[hawgfan64]

Hey guys, I'm fixing to buy a motor for my boat and I wanted to get a concensus on which ones to look at and which ones to avoid! I'm buying a 25 hp and putting it on a 1548 maybe 1551. I'd like the 4 stroke and money's not and issue, but weight is, and the 2 stroke is generally a lot lighter. I put this on this thread and not the motors forum because I wanted the opinion of duck hunters on the issue. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[crazyminpinmax]

Yamaha!!!

 

[hawgfan64]

Cool, have you had good experiences? I read a thread earlier last fall where someone said to stay away from 'em and that they were coming out with a newer model in November.
I kinda want to look at the Hondas too b/c I know they are such good engines, but I know that some of the 4 wheelers by Honda aren' too happy in the cold. I wondered if that might be the same case here and that can't be happening in duck season!

 

[ArkArcher]

If it means anything, I went hunting with a guy that has some private duck hunting land and they had 4 boats that they use to get down the creek, all with Yamahas. He said he wouldn't use anything other than Yamaha. :thumb:

 

[hawgfan64]

Sweet, sounds like Yamaha's are in the lead. Do you remeber if they were 2 or 4 strokes?

 

[swampimp]

If you can find one a 97-2000 Suzuki 3cyl 2-stroke will out torque and outrun any other 25 hp 2-stroke on the water with the exception of maybe the 3 cyl johnsons that were made around the same time Frame. problem with the Johnsa-rudes were they were dogs because of the oil injection system. I have heard that if you just bypass that and mix your own gas you won't have a problem.

There is a guy that lives in Altheimer that is the "Suzuki Wizzard" and will take one and have it singing.

I have a 2004 Merc 25 2-stroke that has been and is a great motor (fairly fast, GPS 29.4 on a 1542 SeaArk).....not cold natured at all but......I would sell it or trade it faster than a cat can lick his ass for a 98 -2000 2-stroke 3 cyl Suzuki.:thumb:

Problem with the Suzukis is they are hard to find.....at least they have been for me.

 

[TheBattman]

If you are buying a brand new motor - then Yamaha might be a good idea. BUT - the first generation of Yamaha 4-stroke motors were TERRIBLE. They were actually made by Mercury (and they were experimenting at the time as well). Lots of troubles with those.

But Yamaha 2-stroke engines have been among the most reliable for a long time - and I have heard that the newer 4-strokes are now actually made by Yamaha - so they are likely to be a lot better.

Honda has been making 4 stroke outboards longer than pretty much anyone - and I have heard good things about them, though I don't have personal experience other than seeing/hearing while out fishing or hunting (and amazingly quiet!).

 

[turkeyhunter]

First Yamaha second Suzuki.

 

[rusty]

I have a 4 stroke 15hp nissian electric start works wonders and is super quit and you dont smell like exhaust after riding in your boat. bought it off the internet for 2100 brand new out of ca shipping included and no tax and 3 syear warrnaty. Nice motor has automatic choke so there is no need to mess with a choke just drop it in the water and and push the button and it goes. plus it has shallow drive which is a must. I wanted a 25 but the 4 strokes were just to big and bulky.

 

[hawgfan64]

Thanks guys, anymore input will be great still. Swampimp, My little brother has a 99 Suzuki like your talking about and it's everything you say. Problem is you can't really find them too easy. You say you've never had any problem out of your Mercury? Some folks have tried to steer me away from them. Academy Sports had them on sale for $2000 (pull start 4-stroke 25hp) a few weeks ago. That seemed like a pretty good deal. Too bad their all out now.

 

[Buba Garrett]

If you can find one a 97-2000 Suzuki 3cyl 2-stroke will out torque and outrun any other 25 hp 2-stroke on the water with the exception of maybe the 3 cyl johnsons that were made around the same time Frame. problem with the Johnsa-rudes were they were dogs because of the oil injection system. I have heard that if you just bypass that and mix your own gas you won't have a problem.

There is a guy that lives in Altheimer that is the "Suzuki Wizzard" and will take one and have it singing.

I have a 2004 Merc 25 2-stroke that has been and is a great motor (fairly fast, GPS 29.4 on a 1542 SeaArk).....not cold natured at all but......I would sell it or trade it faster than a cat can lick his ass for a 98 -2000 2-stroke 3 cyl Suzuki.:thumb:

Problem with the Suzukis is they are hard to find.....at least they have been for me.

Those Suzuki's are the SHEOT!! A dang good and very fast motor-but allot of folks look for em too! My neighbor has a Nissan one of the new direct injection digital ones and its quite impressive too- Yamaha makes a good 25 as well as Mercury!

 

[swampimp]

Thanks guys, anymore input will be great still. Swampimp, My little brother has a 99 Suzuki like your talking about and it's everything you say. Problem is you can't really find them too easy. You say you've never had any problem out of your Mercury? Some folks have tried to steer me away from them. Academy Sports had them on sale for $2000 (pull start 4-stroke 25hp) a few weeks ago. That seemed like a pretty good deal. Too bad their all out now.

Does he want to sell it?:biggrin: :biggrin:

My Merc is a 2 stroke. I am holding out on getting a 4 stroke until I absolutely have to. I know the advantages are there but I bet in years to come they will get the weight cut down and then there will be no comparison.

The 2 stroke Merc like the one I have (I think 05 was the last year of production) is getting increasingly harder to find too. It's pretty popular among duck hunters and commercial fishermen because of the shift on the handle. It is nice when you have to maneuver in tight spots cause you can hit reverse pretty quick but I'm tellin ya that 3 cyl DT 25 Suzuki as far as 25's go is a beast.

