General Opinion of Merc 9.9 Bigfoot?

[crashnburn63]

I've got a guy trying to sell me a 14 foot Al. "beach boat" (as we call it around Puget Sound) with a 4 year old, 9.9HP Bigfoot - it's the one with all the options, electric start, tilt, etc. I'm attracted to it cause where it is going to be used (a bay with a dock in very shallow water) we are always going to have to be tilting the engine out of the water and rowing into the dock (except maybe at dead high tide). I'd like both grandpa and my teen-age daughter to be able to operate the boat (I don't want to have to be the one who always goes and checks the crab pots) so the electric start and tilt is pretty attractive (she tried pull starting a 8hp Yammy last weekend w/o success).

So to make a long story short, I'm just looking for general ops on these motors, how they compare to Yamaha or Honda, what to look out for, etc.

Thanks,

-dm

 

[gss036]

Re: General Opinion of Merc 9.9 Bigfoot?

Just my opinion, I was looking at a new 9.9 Merc bigfoot a couple weeks ago. It is made by Tohatsu, same as Nissan/Tohatsu. I was not that impressed with it cause I was looking side by side at a Honda. The Honda looked to be the better choice and I don't remember the prices, but about the same money I think. I am a little more prejudice cause I have owned a 15 Hhp Honda since mid 90's and it has been a good motor w/excellent service to/for me.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: General Opinion of Merc 9.9 Bigfoot?

A four year old Mercury 9.9 would probably be the Yamaha/Mercury hybrid which is on par with Honda for reliability. Of course neither one of those are as impressive as a Tohatsu, Nissan or a current Mercury made by Tohatsu

 

[crashnburn63]

Re: General Opinion of Merc 9.9 Bigfoot?

A four year old Mercury 9.9 would probably be the Yamaha/Mercury hybrid which is on par with Honda for reliability. Of course neither one of those are as impressive as a Tohatsu, Nissan or a current Mercury made by Tohatsu

Hmm, sounds like Merc doesn't make their own engines. They sound like they are the Sears "Kenmore" brand, which varies enormously over the years depending on who really had the contract to make it. Does this affect one's ability to get parts or service?

Is part of the outboard made by Mercury themselves, or is the whole thing contracted?

Thanks,

-dm

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: General Opinion of Merc 9.9 Bigfoot?

It has a major effect on parts since the availability increases when there are more sources for the parts and service. In the case of the Yamaha/Mercury, Yamaha made the powerhead and in theory Mercury made everything else....We aren't allowed to say that Tohatsu may have made the motor leg so I won't. On the current Mercury, the standard models are all Tohatsu, however, the Big Toe Cheese models have a Mercury foot. So they claim....If you want to know which brand is clearly the best, the answer is clearly none or all. There is no quality difference from brand to brand only specific model attributes from size to brand that may make brand A better for user 5 when it is used in application Z.