Yamaha, Mercury or Suzuki?

[Carpenter]

I think I've narrowed down the boat, just need to figure out the power. I'm going to go with the Ranger Reata 1850, but am having difficulty deciding between the 150 Yamaha, 150 Verado, 175 Suzuki or 175 Verado.

First thought is power. I know you should NEVER under power your rig. But will the extra cash be worth it to go from a 150 to a 175. I don't need to prove anything, but I do smile big if I walk away from someone on the water or the road.

Second, question would be if the Verado is worth the extra $$? I like the smartcraft system and the digital throttle, but I have never driven the Yamaha either.

Looking at the merc HSOforum, the 150 yam & verado look pretty comparable to me. I don't care about fraction of second, mph or mpg.

Please no favorite rants, or bashing the other.

No matter what I chose, I'm going to be happy. The boat now is a 1982 18' Mr. Pike with twin 35 Johnson's. This new boat will have to last me as long if not longer. Anyone want an 82 Mr. Pike?

[Ray Esboldt]

I have a 90 Optimax and have been around about every other Optimax in the series. Mine has been reliable, fuel efficient, and reasonably quick. I spent a week in a boat with a 150 Optimax, and have the same story on that one. I would buy another one.

Now, let me tell you a little thing I know about Suzuki owners. They all walk around with big smiles on their face. They are not particularly quick motors (most 4-strokes are not), but everyone that has one that I know loves them for their reliability and quiet ride.

Yamaha, I don't think you can go wrong there. They make a solid motor. My brother has run a couple different Yamahas and has never had an issue.

I am not a Verado fan because of their size. I think the concept is awesome, but that motor needs to lose some weight.

[MN Musky]

I dont think you will ever kick yourself for going with a 175. I underpowered one my old boats and regreted it, especially on the resale.

As far as the brand, I run an Evunrude Etec, love it. 2nd choice Yammie. I had an old Suz back around 1990, nothing but problems. New ones seem great,but I have bad mojo with the things.

[DinkADunk]

I agree on the Verado that is a very tall engine. My wife likes to cast from the back and a Verado would nix that idea in the bud. I have an 1800 Lund Fisherman with a Johnson 140 on the back - aka a Suzuki. Great motor, easy to work on, no troubles, I would definately consider Suzuki power on my next boat. If you can swing it I would go with the 175HP. To get the hole shot needed to get my boat on plane with 4 on board, plus kicker motor and gear, I needed to prop for it with the corresponding reduction in top speed. Extra HP would be great. One other consideration is the guage package. If I was gearing up now I would want a power package that would work with the Lowrance digital guages (I want fuel flow, rpm's, hours, etc for both my motors). If you go with Mercury you're stuck with their guage package and it doesn't integrate with anyone else (or at least that's what I've been able to figure out from digging around). Suzuki and Yamaha are integration friendly.

[Northlander]

From what I have seen the Verados are big and love the gas.

I would go with the Yamaha or Suzuki. Both have been good motors. Go as big as your boat allows.

[ricqik]

I believe the rado takes premium verus reg on the yammy and suzy.

[hugonian1]

I've had a 150 Yamaha for 3 years and it's been flawless. Whatever you decide your surely will have a sweet rig. Good luck.

[Matt C]

I bought the yami F150. Very satisfied! I can't say anything bad about it, I love it! Excellent performance, top end, hole shot ( I destroyed my buddy in his ranger reatta with his yami 150 2 stroke in top end and hole shot) But after doing a little more research and seeing, I wish I would have gone with the Zuki 175.

Reason: 175 would max the boat; not a huge price difference; the yami is quite, but the zuki is silent; black motor would match my black boat better than silver.

[Black_Bay]

I don't think you'd go wrong with any of the outboards. Personally I'd go with the Verado, but I'm a Mercury guy. The 150/175 are 4 cyl so they aren't as large as the 6 inline models and they aren't as thirsty. Does your dealer, esp the mechanic, have a prefered motor brand they like to sell? If so I'd consider that also.

[Musky_Madness]

Any motor you choose these days will be quite similar, like you said yourself you don't care about the fraction of a second or very little difference in MPG/MPH. I have a 150 Opti and have no complaints with it. Very fast engine and a lot of giddy up on the hole shot. Suzuki might be made by Mercury? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[sparkyaber]

I purchaced a reata last year and rode around in a few of them. I did ride in one with a 150 yamaha fourstroke, a 150 optimax, 175 yamaha hpdi, and a suzuki 175. The 150 yamaha was way underpowered compared to the rest. The 175 hpdi was the fastest, but not that much faster than the 'zook. The opti was just a bit slower than those two, but much quicker than the 150 yamaha. One thing for sure, the suzuki was the quitest by far, not even close. I would not have hesitated to buy the 150 opti, or either of the 175s. I ended up with the suzuki, just because I liked the rest of the package.

[Tom Degrood]

I have a Yamaha 150 4 stroke and it is flawless. Last year I had the Optimax 115. Also flawless. The Yamaha is a little better on fuel, but have to change oil and filter that you don't on The Optimax. A little more maintainence. They are all good, but the Yamaha has a little better track record, kind of bullet proof.

