Outboard question: Yamaha vs. Mercury

[zzvyb6]

Don't forget to include a big consideration of propeller when getting your rig. (I'd recommend used actually, because of depreciation and the current economy). I have a 19' Fish & Ski (bass boat with a windshield). It came with a stock average 3 bladed prop. Launch was not terrific. (By that I mean 0 to 20 mph). I bought an aftermarket 4 blade and it dramatically improved. Then I bought a Merc High-5 prop with some bleed holes. WOOF ! Holy smoke. I dumped the dogs off the back on the first throttle apply with this job. Basically, the bleed system lets the motor reach rpm very quickly via a cavitation effect. When the shaft rpm comes up, the bleed is shut off and the blades dig in. Then the acceleration begins. I have a 115 Merc with the active fuel system (only runs on 2 cylinders below 1800 rpm and I use a tank of gas all season. (Not a speed freak, just keep it at 1790 rpm). I don't know what your freeze conditions are, but I don't ever need to drain a water jacket or prepare it for winter. Have never serviced it and put lots of hours on it.

Get something easy to tow, launch, retrieve and safe for the type of water and waves he will run into. When I was a kid, my Dad took me water skiing under the Peace bridge in Buffalo. The 35hp Merc didn't have enough grunt to go upstream with me in tow until my mother got up on the prow to help it plane. She never missed a frame with the Kodak 8mm movie camera taking pictures either. Without my glasses on, I never realized how bad a shape we were in. He's at full throttle, I'm in tow, and the bridge abuttments are going backwards for a while... That's 5 minutes to the Falls.

 

[careyo63]

1/3 the Hp. and you can run 1/2 the speed with a boat only 2' smaller with a higher drag ratio and get 1/4 the gas useage.If that was true why manufacture any thing over 125Hp.I mostly fish tournaments and getting to the best spots first is imparitive.Hit it and git it as we say.In bass fishing most of the strikes are in the first five casts.Since there is a time limit if the spot is not being productive you have to move.If I would try to be competitive with that size of a boat and motor I would just as well fish off the dock.

 

[Bird]

Bill, I don't know whether you're old enough to remember, as I do, when a 35 hp outboard was a BIG one. Do you remembrer 1958, when Johnson/Evinrude came out with the V-4 50 hp that was the biggest outboard on the market?

We (my Dad) had a 35 hp Evinrude on a 16' Texas made Fiesta boat. Before trading for that boat and motor (because it was deeper and had a windshield), we had a 40 hp Evinrude on a 14' Texas made Falcon boat. That one was really fast for its day. And in the '50s, the reputation of the outboards (whether right or not) was that the Mercury was the fastest, most powerful choice for racing and you could expect to work on it all the time. The Johnson/Evinrude was for fishing, reliability, and dependability.

 

[Bird]

1/3 the Hp. and you can run 1/2 the speed with a boat only 2' smaller with a higher drag ratio and get 1/4 the gas useage.If that was true why manufacture any thing over 125Hp.I mostly fish tournaments and getting to the best spots first is imparitive.Hit it and git it as we say.In bass fishing most of the strikes are in the first five casts.Since there is a time limit if the spot is not being productive you have to move.If I would try to be competitive with that size of a boat and motor I would just as well fish off the dock.

I understand that, and I'm just amazed that there are not more accidents, deaths, and injuries during those tournaments. I've only been in two bass boats doing 60 mph or more, and that was way too fast for me even when I was 30 years younger.

 

[PILOON]

Bill, I don't know whether you're old enough to remember, as I do, when a 35 hp outboard was a BIG one. Do you remembrer 1958, when Johnson/Evinrude came out with the V-4 50 hp that was the biggest outboard on the market?

We (my Dad) had a 35 hp Evinrude on a 16' Texas made Fiesta boat. Before trading for that boat and motor (because it was deeper and had a windshield), we had a 40 hp Evinrude on a 14' Texas made Falcon boat. That one was really fast for its day. And in the '50s, the reputation of the outboards (whether right or not) was that the Mercury was the fastest, most powerful choice for racing and you could expect to work on it all the time. The Johnson/Evinrude was for fishing, reliability, and dependability.

Memories!

That was my boating era as well!
Jonson/Evenrude 25's were same as 30's and even 40hps basically.(bore and stroke)
Had me a 25 on a 12ft Vbottom that I ran for some 10 yrs, had couple of different props for it depending on if for skiing or speed.
Just could not kill that ole Jonson.
It came off of the boat many a time (oily transom) and following an uncle's reccomendations I'd simply pull plugs,drain carb, pull cord to extract any injested water and restart and run hot to dry everything out.

