Currently shopping deep-v CC's in the 200hp-300hp range and curious to hear the OBs opinion on Mercury.

Personally I put Yamaha at the top, then the Verado and then Suzuki. A friend who runs a local marina says Suzuki is up there and steer clear of the Verado.

I'd thought Mercury rebounded of late (not sure of specific year model) and corrected some of their issues. Anyone have some personal experience?

Assuming Mercury improved on the Verdado (or maybe I'm getting bad info), what vintage should I consider?

Not sure when I will buy since it's not the best timing. Might have to wait it out. I typically would buy used, especially since I'm looking in the 24'+ range and It needs to be a fish/family model to serve the troops.

TIA

After consulting with 3 engine repair mechanics on the coast I bought a Yamaha 250 SHO. Almost everybody down here runs a Yamaha (grey one). I've also owned a Yamaha 90 and 115 four stroke and currently have a Merc 115 XS Pro on my Ranger bass boat because a Yamaha 4 stroke wasn't available.

But you may have trouble finding a new Yamaha. Yamaha USA can't get enough of them. In order to get a Yamaha 250 SHO, a family member bought a Skeeter. Yamaha owns Skeeter so they are first in line to get Yamahas.

Good luck

Agree with everything said above.

I have a Yamaha f serious 150 four stroke. If you look at most if not all of the commercial boats, you'll see the same thing for a reason

I'd put them in this order: Suzuki, Yamaha, tohatsu/Honda, Mercury.

Yamaha may make slighty better motors than Suzuki but not so much better I'd be willing to pay the $5k premium you'll likely pay in the 300 hp class. I've never been a Merc fan but it may be an undeserved bias these days.

If you have a nearby dealer to service them I'd shop the tohatsu badged Honda in the 250 group too.

Anyone need a 25 horse Yamaha 4 stroke, 2017 model with about 20 hours on it, garage kept, electric start, like new, I have one for sale $3850. New one is around $5000.

I have the Skeeter SX 180 with the Yamaha 115 4 stroke on it. Never missed a beat.

https://i.imgur.com/o3HmdLQ.mp4

Premier Yamaha in Corpus had quite a few new 250 SHO's a couple of months ago.

Always had a Yamaha, all my sleds have had one. My new Mowdy 25 Cat has a 250 Suzuki that is starting to grow on me. I put a Jack Foreman prop on it and I have zero complaints. I wouldnt ever consider a Evinrude or Merc.

Ive had a good bit of experience running and maintaining outboards. Went to some tech schools back in the late 90s and early 00s. Probably a lot has changed since then. Have moved on from that specific industry.

Worked on the following brands: Honda, Yamaha and Merc and others.

For overall reliability and ease of maintenance, the Honda was my preference. Meaning if I had to trust one of these engines, and my ass was on the line, it would be the Honda.

Yamaha was good overall. Have no specific complaints with Yamaha, would rank slightly below Honda.

I never liked to run or work on Mercury. I can't tell you exactly why. I never had huge problems with Mercury but it would be my last choice out of the three makes above, If I had three boats lined up and had to pick one, just based on the power plant.

Worked alot on Evinrude 2-stroke as well. They never really let me down, but in my experience they require a lot more effort to get the kinks sorted out and keep them running and maintained.

round gauges may be worth $5k. I just can't get accustomed to the square zuk gauges

My ETec from Evinrude was an enormous, money sucking POS! Never, ever, never purchase an Evinrude again, never, ever!

New Hell's Bay Marquesa has Yammy 115!

Yamaha now has rectangular ones. New offshore rigs don't necessary have gauges. The read out are on your chart plotter.

You are living the dream!

All the G2 guys brag on their 10 year warranty. Its kinda obvious, you are going to need it.

Thank y'all for the replies - I guess I'll pass on that Blackfin 272 or anything else Verado. Of course my wife would say "when he** freezes over" on a new 27'

Came across this after I posted my question - was surprised by his final thoughts

https://www.bornagainboating.com/verado-problems/

Hoyt, what model prop are you running and what's max speed. I run a 2012 Mowdy Cat. My ISO turbo has performed best so far but I find the metal is soft.

My 250SS Suzuki has 650 hours with no issues. Unless you have hull that is built for higher speeds I see know advantage the SHOW or Verado.

