Motor opinions

[captpierre]

On 2/8/2021 at 9:59 AM, 410001661 said:

I'm the outlier in the group.......90Hp Etec

I wouldn’t put a new discontinued motor on a boat no matter how good. 

[410001661]

17 hours ago, captpierre said:

I wouldn’t put a new discontinued motor on a boat no matter how good. 

It came with my 2018 Renegade.  

[Moosebunk]

3300 or 3400hrs on the last Yammy 60.  Changed an impellor once and plugs a couple times.  Didn't go easy on it, never fogged it, twice a year in for its gen maintenance.   Keep in touch with the kid who bought and beats it trailering dirt roads up around Hearst.  Three full seasons and running like a top.

Recently walked the shoreline while up here in Grise Fiord at the top of the world.  Saw an Evinrude, the rest were Yamaha.  Most in Nunavut order their motors from Montreal to come up on sea lifts.  They could order ANYTHING yet everywhere ya go it's like 5 or 10 to 1 Yamahas over everything else.  Hondas a second choice but they're cold starts are said to be more temperamental.  Ocean goers want dependability, it's life or death, so I guess they'll choose to pay that little more for a Yamaha.

Wonder how many times these threads have come up and how many times Yamaha's been top choice?  Not to say other motors are bad... they're just not as good. lol. 

[Sinker]

You won't regret the Yammy upgrade. 

You might regret the merc, or might not. Its a roll of the dice. I don't know anyone who doesn't love their yammy, but I know lots of people who hate their mercs. 

 

S. 

[410001661]

On 2/17/2021 at 12:39 PM, Sinker said:

You won't regret the Yammy upgrade. 

You might regret the merc, or might not. Its a roll of the dice. I don't know anyone who doesn't love their yammy, but I know lots of people who hate their mercs. 

 

S. 

That might be because mercury has a much larger share of the available market than Yamaha.  They own the lions share of the OEM market.  

Edited February 19, 2021 by 410001661

[AKRISONER]

10 hours ago, 410001661 said:

That might be because mercury has a much larger share of the available market than Yamaha.  They own the lions share of the OEM market.  

Find me a mad yamaha owner challenge...

[BillM]

I thank my luck stars every day I get into my Lund there's a pair of Yamahas on the back.

Edited February 20, 2021 by BillM

[Sinker]

16 hours ago, AKRISONER said:

Find me a mad yamaha owner challenge...

Theres a few, but not many, and most are in the high horsepower engines. Same with snowmobiles, and ATV/dirtbikes.  Yamaha does lake in innovation though, unfortunately.  

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, Sinker said:

Theres a few, but not many, and most are in the high horsepower engines. Same with snowmobiles, and ATV/dirtbikes.  Yamaha does lake in innovation though, unfortunately.  

And that’s exactly why their stuff is so gosh darn reliable. They don’t try to re-invent the wheel, they just try to perfect what they have. They are also never the flashiest for fastest either but damnit do they work.

I wish I knew the hours on my 2 stroke. I think gas prices will be what kills my motor, not anything mechanical that’s too expensive to fix.

 

and yes they had a total recall on the 2010-16??? 250 and 200 SHO because they were blowing heads. Full factory replacement though was made available to everyone that had them.

Edited February 20, 2021 by AKRISONER

[Sinker]

1 hour ago, AKRISONER said:

And that’s exactly why their stuff is so gosh darn reliable. They don’t try to re-invent the wheel, they just try to perfect what they have. They are also never the flashiest for fastest either but damnit do they work.

I wish I knew the hours on my 2 stroke. I think gas prices will be what kills my motor, not anything mechanical that’s too expensive to fix.

 

and yes they had a total recall on the 2010-16??? 250 and 200 SHO because they were blowing heads. Full factory replacement though was made available to everyone that had them.

Oh I agree, I am a die hard yammy guy, no question. I have a 2019 yammy on my boat, 2 yamaha sleds, and a 1993 40hp yammy sitting in my garage that runs now as good as the day I bought it with thousands, and thousands of hours on it.  They don't need to change anything in their outboard motor game IMO, but their sleds could use a few things to make them a bit nicer to ride, although I'd never buy another brand the way they are. Thier ATV/SxS game could also be stepped up a notch. They have the reliability game cornered, but no new innovations for a loooooong time. They are due for something.  

S. 

[DRIFTER_016]

On 2/19/2021 at 5:42 PM, AKRISONER said:

Find me a mad yamaha owner challenge...

I've heard plenty of stories. Especially from the saltwater crowd.

The big one was rotting out exhaust manifolds on some of their models.

[AKRISONER]

11 hours ago, DRIFTER_016 said:

I've heard plenty of stories. Especially from the saltwater crowd.

The big one was rotting out exhaust manifolds on some of their models.

This is what I have heard from the v max crowd is that their water systems don’t drain properly when shut off so the northern guys have cracked their motors by not draining them and having them freeze.

the solution for that one is simple though, guy have started turning the motor over dry during cold season.

 

and that if you don’t let the motors heat up before running then full throttle (isn’t this a problem with every motor?) that you can start to have issues. this ones tougher on the competitive bass boat market because of the nature of how guys run their boats  they fish a spot for a couple of hours and then hop back to the console and hammer the throttle down.  To me though any issue related to this is no surprise at all

 

[Fisherman]

1 hour ago, AKRISONER said:

.this ones tougher on the competitive bass boat market because of the nature of how guys run their boats  they fish a spot for a couple of hours and then hop back to the console and hammer the throttle down.  To me though any issue related to this is no surprise at all.