If your dead set on a 2 stroke and want to buy new then Yamaha would be about your only choice because I think they are one of the few, if not only manufacturer that still makes a 2 stroke under 40hp.

 

[winghunting]

There is a guy that lives in Altheimer that is the "Suzuki Wizzard" and will take one and have it singing.

Pimp.....I had the "wizzard" do a little work on my suzuki. I am ready to see what she'll do now.

 

[sunny b]

i had a 2 stroke merc till it burnt up last month. i bought a new yamaha 2 stroke, VERY SMALL for a 25horse and have been running the SH!t out of it ever since, being as i hunt the woods everyday just about. it isn't quite as fast as the merc. but does good for what i want it to do. i have seen some suzuki's that will absolutely FLY at long pond, scary fast.

 

[swampimp]

Pimp.....I had the "wizzard" do a little work on my suzuki. I am ready to see what she'll do now.

:thumb: Good deal......Ol Jim's good with any motor....Suzukis are his specialty.

I need to find one for myself......one of my neighbors has one on a 15 ft express, looks like a 98 or so model. I'm going to ask him if he wants to sell it or do some horse trading........it's been sitting for about 2 years. I just bet he aint going to want to sell just the motor though......if at all.:smack:

 

[winghunting]

:thumb:
I need to find one for myself......one of my neighbors has one on a 15 ft express, looks like a 98 or so model. I'm going to ask him if he wants to sell it or do some horse trading........it's been sitting for about 2 years. I just bet he aint going to want to sell just the motor though......if at all.:smack:

Ya....He was talking about some cylinder heads, and some carb linkage and what not and said it should "really run" when he got through with it. I just got it back from him a couple of days ago and have not had time to run it yet. Mine is a 99 model. I knew of one for sale the other day, but it sure didn't last long.

 

[4hunting]

You say you've never had any problem out of your Mercury? Some folks have tried to steer me away from them.

Academy Sports had them on sale for $2000 (pull start 4-stroke 25hp) a few weeks ago. That seemed like a pretty good deal. Too bad their all out now.

Mercury had alot of problems out of the latter production 25 HP engines powerheads. In 1996 1/2 they changed the design of their powerhead. The engines before that date were a chrome bore engine, but after that they went to what they called a "Mercisial" design. They removed the chrome lining from the clyinder wall & went to a straight aluminum bore, much like a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower uses. It was an OK design but it would take very litle abuse. A waterpump not operating at top perforamce, old fuel that the octane had fallen in, using anything other than Top of the Line oil or any problem that caused the engine to run a little hot cost you a $1400.00 powerhead. On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being perfect conditions, the older ones would operate from 3 to 10 and stay togather, when they built the new ones it had to stay between 7 & 10 or you had problems. If a man keeps the waterpump replaced & keeps freash fuel with good oil in it, they are not a problem! I personally have a 96 model, one of the good chrome bores & I am going to run it as long as I can keep it going, but if I had to replace it today my first choice on a new engine would be a 25 2 stroke Yamaha!

The new 4 bangers are now being built for Mercury by Tohatsu! Yamaha built the first ones when they first came out, but Mercury & Yamaha have split the sheet. Don't know about these new ones, but the first ones stayed broke all the time. Lower units would break if you got even close to something! Not very good if one decides he wanted to run the timber!

 

[jjarvis0007]

Boat Shop Advice

I personally work at a boat shop in Sherwood. In the past 2 months we have had right around ten or so Merc 25's come in to be repaired. 4 of them have bad powerheads and we have put 2 powerheads on for customers that wanted to keep there POS and not get a new different brand. We have sold 4 Yamaha 25 2 strokes to the 4 people with the 4 bad powerheads. Have had a bunch of Suzukis come in for general maintenance and go right back out. Have one Suzuki in there now for a new powerhead bc the guy ran it for 2 days when it wasnt running right. Ended up blowing head gasket and water messed up the cylinders. Could have been prevented though. Suzukis are bout the baddest dudes out there. They will fly. Put a CMC tilit and trim jackplate on the back of a 15ft boat and your GPSn around 35mph. Seen one hit 38. Suzuki #1 Yamaha #2 Mercury #3

 

[rntbuck]

If you can find one a 97-2000 Suzuki 3cyl 2-stroke will out torque and outrun any other 25 hp 2-stroke on the water with the exception of maybe the 3 cyl johnsons that were made around the same time Frame. problem with the Johnsa-rudes were they were dogs because of the oil injection system. I have heard that if you just bypass that and mix your own gas you won't have a problem.

ok, so hold up, are you saying that the johnson 3cyl 25s in those years will run with the suzis?? now im not trying to be a smart a$$ by any means, i really dont know. reason i say is i am looking for one and can not seem to put my hands on one of them magic suzis, however i do know where one of them johnsons are that could probably be bought right! i know for a fact that they have already bypassed the oil injection, but they have never liked the motor, claiming that it is bad cold natured and aint never been right. now keep in mind, they didnt "run" the motor, just basically idled to and from their hole and maybe a little cruisin around their reservoir. im betting a motor wiz could straighten it out pretty easily

 

[duck]

I have a 25 Yamaha 4 stroke. Its ok on the lakes but if you get back in the woods where you have to lift it up and down you will hate it. Its to heavy for that unless you have a power trim on it. It is quiet and uses less gas and easy to start but man its heavy. Im to old for that lifting crap. Be SURE and get one with electric start.