Mercury or Yammy

[garfield28]

G'day all, Been a while... a long while! 

 

Might be getting my troubled boat fixed early next year, so hopeful it won't be too long and I'll be back on the water. Talking to a guy not too far away who did some work for a mate at works son, and he said from what he could see in the pics I sent him he could probably know it over in a weekend, but I explained I was thinking about raising the transom, so obviously more work and I'd like to change the hole where my cables go through for my outboard because it sits low and takes on water there on choppy days, especially when I am offshore. 

 

I am looking at repowering as I'm not sure my old Mercury 125 Saltwater series will be any good she's been on the hoist now for nearly 2 years and when I was taking it off there are quite a few bolts rusted on the engine that I gather wouldn't be able to be unscrewed so thinking of making the move to a four stoke engine and tossing between the Mercury 115HP CT or a Yammy 115HP. I love the sounds of the Merc with the command thrust, but Yammies are just so loved and reliable worldwide so not sure which way I should go. 

 

Any advice from those in the know or can speak for what they have would love to hear it. 

 

Thanks 

Geoff 

[Tunastrike11]

Cant beat a 4stroke mate I owned a Etec years ago and never again a 2 stroke.

[JustJames]

Expect to hear lots of advice based on (at best) personal experience or (at worst) prejudice.

 

FWIW, towards the end of winter I bought a boat that happens to have Mercury 150 4 stroke.  I was delighted to learn how straightfoward the maintenance is on this engine (I expect the 115 will be similar).   Brand of outboard was not a determining factor when I bought the boat, and I would not have walked away from any major brand.  My understanding is that at this stage, reliability is not a major differentiator, even if Bob's uncle's mate's colleagues had an early version of the <insert brand here> and something bad once happened.. 

 

If you intend doing your own maintenance, choose based on ease of maintenance.  If you will take it to The Man, choose based on local technical support.

 

Beyond that, four strokes are fantastic.  Starting is super easy, no 2 stroke smoke, quiet running and no 2 stroke oil to add (or pre-mix).  My 150 4 stroke pushing a 21 foot boat uses a  very similar amount of fuel to the previous 60 hp 2 stroke pushing a 16 foot boat.

 

Enjoy your decision - I don't think you can really go wrong either way.

[noelm]

There’s a bit to choosing an engine, not just the brand, check the basic specs for both motors, things like weight might be very different and might just swing your choice one way or the other. A reputable service/repair dealer close by is another consideration “if” you need help under warranty. Price and real warranty (not some advertised aftermarket warranty) can vary considerably Honda were offering a full 7 years manufacturers warranty at one time (just as an example) All the major brands are good, check what’s “standard” as far as accessories are concerned and how much to install.

Edited November 30, 2023 by noelm

[Hoods]

I agree with raising your transom. Have recently done this to my V17 and repowered with a 140 4 stroke. No more lower section of engine sitting in the water at sea.

We filled in the lower hole in the motor well keeping a higher hole to run everything through for the motor including new hydraulic steering. Much safer and now no chance of water getting in the boat.

I have seen a boat that sank at sea because of the large holes in the motor well which were not adequately protected with rubber boots - same as you mentioned - the water kept slopping over the 20" transom and went unnoticed untill too late.

Good luck

[BaitDropper]

The Merc 125 2 stroke, was the exact same motor I had before raising the transom and up grading to a 4 stroke. They are a bullet proof motor, I can vouch for that, but thirsty as hell. I had the 2 + 2 system modified to full time 4 cylinder on mine as trolling out wide, the system was useless, it was impossible to troll under 2000 revs in the swell and current.

Now, I was in the same dilemma as yourself, which 4 stroke to put on the back. I looked at Yamaha vrs Merc in the 115 range and the Merc came out on top hands down. The Yamaha was a 1.8 ltr engine, vrs the 2.1 litre Merc 115, as well as the upgrade option to the CT gearbox, the Yamaha fell well short. Now I'm not bagging the Yamaha, it's just a simple Spec's game, of which the Merc was superior..

