Yamaha vs Mercury

[gunflint]

It's getting to be that time of year when I have to decide on next years motors. We have been using Mercury 9.9 4-strokes for the last 2 years and I'm not that impressed, to say the least. But the 9.9s are rentals so I don't use them that much anyway.

What I do use is a 25hp short shaft 2-stroke Merc and it's time for a new outboard. This motor has been a good reliable motor and if Merc offered them in 2006 I'd probably order one along with the 9.9s. However, from what I understand Merc will only be offering 25s in a 4-stroke.

I'm now looking at the Yamaha 25hp in a 2-stroke. My question is (without getting into the 2-stroke vs 4-stroke disscusion) which is a better motor Mercury or Yamaha? And why? Thanks

[Northlander]

Gunflint you know my feelings. I had a 25 horse Yamaha on my last boat and it was bulletproof. Oil injected and good on gas. Lots of power as well. Im Pro Yamaha since that and thats what will be on my next boat. Unless something super unreal comes out in the next few years.

I have run several other motors and in my experience I prefer the Yamaha over anything else in the sizes your looking at. If you can find a dealer to deal with close to you is the problem.

[Marmot]

I have run 2-cycle 30 HP Yamaha rentals the past couple of years. I have no complaints about the motor.

I do not have any experience with Mercury other than a 120 HP 2-cycle. It does not run all that great.

Marmot

[PierBridge]

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We have been using Mercury 9.9 4-strokes for the last 2 years and I'm not that impressed, to say the least.

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Those engines are Yamaha's with Merc graphics...

[Grizzly16]

I just recently purchased a new fishing boat with a 50hp Yamaha 2-stroke and I have to say that I love it. My family owns a resort and we had always run Mercury motors there and we just also switched to yamaha's and have had no complaints with the Yamaha's and we never did with the Merc's eithor. I do have to say that my 50hp Yamaha is very quiet and good on fuel for a 2-stroke and if it holds up like my Yamaha atv than I will be a Yamaha outboard owner for life.

[Scoot]

Yammy- hands down.

[JohnMickish]

I'm not sure if it's true but one of the Crystal-peirz salesmen told me that you will not be able to get anyones 2-stroke carb motors anymore. The new law has taken place. 4-strokes and Opti type motors only.

[mudman]

I have a 2002 90 honda and it kicks some serious H2O!!

great on gas starts right up every time quite, trolls down to 2.3 mph, get top end around 43, and gas lasts a long time!

I LOVE IT

[leechlake]

I'll second Yamaha, I have a 175 Vmax HPDI, has worked for three years flawlessly. I've had 4 Evinrudes and I now am sold on Yamaha's, I just got a 25 Yam 4 stroke this Spring too. I've never had a Mercury so I can't tell you much on those, but with the history I've had on Yamaha's I'd be hard pressed to switch, I'd get a differents brand boat (other than Lund) before I got a different brand of motor.

[TSCTSC]

For 2 strokes, Yammy's the best that you can get.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Well here goes!!

It looks like everyone is thumbs up on Yamaha's. I have owned two new 2 stroke Merc's since 1989, a 90 hp and my current 115 hp. Both have been real good engines although the 115 seems to be a little hard on gas. I did a Canadian fly-in this summer and they were using 9.9 4 stroke Merc's. on their boats. I was real impressed. They were easy starting (pull start), quite and seemed good on the fuel. I think what keeps me coming back to the Mercury is the dealer I buy from. His service has been excellent even though I have had very little problems.

So there you are!! I vote for the Mercury motor.

[gunflint]

Great responses so far, thanks.

A couple of things, A call to RJ sport and cycle and a visit to Yamahas' web site indicate that Yamaha will be manufacturing 2-strokes in 8, 9.9, 15, and 25hp. for 2006.

I didn't know that Yamaha made Mercury has stated above. The problem that we had with 4 out of 8 new motors was in the shifting linkage. I repaired 2 and we sent 2 back for service. I didn't realize that the smaller Yamahas had their shifter in the handel.(on Yamahas' web sit it looks like the shifter is not on the handel)

Can someone tell me what a "dual thrust" prop is? And does it work? It's an option that looks interesting.

[PierBridge]

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Can someone tell me what a "dual thrust" prop is? And does it work? It's an option that looks interesting.

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Some have had a lot of sucess on the 4,5 8 9.9 and 15 mercs using the high thrust prop design which allows for almost as much thrust in reverse as in fwd.

Here is Yammys version.

Yamaha Dual Thrust Plastic Propeller

Series R

Specially designed for sailboats and other displacement craft, Yamaha's patented Dual Thrust propellers are built to handle the job of pushing heavy loads through water. The hub is carefully designed to redirect exhaust flow away from blades, so Dual Thrust models cut through "clean water" for higher efficiency and better acceleration. Thrust is improved up to 70% in reverse and 10% in forward.

This propeller will fit the T8 and T9.9 models.

[PierBridge]

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Great responses so far, thanks.

I didn't know that Yamaha made Mercury has stated above.

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[/indent]

Other than some of the larger four-strokes, Yamaha has been faded out by Mercury. Their small engines( 25hp and below for now) are now produced by Tohatsu.

It's a bit confusing.

Yamaha is pretty much out of the loop with Merc. last February Merc opened a plant in china to manufacture 4 strokes in the 40-60 range Tohatsu covers them below 40 HP Suzuki makes four strokes for Suzuki and BRP and now will only supply BRP "John/Even" with 4-strokes 40HP and under as BRP will sell their E-Tec DI 2 strokes,it depends on which HP as to who made it. The MBK plant in France makes F8 and below four strokes with the Yamaha label. Seems the main players are Tohatsu,Suzuki,Merc and Yamaha and Honda,however quite a bit of parts are not manufactured by the actual companies it seems a lot of the castings are made by other vendors on certain engines.

The Outboard industry is going the way of the auto industry you never really know who built it and where. It becomes who has the best warranty service and where is the best service going to come from.

[gunflint]

Wow, thanks for the education. It looks like Yamahas. Now all I have to do is convince the check writter.

[bobO]

I have had a mercury 40 hp 2-stroke for the last 6 years and it has been bullet proof.I have just changed the oil and plugs every year, put gas and oil in it and it goes. But I guess I have a biest opinion because I have never had a Yamaha. I have had yamaha dirt bikes in the past and they have been bulletproof as well. If I did not have a Mercury motor I would have no problems buying a yamaha. Thats just my two cents worth. Either way they im sure you are getting a good quality motor for your boat.

[FullTilt]

In regard to the dual thrust prop, I believe this was designed to get better performance out of smaller kickers. I have a Yamaha T8 with the high thrust as a kicker and it has some serious torque. A friend of mine has a 9.9 with a regular prop and it does not have the instant power like the T8. The prop on my T8 is aluminum, not plastic as mentioned in a previous post. You can tell in an instant if it's a high thrust prop, it is a very large prop for a small motor.

I've also used this motor on a 12' Lund as a primary motor. Interesting thing about the high thrust prop, it doesn't push the 12' much faster than the 17' Crestliner Fish Hawk. If you are planning to use it as a primary motor on a smaller boat I'd stay away from the high thrust prop.

This is my first Yamaha and I'd buy another in a heart beat.