older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

[woodrat]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

my kicker is four stroke, the big motor is an oil injected two stroke. I was looking hard for a four stroke honda or yamaha skiff when I bought this one, but I just couldn't find a boat with a four stroke that big that I could afford, with the loan I had. This one is pretty quiet, not too smelly and not TOO terrible on gas either.

 

[hitace]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

hmmm currently the worlds fastest outboard is a 1989 evinrude.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

Like to try that puppy just once..of course I might not bring it back!

 

[wbeaton]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

How did I miss this topic?!!

My vote is MERCURY!

Just kidding, of course. And who called old Johnsons or Evinrudes ugly? Those are fighting words.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

And who called old Johnsons or Evinrudes ugly? Those are fighting words.

Dang straight.


I am not saying that the mercs are really unreliable or something, but I am partial to OMC. Plus, no one could ever say they are unreliable. In the future, when I have gobs of outboards around the shop (my 14 year old budget wont support it right now) I may have a merc or two (large ones - I am against small ones) along with a little of everything else. But, until then, nope, OMC all the way.

BTW, I do honestly think an old Johnnyrude does look better than the merc counterpart. Just has a better look to it.

PW2, I would buy a yammadinger in a heartbeat. They aren't real common here, so the ones that pop up are sold at ungoshly high prices. Or they are 4 stroke, and I ain't getting one of those until I absolutely have to (never). Johnsons and rudes, are so common here, that although some sell for a lot, there are many others where people slap them on craigslist for real cheap, as they haven't used it in 10 years, and haven't looked at how much they are actually worth. The key is to be quick.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

all i'm saying is OMC. i'm stayin out of this.

 

[jimyoung]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

I had a merc 40 in the late 70,s....it was in the back of one of the first bass tracker 16 footers in calif.......an old timer told me to open the cowling and spray the engine with wd 40 everytime I got home with it, he also told me to run the fuel out of the carbs everytime...ran it for 4 yrs, fishin 2 weekends out of the month, never had a problem of any kind....bought the boat for $2999.00 brand new, sold it for $3000.00........have had a merc 110 and 115 since then...hard to start, shift problems.....but run good, have a 76 johnson 25,,,great motor, never any problems, and now I have 56 rude....I like the simplicity......the retro look......gets a lot of compliments from the old timer neighbors........

 

[cougar1985]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

had 2 long term mercs.first 1962 40 hp,second 1964 65 hp ,both were and still are great motors that would smoke the competition,that being said my current 90 rude of 1982 vintage is a great motor for my purpose.now winner of the 24 hours of rouen endurance race hands down was a 225 ho.etec!the first time merc has been handed their heads in a long time.from what i read it was a stock powerhead and they proably could of rowed back the last lap as they were miles ahead of the second place merc and the third place etec.been looking at newer motors and anytime i see a ficht i run screaming for my life.bran new i would look closely at etec and optimax.just got back from fishing and at the loading ramp a fellow had a new boat with a beaitiful new black merc on the back that looked twice as big as my old rude.wow! to my surprize it was a 75 hp. four stroke!me, i will stick to 2 stroke for the next decade or so.

 

[hitace]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

when i had my 2001 150 johnson 2 stroke on the back of my boat and seen a 90 hp merc EFI at the ramp it looked twice as big it was just soooo grossly over wighted and fat looking but when he started it up it did not make a sound.

 

[cougar1985]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

your right,also a etec will be real quite also.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

Hey.. I love my 76 Merc 9.8. I would't trrade it for anything. it runs aboslutely perfect. My friends 9.8 that he has on his pontoon is also very dependable nd pushes that thing along nicely.

Its also really easy to work on.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

Back in the mid'6's Merc hadn't figured out the stainless steel shaft thing as yet.....glad they finally put that one together. Saw one in a engine repair shop...lower unit sitting there with the drive shaft up in the air....that was a salt water engine and you couldn't believe what that drive shaft looked like......don't know if the propshaft was SS then or not.

I was not their fan at the time; however, a friend had a 90 hp tower on a 16' Cobia...a big boat with high sides for a 16', and we went 10 miles offshore repeatedly.....never a problem and the 90 pushed that boat with us and the fuel and all the necessaries you take along very nicely.

Mark

 

[grandpaclint]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

one thing i did not hear anyone mention about mercury
is that the older ones have cheap wiring,it just rots
replacing the wiring is a pain in the a**

also the older magnetos are expensive to fix because you cannot replace the rotor,,,

just a little input

gramps

 

[ryanmitton]

Re: older mercury outboards vs. older johnsons

Im 32 yo. My experience in having run (all tillers, all pull start, all 2 stroke, all pre '95, ranging 6hp to 25 hp, *all* of them were completely un-maintained, meaning we showed up in the summer, pulled them out, ran them mixed new gas with the old, stuck them on the transom, fired them up, and away we went, no servicing, no stabilizing done in the fall)

2 mercs, 6 johnsons, 3 evinrudes, and 2 yamahas at our families camp in NW ontario....hard I might add...through my teens and early 20's....is that the Yamaha ran the smoothest and was easy to pull start, and had the best throttle grip system with the cable pull. Both mercs have *always* been a pain to start but once going were fine.

The johnsons are very hard to pull start in that my mom for example did not have the strength to pull start them (whereas with the yammie she could no problem). Our 9.9 Johnson was an exception easy to pull start. They always ran, sometimes excellent sometimes just good enough to keep them trolling at low speeds albeit roughly. We were always tinkering with the carb settings, and eventually we have them all running smoothly.

Experience with the Evinrudes is same as Johnsons. Our "best running" motor is now considred to be our 89 25 hp evinrude, recently surpassing the 20 Yamaha as something has happend to it that makes it cough and sputter at trolling speed now.

We are buying one new motor right now to go with a new 16 foot Naden we bought, and I had been recommending a yamaha 4 stroke (the family wants to do the right thing eco-wise). However after seeing the lastest info on fuel efficiency, fuel emmissions, weight to power, I have changed to recommending a 2 stroke Evinrude Etec 25 short shaft electric and rope (backup) start.

So yah to sum up,

I'd take an old johnson/evinrude first, then yamaha, and i would pass on mercs. New, I would have said yamaha, but very recently I now recommend the etec.

Cheers,
Ryan.