I ended up going to the Suzuki 140, as at the time, supplied and fitted with the Suzuki gauges, came in at 19k, the Merc CT 115, with gauges fitted, came in at 23k !!  there was definitely some Covid profiteering going on. The other main factor, was the service center wasn't too far for Suzuki, in fact he does my services mobile to my door. The supply and wait time to have the Suzuki fitted up, was 3 months, which eventually only ended up being 2 months,, the Merc was a minimum of 6-8 months, no guarantee..

I was originally fully intending going Mercury, everything was in there favour when comparing other brands, regarding weight, Cubes, warrantee, the simplicity of self servicing once warrantee ran out etc etc but am more than happy with my Suzuki choice.  There isn't really a bad 4 stroke engine made now a days, and for the larger boats, where weight doesn't impact decisions, all models are up for selection, with basically warrantee and servicing being all you need to consider, but boats under the 6 meter size, you do need to consider each variable. 

You won't look back with having a 4 stroke on the back and raising the transom to take a 25 inch leg is also a big positive, I can vouch for that through my own experience, good luck with your decisions.

[onearmedfisho]

Mate i have a Mercury 115hp PRO XS CT and love it. The Command thrust gearbox allows you to use the full range of the Mercury propellors for motors up to 400hp!

 

[dunc333]

the yammy is 1.8l and the merc is  2.1l so the yammi will work a little harder merc ct would be close to 200kg and the yammi ct prob around 180kg .all brands of 4 strokes are good these days you just need to choose what suits you the best good luck and let us know what you decide cheers dunc333

[onearmedfisho]

On 12/2/2023 at 4:41 PM, dunc333 said:

the yammy is 1.8l and the merc is  2.1l so the yammi will work a little harder merc ct would be close to 200kg and the yammi ct prob around 180kg .all brands of 4 strokes are good these days you just need to choose what suits you the best good luck and let us know what you decide cheers dunc333

the Mercury 115hp CT is only 164kgs so even though it has more displacement (2.1L) than the yamaha its still actually lighter!

[BaitDropper]

2 hours ago, onearmedfisho said:

the Mercury 115hp CT is only 164kgs so even though it has more displacement (2.1L) than the yamaha its still actually lighter!

Correct, this is one of it's biggest pluses, the lightest in it's class... with more cubes to boot.  Add in the larger CT gearbox and it certainly looks the better performance engine.

 

[dunc333]

wow with the ct i thought it would of weighed more than 164kg impressive. i just looked the standard 115hp merc comes in at 163kg.the old bigfoots used the 150hp gearboxs so it did add at least 10kgs .so they must be same leg with just differrent ratio and bigger internals

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by dunc333

[BaitDropper]

Yeah, there pretty impressive engines Dunc, the CT is the same gearbox as the 3lt 150 version swings and only adds a few kg's. They save a lot of weight with there valve train, which they say requires no maintenance, which is a bonus for self servicing when the Warrantees done and dusted.. Then there's the Pro XS version, which gives you another 500 revs at top end. AS I mentioned previously, if it wasn't for the Covid Tax and long long lead times at the time, I would have definitely gone this way, than the Suz 140 I ended up getting, BUT, still satisfied with what I have. AS you said, they don't make a BAD, as such 4 stroke now a days, it's just Merc developed this range of new breed engines 2011-2012 ers from memory, the rest have just modified existing blocks that have been used for a couple of decades or so.   The only thing that confused me with Merc and I think they missed the boat a wee bit,  Yamaha use the 115 block for there 130, Suzuki use there 115 block for there 140, couldn't understand why Merc never went that way, rather than detuning there 3ltr 150 to a 135, the weight of it alone excludes a huge market that Yamaha and Suzuki stand alone in, Its that 5-5.5 meter range that there 135, from there 115 block would have been a big seller,, Dunno..