Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

K.. not talking HP... I'm talking manufacturer? 6 of one and half dozen of the other or does one manufacturer really stand out from the others. Going to buy a boat SOOOOOON and would like some recommendations for a manufacturer. Seems like Mercury is a favorite?

Everyone will chime in with preferences. I love Honda Outboards, dependable, quiet and fuel efficient. But that does not mean there is anything wrong with the others. Yamaha makes a great motor.

Did a lot of research on outboards and was planning to buy a Yamaha 225 4 stroke until I found a great deal on my toon with the Volvo 4.3 GXI. Yamaha and Honda have the highest dependability rating, from everything I've read. Hope this helps..

I don't have enough experience yet (5 hours) on my new Yamaha 4 stroke to say how good it is, but from reading lots of posts here I was convinced to go with the Yammer.
I have an Optimax on the back of my bass boat. It is 5 years old this month and I've NEVER had one issue with it. Now, granted, I have probably 20 times as much time on the trolling motor (MinnKota 74# thrust 24 VDC), than the big motor, but it goes and goes and goes when I want it to. I took it in last fall to have the lower unit fluid changed and read somewhere about doing the fuel/water separator as well. I asked the mechanic about the plugs and he said they should be good for another 5 years. (My Volvo Penta on my old Four Winns was 10 years old before the plugs were changed). My winterizing on this motor consists of adding one ounce of SeaFoam per gallon of gas (45 gallons), taking it out one last time and making sure the SeaFoam gets into the fuel lines and the motor. I bring it back to the lift, shut it down, disconnect the battery and in the Spring I'll charge the battery and go.

Only had my boat for a little over a year, but so far, the yamaha on the back end has been great.

wow so far it sounds like yammers have a good following. I would have bet Mercury was gonna be the 'one.'

Do you actually want the real truth, they're all actually really acceptable motors. But except in what I'd consider rare circumstances people actually shop for "their boat" and just accept whatever branded motor the dealer is affiliated with. All pontoon boats manufactured in reality can and will accept any manufactures motor, but most dealers only carry or are franchised sometimes by agreement to one.

You could actually buy a pontoon boat on a model and layout that you like un-rigged at a Mercury franchised dealer and haul it to a Yamaha franchised dealer to have the boat rigged and powered, but it's almost unheard of anyone actually doing it. People mostly seem willing to accept or compromise the motor manufactures compared to a desirable boat sitting in a dealers lot that has somehow captured their eye.

You may see far more Mercuries around most areas simply because or maybe because they're far free-er and easier with their agreements, not necessarily because they provide the "best product".

Well, since it's human nature for most folks to think that whatever they have is the best (Ford vs. Chevy), I'll chime in and say that Suzuki's are pretty nice My DF90 is has reliable starting, good power, smooth idle, and good fuel mileage (as best I can tell). It also has a self-adjusting timing chain. I understand most 4-strokes have a timing belt that has to be replaced periodically. I will add that the largest OB I owned prior to this was a 2-stroke 25 hp. It smoked, ran rough, and it was a crap shoot as to whether it would start or not I guess I feel spoiled now. If you go purely by numbers, I suspect Mercury and Yamaha would win hands down. Honda and Suzuki would probably rank third and fourth (if we're talking relatively new 4-strokes). Some folks swear by the Evinrude E-tech motors (high tech 2-strokes). Of course a lot of folks are still happy running the older 2-strokes as well. Pick any new motor with a decent warranty and a good service department near by and you'll probably be happy.

After shopping around I went to a marina that rented pontoons and asked them for recommendations. Get a Bennie boat and either a Yamaha or Honda 4-stroke. The local dealer was a Benny dealer that supplied the yammy 150 so I'm into the 4th year and so far only changed the oil in the engine and foot each spring.

Yea but don't try an E-tec, I don't want the prices to go up becuase of high demand

merc had 3 no problems. lot of other good ones etec honda yamaha, the Suzuki's are fast i hear, not sure on reliability.
doc

I sort of figured that people would say they were all about the same performance-wise. What about price?

All the new motors leave my 29 year old 50hp Johnson sitting in the dust. But it still purrs like a kitten.

They are all really good now days! What is most important is service an service u don't have to drive hours to get that's always my biggest regret I don't like our local dealers boats so I end up driving hours for service. In my area if u don't buy it from them u get takin care of last if u don't buy it from them! That's my 2 cents.

captainjack wrote:They are all really good now days! What is most important is service an service u don't have to drive hours to get that's always my biggest regret I don't like our local dealers boats so I end up driving hours for service. In my area if u don't buy it from them u get takin care of last if u don't buy it from them! That's my 2 cents.

That is true anywhere and it is only fair that they take care of their customers first. The rest just fall in line.