Mercury or Evinrude ??

[sizz]

I just (3 days ago) bought a new 18' OPW Klamath now............. I was about to tell the dealer to hang a 60 HP Mercury on her but some little bee put a buzz in my ear and said a 60 HP Evinrude might be a better choice................. I'm a rookie here and I'm now wondering if I'm making the right choice. Growing up on the Niagara River we kids always had Mercury motors on our boats, but that was a very very long time ago.... Help ..... Frank C

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

hang an etec on it.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Definately Evinrude.

 

[JB]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Yup. etec.

 

[Cape Coder]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

ETEC all the way

 

[sizz]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

doesn't any one have anything good to say about a Merc ? wonder why they are a top seller.... what's the story on that?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

I like the Mercs and the 'Rudes; for several years the Etec was the best thing going with economy and power, now Merc has a DI 2-stroker that is more efficient than the Etec.​

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Evinrude. The reason Mercury has higher sales each year is because they offer a bulk discount rate to boat manufacturers. So, basically you are getting a cheaper built engine and paying for it in the package. Say what you may about Mercury, but the fact is that Mercury has higher sales reports is because they sell them in bulk to boat companies. The reason they go with Merc is because Merc can beat Evinrude on the contract price for so many engines. Of course the boat companies are going to hype up the Mercury because that's what they sell.

Locally the Mercury dealers stay very busy with sometimes a month out repair time. The Evinrude dealer here stays caught up with maybe a weeks wait. When I worked at the local Mercury dealer as a salesman it was every day people were calling and complaining about their 'New Boat having problems.'

 

[sizz]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

I like the Mercs and the 'Rudes; for several years the Etec was the best thing going with economy and power, now Merc has a DI 2-stroker that is more efficient than the Etec.​

Would you please shed some light on the DI 2 stroker as stated above I'm a rookie........

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Brunswick, who also owns Mercury, owns a lions share of the boat manufacturers these days. They therefore they package their boats with Merc motors and can make claims they sell more motors. Yamaha owns G3 so you have a tough time buying a G3 with anything other than a Yammie. Alumacraft one manufacturers that is still available with "no pre-rig" (no engine) so you are free to install whatever engines the selling dealer has to offer.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

I've owned both and would buy either again if the opportunity presented itself.

They both build a good product and in the end it all comes down to local service. I'm fortunate and have local support for both brands within a 1/2 hour of the house.

 

[sizz]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Evinrude. The reason Mercury has higher sales each year is because they offer a bulk discount rate to boat manufacturers. So, basically you are getting a cheaper built engine and paying for it in the package. Say what you may about Mercury, but the fact is that Mercury has higher sales reports is because they sell them in bulk to boat companies. The reason they go with Merc is because Merc can beat Evinrude on the contract price for so many engines. Of course the boat companies are going to hype up the Mercury because that's what they sell.

Locally the Mercury dealers stay very busy with sometimes a month out repair time. The Evinrude dealer here stays caught up with maybe a weeks wait. When I worked at the local Mercury dealer as a salesman it was every day people were calling and complaining about their 'New Boat having problems.'

Having a logical mind and a curiosity that brought me to this statistic right here on this web site...

curious to note:
that there are 54,170 threads and 289,759 posts on the Johnson& Evinrude Troubles/Repair Subject line yet only 29,106 threads and 136,252 posts on the Mercury repair subject line ...... I know that there are at least twice as meany Murcs out there then Evinrude/Johnsons ........ lodgic would dictate to the casual observer that the Mercs stays out of the repair shop less then half the time of a Evinrude........... does that make any sence?......Frank

 

[wbeaton]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

That's because a lot of the old OMC's are still running. Look at the average age of the motors in both forums. You don't see a lot of 1950's Merc questions like you do with OMC.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Ford or Chevy

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

The reason you don't see many Merc topics is like he stated above. A whole lot of the posts made on the forum are for engines that are 20 years old or even older. A lot of older Evinrudes stick around longer, and 25 years later someone wants to rebuild it. Look through the forum yourself. You will see that most of the posters leave their engine year with the topic.

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Until recently, the only motors I have ever owned (24 years of boating) were the good ole V-4 Johnson/Evinrudes. These engines are bulletproof if you take care of them.

However, I recently repowered my boat with a 150 Optimax, and I love the engine. I have two friends with the same boat I have, one has a 4-Stroke Yamaha 150, and the other has an E Tec. All three motors are great choices, and each motor has it's fans. I will tell you this much. My Optimax will run circles around the Yamaha, and the E Tec cannot hang with the Mercury either. Fuel Economy will go to the Yamaha for sure. Both the Yamaha and E Tec are a little less noisey than the mercury however. If you want a great hole shot and great performance, hang the Black Engine on your transom. You wont be sorry.

 

[hooterville]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

I'll have to add my 2 cents......

around here in East ,Tn you'll see more 1970's and back Evinrude/Johnson's still in good running shape.Mercury's 80's and up. Just go to Douglas lake in the Spring and Fall fishing seasons and you see every old man with a jon boat fishing for crappie. They will most likely be running a Johnson/Evinrude from 1960 and up.
I'm not saying you won't see a old mercury every now and then but you'll see more Johnson/Evinrude's 10 to 1 over old Mercury's.

 

[bigtwin]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

My 2?
Merc. has the market share now, however 30 years ago, when I was a growing-up Jonny/rudes where out selling Mercs. easily 3 to 1, and alot are still running today.

 

[gss036]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

The new E-Tec's have the best technology available and fewer parts to go bad. You just don't see many complaints about E-Tecs because they are new and have good warranties. It will take another 3-5 years to establish a long track record.
Opti-POPs won't run without high battery power and has comperssors and belts to cause troubles. E-Tecs do not have this problem.
If you want a 4 stroker, Yamaha has the upside here, more maintence involved, but a good choice.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mercury or Evinrude ??

Brunswick owns around 28 boat brands, and subsidiaries. the boat building subs, are required to install Merc, and Mercruiser engines, in these boats. they are also buying up, smaller companies, that build good boats, to eliminate the competition. i personally do not like a company telling me if i want this boat i have to have Merc Power.