Thoughts on Outboards please

[dpvandy01]

We are buying a boat for our condo in Florida and I need input on Outboards. First off a Four-Stoke is a must and I am looking at 135 and up. My question focuses on brand. Honda vs Suzuki vs Yamaha vs Mercury. Looking at 21 foot Pro-Line Center Consoles. Obviously HP is important but that is not what I'm looking to discuss.

 

[scoflaw]

your on the wrong forum. head on over to tht

 

[dpmulvey]

Why is a 4 stroke a must?

 

[k9medic]

I live in Florida and have more boats than I know what to do with. Out of the 5 boats that I own, three (including my dinghy) are outboards, one is a jet boat and the other is my 420AC.

On a boat that size I would not skimp on the HP. All of the brands you mentioned are good engines with none really being better than the other. You can pick up a Suzuki 140 that will serve you very well on that boat.

What questions are you specifically looking to have answered?

Where is the condo?

 

[Henry Boyd]

I agree with k9, all of the brands you mention are known as quality products. On earlier boats we have had Yamaha, Johnson, and Mercury obs, although at smaller hp ratings. I used to joke my yard bill was under $150 in the fall for a tube of gear lube, handful of spark plugs, fogging oil, carb cleaner, fuel stabilizer and some clean rags.

In our area (north of Boston) all of your target brands are represented by local dealers. As a result, we have friends who have a pretty good distribution of vintage and hp rating of each. Based on my own experience and that of our friends I would say all are about equal in terms of reliability.

So personally for me if we were to go back to an on boat we would go with Mercurys. Not because I think they are any better, but the same place that services Bella's 496 also do outboards and there is value in having an established long term business relationship.

If I was making the same choice in a new location, I would look for the brand that has the best local support and service reputation. The other thing to consider is that many of the boatbuilders provide complete packages. You want a Whaler, then odds are it will have a Merc outboard. Just because Brunswick likes to keep it in the family. At one time Grady was pretty much joined at the hip with Yamaha, and so on. As for doing a repower, outboards have crazy pricing. A new 135 without installation, or rigging hardware, just outboard in a shipping box, is about $35 to $40 k.

So if you really want a particular brand of boat, you may need to live with whatever is hung on the transom.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[northern]

I have 4 outboards. 3 Merc and one Yamaha. Merc parts seem to be less than the Yamaha. Before you purchase price out parts you think you will need for service and repair. Then purchase the motor that has the lowest price parts.

 

[fwebster]

I've had a boats in a marina on the gulf coast for 25 years. This marina is a large one owned by the local Sea Ray, Whaler servicing dealer. They have dry stake storage for 650 boat plus about 100 wet slips for larger boats. Off an on, I have had center consoles with Honda, Mercrury or Yamaha motors on them that I kept in dry storage. As one sold, I looked for another project and so it went until last spring when another CSR member bought my Whaler 15 Dauntless. Just seeing what the shop here repairs and what seems to last and perform best. It seems that smaller Hondas run well and last but the larger ones are very subject to "terminal" corrosion in the outer shell which costs about $1500 to repair. Mercury and Yamaha seem to perform well, are very dependable and hold up extremely well. I'm kind of looking for another project and it will have either a Mercury or a Yamaha outboard on it.

Honestly though, I think how you care for it, how you maintain it, how you fuel it and how to store it when you are out of town is more important that the color paint there is on it. Be sure you use a high quality stabilizer in every drop of fuel you put in the boat, never ever use ethanol fuel, add a fuel separator to the fuel system and always fill the fuel tanks before you leave the boat. One other fact you need to accept is that all late model 4 strokes have electronic injection and require some one trained in servicing that particular brand to work on them. Depending upon how plentiful factory trained technicians are in the area you are keeping the boat could have an impact on what the best choice is for you.

 

[tdgard]

I borrowed that same boat from a friend that had a Suzuki 150 for two weeks in the keys this year. I felt it was a great match. I know he did have a warranty issue very soon after he bought it and was super impressed with how Suzuki handled his problem. I'm not sure about the details but I do know he felt the service was top notch.

 

[majoma]

What about flushing the engines after every run? Is not that a big pain in the $$$?

 

[Bucit]

Merc's and Yamaha's are easier to find parts and people to work on them.

 

[dpvandy01]

Thanks for the insight. first off the Condo is in Cape Coral on the Phoenix Canal about 700 feet from the Caloosahatchee. It has a deeded slip with a 10k pound lift. I am looking at four strokes because I believe they will be more reliable especially given that we will only be down there 6 or so times each year. I am leaning towards Pro-Line 20/21 or 22 CC and a few Seaswirls as well. My wife if very keen on the idea of a porta potty under the center console and both of these bands offer that. I have electric and water at my slip and I have zero problem rinsing the boat and flushing the engine when after using it. I've been given a budget from the Ministry of Finance of 25k. Another random thought for you Florida boaters,? What are my trailer storage options? My unit has a garage but it wont fit a boat trailer

 

[Jetgod]

Henry, sorry to point this out but I feel something you wrote is quite inaccurate. A 135hp engine does not come close to 30 thousand dollars. In fact there are alot of places in the usa where you could buy three of them at that deal.Just had to clarify for the OP. Have a great day.

I agree with k9, all of the brands you mention are known as quality products. On earlier boats we have had Yamaha, Johnson, and Mercury obs, although at smaller hp ratings. I used to joke my yard bill was under $150 in the fall for a tube of gear lube, handful of spark plugs, fogging oil, carb cleaner, fuel stabilizer and some clean rags.