Then I married and ended my 'boating follies', sold the boat/motor for almost 2X what I paid for it.
Later came my 'aviation follies'. Came home one day and said to my wife, 'guess what, I bought--- an airplane'. OOPS, many interesting stories followed, and led to a new career.

BIRD;
Johnson/Evenrude also earlier made a opposed 4cyl 50hp with decompressor valve for WW2 landing barges. It bolted to the transom and if the spark advance was not placed correctly, the backfire would pull your arm off. Was so heavy that it would not fit any common pleasure boat. Poor RPM's but loads of torque.

 

[careyo63]

I've seen more than my share of idiots thats for sure.Early morning with water like glass hardly any boats out nothing like it.I believe the morning commute is far more dangerous.

 

[laen64]

Both are very Good for these size units. I personnally have a 18ft Bass Boat with a 150 Yamaha and I love it Lots of Power and fuel effecient. Should I upgrade in the coming years I will be in the league with the Big Boys 21ft and above 300 HP Yamaha or even merc.

 

[zzvyb6]

Bird: I do remember. I was raised with a 1929 Johnson single cyl 3 1/2 hp. Then Dad got a 4 cyl 10 hp all aluminum Evinrude (a bit cranky to start). One day My Mom & I went out on Lake Erie fishin. Didn't even have a bite. On the way back to Sunset Bay, the motor got real hot and quit. So, we started fishing again and soon we were pulling up 10-12" perch with a fish on each hook of a spreader (2 hooks). Then we ran out of bait, so we cut up some of the fish for more. When the motor cooled and restarted, the entire bottom of the boat was filled with fish. Turns out Dad forgot to add oil to the gas. I still have that motor. Then he picked up a 20 hp Mercury Hurricane from a pawn shop that didn't run right. We took it apart and found that the bolt that held the reed cage had come out and a a rod hit it and turned it a bit. When it started the first time in a garbage barrel, the water all came out in about 5 seconds. Then we got a boat from Sears and used the 20 hp Merc to run the Elgin. That's what I learned to water ski with. Then we got a Merc 350 which I always called 35 hp but I think was actually only 30hp. BTW: My uncle had a 25 hp Evinrude Big Twin that he never could start easily. We would spend hours on end trying to get it running. Sometimes he would leave it running rather than shut it off. Yeah I remember the Merc vs. Johnson/Evinrude HP ad contests. It was always gimmicked up (not prop hp, no water pump, etc.). I even remeber the Merc Direct Revese engines: simple shaft gears and a 2-way starter (or was it 2 starters?). I believe the Evinrude/Johnsons had more torque for the same hp, but NOTHING could excite you like the whine of the Mercs at full rpm. Those were the days. Now my 115 Merc is a small deal compared to the 300 hp units, but twice the power I will ever now need for putzin thru the lakes in Michigan. We like to look at the scenery.

 

[chh]

1/3 the Hp. and you can run 1/2 the speed with a boat only 2' smaller with a higher drag ratio and get 1/4 the gas useage.If that was true why manufacture any thing over 125Hp.I mostly fish tournaments and getting to the best spots first is imparitive.Hit it and git it as we say.In bass fishing most of the strikes are in the first five casts.Since there is a time limit if the spot is not being productive you have to move.If I would try to be competitive with that size of a boat and motor I would just as well fish off the dock.

Well it is true, but my boat weighs in at close to 2/3's of his. All composit materials(no wood to rot). I quit the tournaments a long time ago and won't even go to the lake on weekends now. The lakes are a lot more fun Monday until about Friday at noon. Pretty much even quit dedicated bass fishing. I've owned ski boats, bass boats, and aluminum boats over the years, this one is my favorite of them all. It wasn't that long ago that most all tourney's limited entrants to 150 hp. 50 was a really fast boat!
Fishing Lake Vincente Guerro in Mexico in its heyday of bass fishing in the 70's ruined bass fishing for me. 200 fish a day(catch and release) was not uncommon. A week or so every year made anything else pretty lame.

 

[peterc38]

I had a Yamaha F150 (4 stroke) on a 20 ft CC that was an awesome motor. I currently have a 20 HP 4 stroke Honda on a small LUnd that has also been superb. I'd look hard at Suzuki too. Also, lots of people like the direct inject 2 strokes but personally I think if you need to sell these days a 4 stroke is a lot more marketable IMO.

All that said, the number one mistake most people make when purchasing an outboard is to underpower. remember, you want a minimum of 80% of the max recommended HP for what the boat is rated for. That smaller motor might look good pricewise but once you fill up the boat with fuel, a few large friends and fishing gear it will be a dog if it is underpowered.