I have personally owned: Yamaha (2), Suzuki (1), Johnson (1), Evinrude (2), and Mercury (2) at various times. I'm sticking with Yamaha from here on out...I don't think you can beat their reliability and resale value with any other brand. Good luck!

Johnson(4)
Evinrude(2)
Yamaha 150 TRP.....the Best!
Other Yamaha's(7)
Chevy...507(1)

15 1/4 20 inch 4 blade that Jack Foreman puts a top cup on. I'm getting 54mph at top speed.

If Suzuki's new 350hp twin prop drops down into the 150hp category and is as good as a TRP they will sell a bunch,,,,

Amen Brother.

Mowdy tried a Verqdo on the 25 Cat and was under impressed. The SHO and Zuke are the best performers on that sled.

I'm fishing with a Tiburon tomorrow....similar to the one you emailed me.

sunchaser said:

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Chevy...507(1)

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Story time!?

Airboat engine came from a place called Conrad Racing. They sent me a dyno test.

The Tiburon I had a demo in was a 25' with a 300 Evinrude. Ran and hole shot in extremely shallow water. Two things I didn't like were the color schemes and the deck layout. I like to stow everything out of the way and leave a lot of space.

My original 18'6" Shallow Sport was one of the first ones made. Shaw wings/Cavitation plates were made out of aluminum and very large. Props weren't very good for hole shots or staying on plane. Jack plates were very slow. The originals...to me....were more like plastic rather than fiber glass. I stuck it everywhere from Port M to SPI......but you could get off and walk it out. Eventually you learned where and when you could go.

I know if I had a big boat like a Tiburon or a Haynie that I would plant it where I couldn't get it out without a tow. The guy that has a slip next to me took his brand new Haynie out for the very first time. Left Port A and made it to Baffin....hit the rocks...tore off the lower unit. I think the tow back to Port A cost him about $6,000.

Hoyt, what year is your Mowdy?

tex...wanted to offer my opinion, for what it is worth...........I have spent the last 36 years as a factory rep for a well known fishing boat manufacturer. Our company has offered our products with a choice of any power brand except Honda.
The number one choice in the four stoke market for us is hands down Yamaha. In fact Yamaha used to build Mercury's four stroke powerheads for many years.
As far as the brands you mentioned I would offer this from my dealers perspective. Suzuki is a good brand but just does not hold the resale value as much as Yamaha.
I can speak from experience that if one of our dealers had our exact same boat model on his showroom floor or in his used inventory and one was powered with a Yamaha and the other with a Suzuki, he would sell the Yamaha first every single time.
We sold lots of boats powered by Mercury. In our world, speed is the king, and for many years Mercury owned the freshwater two stroke V-6 engine market due mostly in part due to their reputation in markets where high performance was important. The "OPTI-MAX" was a great engine but Mercury has struggled with their Verado technology and Mercury has never had a great reputation in the saltwater markets.
Yamaha changed the game with the introduction of their SHO Engine technology in the 4-stroke market.

The other issue is dealer network and parts and service availability. Yamaha has a worldwide dealer infrastructure and you can find a Yamaha dealer literally anywhere no matter where you are. Yamaha owns the 4-stroke saltwater engine market and without a doubt has the best dealer network, parts availability and service support of any brand.

If you are going to be fishing a lot of saltwater just do yourself a favor and buy a Yamaha. There is a reason they are the predominant outboard engine used worldwide.

One poster said it is hard to get a Yamaha right now and that is not necessarily correct. Yes Yamaha owns Skeeter and G-3 Boats but they also have many " Yamaha Preferred Power Partners" with many other high quality boat manufacturers and they are adequately supplying those builders. The issue is getting a "loose" engine as the supply is being used up with all the boat manufacturers as Yamaha is ramping up with a totally new state of the art manufacturing facility in Japan.

Being in the boat business I could get a good deal from any of the power brands. I fish a lot in saltwater and my engine of choice is hands down Yamaha even though it cost me more $$$.

Yamaha and its not even debatable.

2019

Haynie's are slow and just not impressive in any way to me.

I've owned a Yamaha 150 four stroke. Currently have a Mercury 250 2 stroke and a 90 hp Evinrude jet. I think it's all personal preference. I actually had the most problems with the Yamaha. I didn't go with a Yamaha again because the dealer wasn't convenient and they were slow as molasses in getting anything done. If I had a better dealer I might have gone with another Yamaha.

You got a good point about Yamaha parts availability.