I don't think any serious boater could disagree with you. Some boats are terribly built and vibrate like a garbage can. Please don't ask me how I know.

BTW, bought my ski boat used, surprisingly cheap with a blown engine. Swapped a hotter one in and had a real nice boat for well inside of your 30k figure. No outdrive at all, a straight shaft...

 

[HerrStig]

Hereabouts we look at what the clam diggers, who go out every day that the bay isn't frozen use. Don't see many quicksilvers. Honda or Evinrude. The Johnson name was sold off a while ago. Of course, Mercs have always been considered "fresh water" motors.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I don't think any serious boater could disagree with you. Some boats are terribly built and vibrate like a garbage can. Please don't ask me how I know.

BTW, bought my ski boat used, surprisingly cheap with a blown engine. Swapped a hotter one in and had a real nice boat for well inside of your 30k figure. No outdrive at all, a straight shaft...


that sounds like a nice boat...I may look for something to build in the near future.

 

[southernjeeper]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Mercury is THEE WORST outboard you can buy....hands down.

I'm a serious boater. Here is my ranking based on years of real experience of myself, my brothers, and all of our boating friends.

1.) Yamaha
2.) Suzuki
3.) Honda
4.) The rest are junk.

Suzuki might best Yamaha, but there just aren't enough people selling and servicing them. All 3 manufacturers would likely give you many, many years and hours of trouble free reliability.


I know yamahas àre great and best by far.

But what makes mercury bad motors?

Which horsepower, what year models were your pieces of junk???
It might have just been the owner not taking care of it. Not the motor.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: southernjeeper
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Mercury is THEE WORST outboard you can buy....hands down.

I'm a serious boater. Here is my ranking based on years of real experience of myself, my brothers, and all of our boating friends.

1.) Yamaha
2.) Suzuki
3.) Honda
4.) The rest are junk.

Suzuki might best Yamaha, but there just aren't enough people selling and servicing them. All 3 manufacturers would likely give you many, many years and hours of trouble free reliability.


I know yamahas àre great and best by far.

But what makes mercury bad motors?

Which horsepower, what year models were your pieces of junk???
It might have just been the owner not taking care of it. Not the motor.


I have the same question. My friends Merc 150, I believe has a Yamaha powerhead on it. Making blanket statements on a brand serves no purpose. Every manufacturer has produced some duds....some more than others I suppose.

 

[lars11]

Difficult to pick a brand just like that. I have owned lots of outboards since 70s, and sterndrives too. I can just say that all brands have hade their bad days in engineering dept. Maybe Yamaha never had a bad model, but correct me if wrong...

Sooo. Mercury? Have only had 2 strokes but our 75 elpto from 2002 was great. Simple, sturdy, hard working. Would buy one again. 70s 4.5 hp... not in my life.
Johnson/Evinrude? Had a great 6hp '83 and a lemon 4hp '75. Also a rotten 60 hp circa '79 with an underwater electric gear taped "water tight"... arrgh. A friend have a 90 hp V4 VRO that will run forever it seems. Heard some bad stuff about early hi pressure 2T but I don't know..
Honda 4 strokes. Silk smooth. Some have costly maintenance though.

Yamaha/Mariner: Have an old 30 hp 2T and it's awesome. Also a 6hp '81 that you can start almost by whispering to it... And everyone I know loves them, 2T and 4T.

Suzuki: Seems to be on par with yamaha. Larger 4T very popular over here.

Conclusion: You can only talk about specific models, not brands. Avoid new models that have not proven themselves, most lemon designs get a bad rap quickly. The sea is punishing.
Check into service, some (not all) new 4 strokes sometimes have heavy maintenance costs, offsetting some of the fuel savings. (hint: timing belts. And catastrophic belt failures are grim experiences)