Late mercury force 75 and older 85hp force

A question i've been meaning to ask. The mercury forces are most likely rated at 75 at the prop while the older non merc forces were rated at 85 at the engine. My question is...were the 85hp actually rated at 75hp at the prop? Are these the same engines by different manufacturers? Thanks guys.

Re: Late mercury force 75 and older 85hp force

The Forces that said 85 were actually 90 hp.The 125 were 120.J

Re: Late mercury force 75 and older 85hp force

After 1996, Mercury redesigned the Force midleg and lower unit. These two engines specifically were modified a bit with longer rods and different pistons, (big bore 3.375 diameter) but they were still Chrysler/Force blocks. That combined with the Mercury lower unit and props made them perform much better than early Force 85s.

After 1982 or 1984, ALL outboards ALL brands were rated at the prop. While the 85 HP early Force engines were rated at the prop, they did not deliver the horsepower into the water the same as the later ones and were just not as fast.

The first Merc/Force 75 I worked on had an itty-bitty 10 inch diameter Merc prop. It was on a 16 foot bass boat and I didn't think it would run fast, but it surprised me! Ran like a scalded cat. So, I guess, Merc engineers did know something about engines.