Mercury 4 stroke 150 or Verado 175

[Down2Earth]

My buddy is getting a new 18 ft Lund Tyee and his choices are these 2 motors. Money is the same pretty much. He can get the smart gauge or what ever for both to troll down. However the biggest advantage I see is the Verado comes with hydrolic steering. My 2008 115 e tec even has that I can't believe a 2014 150 merc still has cable steering. Thanks for the help. I guess a big question he has is what is a more dependable motor.

[Northlander]

Verado all the way.

[TSchultz]

I'm guessing the 150 also has bydraulic steering, and the verado has power assist hydro steering. You should verify though.

[Kyhl]

You can get hydraulic steering on the 150. I have it on my 2014 150.

If the price is the same, why not go bigger and Verado? The dealer is either over charging for the 150 or giving away the Verado if they are similar prices.

I also opted for the smart monitor system and it was well worth it. But I'm an analyst and feel like I need info all the time. It's much more than smart troll. If you have a HDS, not sure if HB works, you can link it to the HDS and the smart control will read the GPS info giving you more information, like real time MPG. It will also put overlays on your HDS screen. I have the trim guage and tach shown on my HDS 8. With the smart monitor system there is no need for gauges in the dash.

The smart monitor also has smart tow if you are into pulling tubers or skiers. The smart tow lets you set a top speed and acceleration curves so all you do is force WOT and let the smart tow monitor the rpm's to control the tubers max speed and hole shot. Let's you focus on steering.

[Down2Earth]

Yep it is cable steering or at least that's what the salesman said. He did also say he could put Hydraulic steering on it. I was just surprised when you're talking $40,000 for a new boat why would it not already be on their. The price difference in the motors was like $1700 and $3000 to go to a 200 Verado. I have no idea why not to go to the 175 Verado. Maybe they are a problem waiting to happen, maybe the regular 150 has had a bunch of problems. That's why I'm asking you guys/gals in hopes you could save him future headaches. I don't know much about Mercury however maybe a Mercury 150 verses a Verado is like a 150 Ficht vs a 90 or 115 Evinrude back in the day. One was not that good but the others seemed to be very good. Believe me I'm trying to get him to buy an Etec or a Yamaha. But Mercury is what comes with a Lund these days or at this dealer anyway.

[Kyhl]

I'm happy with my new 150 but only have 25 hours on it. Another benefit of the smart craft gauges. You get an hour meter, miles driven, fuel used, engine temp, oil pressure and more.

That said, I would rather have had a Verado 175 if money was not an issue. They also list a Verado 150 and the Verado version is listed with a little higher power output. The Verado 150 is 112Kw and the regular 150 4S is 110kw. It's not much difference but it is different.

[Down2Earth]

You bet Kyhl the smart craft gauges would be a must and he plans on that for sure.

[BoxMN]

Was just using a new 150 this weekend, and it is a very nice motor. Smooth, quiet, great motor. BUT, for me, I would want more umph. For the small uptick in price, go Verado IMHO, and go with biggest he can get, and go with the "nice" steering option. Easy to help people spend their money

Either way, he will enjoy the new rig!

[Kyhl]

I mis-stated that. I meant the "smart monitor" system. I wouldn't spend on the multiple smart craft gauge set unless you are looking for symmetry on the dash.

One gauge is all you need with smart monitor. You can set the one gauge to show up to three things, of your chosing, at one time. It is basically a round LCD screen that you can set up to show speed tach and trim on one screen, or speed only, or tach only or tach and trim. You pick it. You can save multiple favorites to show and can set it on a timer to cycle through the different screens or pick one thing to show. It's very versital. It even has various background colors.

And as I already pointed out, it projects overlays onto a depthfinder through a NMEA2000 port.

Can you tell that I like my smart monitor?

[Down2Earth]

Ain't that the truth about spending others money. Hey he helped me spend my money in 2008.

[Down2Earth]

I mis-stated that. I meant the "smart monitor" system. I wouldn't spend on the multiple smart craft gauge set unless you are looking for symmetry on the dash.

One gauge is all you need with smart monitor. You can set the one gauge to show up to three things, of your chosing, at one time. It is basically a round LCD screen that you can set up to show speed tach and trim on one screen, or speed only, or tach only or tach and trim. You pick it. You can save multiple favorites to show and can set it on a timer to cycle through the different screens or pick one thing to show. It's very versital. It even has various background colors.

And as I already pointed out, it projects overlays onto a depthfinder through a NMEA2000 port.

Can you tell that I like my smart monitor?

The salesman didn't even mention that option. The boats he had on hand all had individual instruments already installed so I suppose he wanted to sell those. Unless we are actually talking about the smart system where you can adjust the rpm's to make the big motor slow down for trolling. Then he did. Thanks for the info.

[delcecchi]

I'm happy with my new 150 but only have 25 hours on it. Another benefit of the smart craft gauges. You get an hour meter, miles driven, fuel used, engine temp, oil pressure and more.

That said, I would rather have had a Verado 175 if money was not an issue. They also list a Verado 150 and the Verado version is listed with a little higher power output. The Verado 150 is 112Kw and the regular 150 4S is 110kw. It's not much difference but it is different.

The verado 150 is/was also quite a bit heavier. That is why they added the non-verado 150 to the lineup a few years back, I would guess.

[Kyhl]

The salesman didn't even mention that option. The boats he had on hand all had individual instruments already installed so I suppose he wanted to sell those. Unless we are actually talking about the smart system where you can adjust the rpm's to make the big motor slow down for trolling. Then he did. Thanks for the info.

The downside to only having one guage is that it would be a smaller screen compared to having multiple gauges. That takes some getting used to.

[Xplorer]

I have a 2012 Tyee 1850 with a 175 Verado on it (bought Sept 2012). I really love the motor so far. Have hit 51.3 on the gps with a stock aluminum prop (I fish Namakan and Rainy alot in summer and dont want a stainless for that reason) so his should be a bit higher on an 1800 and stainless.

The motor has been quiet and reliable, and really powers thru the band nicely.

I've pulled up to three kids on a large tube with ease, If this is something he is doing to do, have him get the tow post, really slick.

I also love the 2 air ride seats I had put in, very comfortable.

I had run a Honda for 12 years without a hiccup, and was a bit nervous about going to the V-rod, but have been very happy with the performance of it the last 1.5 years. Oh, and it trolls down to 2.8 for out on Superior!

PS: the 1800 Tyee is only rated to 175, the 1900 is rated to 200.

[Down2Earth]

Yes thanks xplore. How is the lund on big water in regards to

1. Can you go wide open across rough water without having your teeth chatter?

2. How is it for keeping you dry or does one need to tuck in behind the windshield?

P.S he is looking at the package with the ski bar and overhead canopy that snaps to the front windshield, cooler, etc.

[Xplorer]

Well, I bought it for Rainy and Superior lakes (different types of waves), and it handles waves just fine, tho running WOT at 50 mph in "rough" water is not something I do. Truthfully, alot of it is operator experience. It has great deadrise, and by using the trim I can about always get the spray line well behind all passengers.

Since I use it to camp out on the islands for 20-25 days a summer, I always get the full topset so I can completely enclose the boat if needed.

[SledNeck]

175 proXS