In our area (north of Boston) all of your target brands are represented by local dealers. As a result, we have friends who have a pretty good distribution of vintage and hp rating of each. Based on my own experience and that of our friends I would say all are about equal in terms of reliability.

So personally for me if we were to go back to an on boat we would go with Mercurys. Not because I think they are any better, but the same place that services Bella's 496 also do outboards and there is value in having an established long term business relationship.

If I was making the same choice in a new location, I would look for the brand that has the best local support and service reputation. The other thing to consider is that many of the boatbuilders provide complete packages. You want a Whaler, then odds are it will have a Merc outboard. Just because Brunswick likes to keep it in the family. At one time Grady was pretty much joined at the hip with Yamaha, and so on. As for doing a repower, outboards have crazy pricing. A new 135 without installation, or rigging hardware, just outboard in a shipping box, is about $35 to $40 k.

So if you really want a particular brand of boat, you may need to live with whatever is hung on the transom.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Henry Boyd]

Henry, sorry to point this out but I feel something you wrote is quite inaccurate. A 135hp engine does not come close to 30 thousand dollars. In fact there are alot of places in the usa where you could buy three of them at that deal.Just had to clarify for the OP. Have a great day.

My bad, sorry must have been thinking about larger multiples. In any event USD $ 11K for an engine in a box (I checked this number), without freight, without rigging hardware, or installation is still over the top when compared with the replacement cost of a roughly equivalent HP Mercruiser 4.3 at about a tenth of the price.

Henry

 

[scoflaw]

My bad, sorry must have been thinking about larger multiples. In any event USD $ 11K for an engine in a box (I checked this number), without freight, without rigging hardware, or installation is still over the top when compared with the replacement cost of a roughly equivalent HP Mercruiser 4.3 at about a tenth of the price.

Henry

4.3 is not an option for someone looking for a center console. Even if it was it wouldn't be 1/10th of the price

OP, there isn't much if any storage areas on the cape, more options for storage in punta gorda. Check craigs list

 

[paulswagelock]

My wife and I are starting the evaluation to buy on the waterfront in Cape Coral.
What is the river like. Does anyone boat on the river or is it just passage to the gulf?
How far up the river can one live but have reasonable access to the gulf?

Feel free to PM me if you don't want to hijack the thread.

 

[dpvandy01]

My wife and I are starting the evaluation to buy on the waterfront in Cape Coral.
What is the river like. Does anyone boat on the river or is it just passage to the gulf?
How far up the river can one live but have reasonable access to the gulf?

Feel free to PM me if you don't want to hijack the thread.

From what I understand the river is shallow outside of the channel. We bought on SE 20th Place by Jaycee Park and it looks like about a 12 mile run to the gulf but that was just a Google Earth estimate. This all very new to us as we don't close on the property until 2-22-16. I am likely going to purchase a boat either on the 20th when we go to close or possibly before since there are several in the area that I am extremely interested in. Problem is I am 900 miles away and I can't get a look at them for another month.... hoping they are still available. I have contacted a Surveyor who may take a look for me to advise if he thinks it might be worth either a trip down before hand or possibly just moving forward with full survey right away...

 

[Skippie]

I live in Fort Myers area and have my boat in a wet slip - 240 Sun Deck with 250 HP Merc outboard. I like the arrangement. I have friends who have inboards and they go aground in this area alot. Once grounded, there is no way off with an inboard except to wait for high tide or "grind your props" to get off. I've seen a lot of the latter and it can get pretty "ugly."

And, many restaurants near and on the beaches allow you to pull up on the sand and/or anchor off in shallow water. And, beaching your boat and taking the grandchildren swimming....all are no problems with Outboard.

I went the outboard way and am happy I did. And, Mercs are engineered (if not manufactured) in good ole USA (Fond du Lac, WI).

Don

 

[kkalsch]

I would make sure that the boat and motor was "PowerMatched" here is Yamaha's info


http://yamahaoutboards.com/owner-resources/performance-bulletins

 

[rmlsll]

I live on the spreader canal on the west side of cape coral. If you watch your plotter / depth and the channel markers there is not a lot a problems navigating the area. ( just follow the 40 ft'ers when in doubt)
They seem to get around pretty good.

 

[dpmulvey]

Thanks for the insight. first off the Condo is in Cape Coral on the Phoenix Canal about 700 feet from the Caloosahatchee. It has a deeded slip with a 10k pound lift. I am looking at four strokes because I believe they will be more reliable especially given that we will only be down there 6 or so times each year. I am leaning towards Pro-Line 20/21 or 22 CC and a few Seaswirls as well. My wife if very keen on the idea of a porta potty under the center console and both of these bands offer that. I have electric and water at my slip and I have zero problem rinsing the boat and flushing the engine when after using it. I've been given a budget from the Ministry of Finance of 25k. Another random thought for you Florida boaters,? What are my trailer storage options? My unit has a garage but it wont fit a boat trailer

I would disagree with your reasoning for choosing four strokes. As a matter of fact, based on your situation, I would opt for an older mix the oil and gas outboard. Put the muffs on and flush the engine after each use and at the end of the last use prior to vacating until the next trip, fog the engine until it stalls. Easier to maintain. Fewer moving parts and fogging will help preserve some seals.

My 2 cents