Now that we have you confused, what are you going to do?

[bassNspear]

muskey hit it on the head. If there is anyone out there that builds a bad motor, your going to be out of the market so fast you wont know what has hit you.

When we sold them, we could choose what motor to put on them, and we choose yamaha 150. By far the best 4 stroke on the market.

If your going to go to a two stroke, there is nothing that will touch a Optimax.

[Ice Hole]

I went through the same decision this spring and decided to go with the Suzuki DF175. I am extremely impressed with all aspects of this motor.....performance, quietness, and excellent on fuel.

Had I went with one of the others, I'm sure I'd have been happy also. They're all well-made in my opinion, and local dealer support should be a key consideration.

[PerchJerker]

I have an 1850 Reata with a 175 Opti. Love it. Was very tempted to go with the Verado but I coundn't get a firm delivery date (first year of production and they weren't on the market yet and I wasn't getting reasssuring answers about when they would be available). Also, I was a little concerned about owning one in it's first yaar with no track record, especially since the Opti has such a solid track record. If I was buying it today I would not hesitate to go with the Verado.

I never gave the Suzuki 175 much thought when I got my boat, and I'm not sure why. If I was buying it again it would come down to the 175 Verado or 175 Suzuki for me. I love my Opti but would rather have a quieter motor for when my wife and kids are in the boat and we're out cruising.

I've been in 1850 Reatas with 150's and it's a popular motor on them. I think they could use more horsepower. The heavier the load you get in hte boat the more you'll notice a difference by having more horsepower. I wish I could put a 200 on my boat.

Hope this helps and good luck with your new boat.

[Carpenter]

Holly cow, almost 200 hits and 14 replies! Thanks for all the info. I thought I was the only one on this site nightly!

As for what I'm going to do, I'm still a little up in the air. I have narrowed the boat down to the Reata because it will fit in the garage. If you search a previous post I was looking at the Tyee GL as well. I was in Corner sports in Bemidji this past weekend and that's where I saw the 175 verado on the Reata for the first time. I liked the motor on the GL, but typically only saw the 150Y on the Reata. I was fine with the 150, but seeing the 175 got me thinking.

Depending on how the prices come back, I think the 175 Suzuki might be the motor for me. I have heard they are super quiet. My folks have a Johnson 4stroke on their toon and you have to be careful not to try to start it twice it's so quiet. I liked the smartcraft gauges for fuel flow etc. but if i can hook one of the other motors to the lowrance, then that's one more positive for the no merc motors.

Thanks for all the info and advice!!

Mike

[rodmaker]

I have no complaints with my Opti 135 saltwater tiller

[wplatehunter]

My last two boats have had Yamaha. They are great.

[fish2live]

i was in a suzi dealer the other day and they told me that the suzi 140 was stronger and faster than other brands 175's. just another option for you to look at i would think that the 140 would be cheaper than a 175.

[fishwater]

Salesmen say the darnedest things to make sales...

[DinkADunk]

I wouldn't buy that argument about the Suzuki 140. It's a good motor but a 175 is a 175.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

I went through a similar decision last year between Yamaha and Suzuki 150's. I ended up with the 150 Suzuki.

I have heard great things about the Yamaha 150 but heard that the Suzuki uses better technology related to fuel injection. The Suzuki's also have a lower gear ratio which means better hole shot and slower trolling speeds. I'm amazed how slow and how quiet my 150 Suzuki is.

The 175 is basically the same motor as the 150 Suzuki. I would highly recommend the Suzuki based on my experience. I haven't heard anything bad about the Yamaha but considering the boat you are looking at is rated for 175 I would but a 175 on it and Yamaha doesn't make a 175 four stroke.

[thebman]

i was in a suzi dealer the other day and they told me that the suzi 140 was stronger and faster than other brands 175's. just another option for you to look at i would think that the 140 would be cheaper than a 175.

I have a 140 Suzuki on my 386XF which is basically the same size as the Reatta your looking at. The 175 will absolutly walk all over the 140. Don't get me wrong the 140 is a great motor and I really like it but when I'm fully loaded with gear, full livewells and 4 guys I'm yearning for the 175. While I'm happy with the 140, it works great 95% of time for how I'm using it, but I'd recommend going bigger. I'd recommend the Suzuki but all the motors are good now.

[JohnK]

A friend of mine has the 150 Yamaha on a 22' North River Seahawk, quite a bit bigger than the 1850 Reata, and it does just fine. Of course with more power you'll go faster and get on plane quicker, but you'll burn more gas and have more up front expense too. The North River will run 40+ mph on the GPS with 4 (big) guys plus gear without any trouble, we had 8 guys in it to see the Blue Angels last summer, it took longer to get on plane but it would still get up and go.

You'll go faster with the 175, no question, but if you can't afford it I wouldn't worry about getting a 150 on your new ride.

[slipperybob]

Very generalized the Yami's are less powerful, but seem to be more fuel efficient at about 3000 to 3500 rpm.