 

Making the most of a motor requires a little foreplay to warm things up to the right temperature,  then again some guys IQ is like a small shoe size.

[AKRISONER]

48 minutes ago, Fisherman said:

Making the most of a motor requires a little foreplay to warm things up to the right temperature,  then again some guys IQ is like a small shoe size.

hence why I would literally never buy one of those used boats off of some of the pros. You watch how they do it on TV...literally turn the thing over and rev it to max RPM instantly. A few of the pros though you can tell they cruise for a minute waiting for the motors to get up to temperature.

[Rizzo]

I guess when a sponsor paid for the motor you might be less careful with it!

[Gravyboat]

Sounds like a Ford/Chev/Dodge debate. Lol. 

[Headhunter]

Buddy of mine used to fish the PWT, back in the 90's. He fished many of the tournaments across a number of states. At that time many were running Optimax's on their boats. I found it interesting that Merc would travel, along with the tournaments, to each site, dragging along with them two transport trucks full of parts, tools and mechanics.

Guys would be blowing the power heads on the Opti's on a regular basis, so much so that Merc kept a stock of them in the rolling shop. Contestants would limp in in the afternoon with a blown head and the Merc guys would have it replaced on-site for the next days fish. What does that tell you about the perceived reliability of those motors by both the manufacturer as well as the owners?

HH

[Terry]

That merc has great customer service 

[Dara]

Yammie guy here

my 60 outboard is 11 years old and my 2012 vector has 29,000km on original plugs

[Headhunter]

1 hour ago, Terry said:

That merc has great customer service 

Yah, iI guess so Terry!

HH

[jjcanoe]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:25 AM, Headhunter said:

Buddy of mine used to fish the PWT, back in the 90's. He fished many of the tournaments across a number of states. At that time many were running Optimax's on their boats. I found it interesting that Merc would travel, along with the tournaments, to each site, dragging along with them two transport trucks full of parts, tools and mechanics.

Guys would be blowing the power heads on the Opti's on a regular basis, so much so that Merc kept a stock of them in the rolling shop. Contestants would limp in in the afternoon with a blown head and the Merc guys would have it replaced on-site for the next days fish. What does that tell you about the perceived reliability of those motors by both the manufacturer as well as the owners?

HH

Can't really compare a 1990's motor to a brand new motor, the OP is buying a brand new motor not a 30 year old one!

Never owner a Yamaha, have owned 2 Mercs, a 1996 40hp oil injected 2 stroke and currently own a 2015 115hp 4 stroke, both have been great, the 40 had one issue in the 8 years or so that I owned it (up until 2015) had to replace the stator and thats it.  The 115 was bought new with my new boat and have never had a problem with it, reliable, powerful, quiet. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

It trolls low enough to not need a kicker, it pulls the kids on the tube like there's nothing behind it.

Just my modern engine $.02

[porkpie]

Your 1996 merc 40hp block was likely made by Yamaha.  My old 1996 30hp mariner block was a yamaha.  It’s still running on my buddy’s (my old) Lund SSV 16.  That said count me as unhappy once with Yamaha.  I bought brand new 2 stroke 20hp off the dealer that wouldn’t run in the cold, or it would run terribly and take 100 pulls to start, this was for a duck boat lol.  Yamaha Canada warranty was a joke, and they told me they weren’t meant for colder temps (head office, true story).  I sold it in the summer to a dude who just wanted it for the cottage.  Ran great when warm out.  Anyway anything else I’ve owned by Yamaha has been great.  Mind you my Suzuki DF140 started with one turn of the key this morning and it’s sat since deer season.  No complaints with the zuke so far!

[AKRISONER]

14 hours ago, porkpie said:

 Mind you my Suzuki DF140 started with one turn of the key this morning and it’s sat since deer season.  No complaints with the zuke so far!

sounds like my 88 15horse

 

You cant kill the damn thing. It runs even with its carb currently being screwed up from my old man leaving ethanol gas in it for 3 years. I know for a fact if i put a new carb on it it would run first pull no problem.

[Sinker]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:46 PM, porkpie said:

Your 1996 merc 40hp block was likely made by Yamaha.  My old 1996 30hp mariner block was a yamaha.  

I have a similar vintage Mariner 40hp. Its bullet proof. I am considering selling it, but just can't seem to bring myself to get rid of it lol.....its been sitting in my garage for 2 seasons now. I fire it up every once in a while. 5 pulls from a cold start every time, then one pull after that. 

 

S. 

[Hack_Fisherman]

On 2/12/2021 at 10:39 AM, Moosebunk said:

 

Recently walked the shoreline while up here in Grise Fiord at the top of the world.  Saw an Evinrude, the rest were Yamaha.  Most in Nunavut order their motors from Montreal to come up on sea lifts.  They could order ANYTHING yet everywhere ya go it's like 5 or 10 to 1 Yamahas over everything else.  Hondas a second choice but they're cold starts are said to be more temperamental.  Ocean goers want dependability, it's life or death, so I guess they'll choose to pay that little more for a Yamaha.

Heard a very, very similar story from a dealer in Ayr. But they were all Suzuki’s. 
 

then again, he was a Suzuki dealer...