Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

[sandman]

I am looking for a four stroke for my pontoon boat and have narrowed the search to Yamaha and Mercury. Mercury is offering a five year warranty promotion and Yamaha is offering 0% interest. I understand Mercury uses a belt driven single overhead cam design. Supposedly this gives fewer moving parts and more power. Does Yamaha do this also and does anyone know the difference? Which is better? Thanks for your assistance.

 

[JB]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

Howdy Sandman. You need to give us more info. Merc and Yammy both make numerous models, and Yamaha makes some assemblies for Merc and vice versa.<br /><br />Red sky at night. . .<br />JB

 

[trevorcday]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

All of the 4-strokes built by both Yamaha and Merc use a belt driven overhead cam design. Some models are DOHC others are SOHC but that is neither here nor there. For the current model year the 75, 90 and 115 Merc's use Yamaha powerheads. Also, the 25 HP and under merc's use Yamaha powerheads. For your pontoon boat you will be most happy with a high thrust motor like the Merc big foot models. These are available as 40, 50 and 60 HP models. All of these are mercury 4 cylinder powerheads with electronic fuel injection. The EFI is a really nice feature.

 

[DJ]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

MRMERC-said it alkl. the "bigfoot" is the way to go for a pontoon.

 

[sandman]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

I have been planning on EFI as several mechanics recommended it. The trouble is my pontoon is a large and heavy tri-toon. It is called a party hut and very heavy. I wanted a 90HP but decided to go for a 115HP only due to the fact it has EFI. The boat is rated for up to a 115HP. I am not sure the 70 HP would be big enough that they now have with EFI. What do you think? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[sandman]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

Sorry, I ment the 60HP. I am not sure the 60HP would be big enough.<br />Thanks

 

[SeaDawg]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

Sandman, how fast do you want to go? You won't hurt the motor if you prop it right.<br /><br />Then go to the Mercury web site and look at the motor tests for pontoon boats with the 60 Hp bigfoot. It will show the props they used too.<br /><br />That should answer your questions.

 

[sandman]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

Thanks all. The truth is, I was afraid that I over-worked my 40HP Johnson was why it failed. This boat works my F250 Diesel for all it wants when attempting to pull it. It is heavy. I understand the tri-toon third log makes less work to push it, but I did not want to make a mistake when replacing the motor.<br />Thanks to all.

 

[trevorcday]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

I didn't realize you had a tri-toon. In that case the 90 or 115 will be the way to go since the boat will be able to sort of plane with a large enough motor. From merc the 115 is EFI and the 90 is carb's. They both weigh almost exactly the same so it is just a matter of $$. The EFI motor is quite a bit more expensive.

 

[sandman]

Re: Mercury vs Yamaha four stroke

Thank you MrMerc. I appreciate everyone's good information. It is sure helpful having a good site like this to share good information. Thanks all.