2018 Mercury Outboards

Pat:

Wow!!! You must be really heavy. Not surprising if you were equipped and provisioned for the loop. Best I could tell by reading your blog is that you got up to 20 mph against a 2.5 mph current at wot with your current prop.

That isn't even close to what I would have expected. At a 5,000 lb total weight you should be able to do ten mph more. I have to push your weight up way beyond reasonableness to get the kind of numbers you are talking about.

At your very slow average speed of 6.4 kts the power required is trivial, about 10 hp. That engine should last forever at that load.

I realize that Wefings should be the pros at figuring out the right prop, but something is wrong. Your current hull/prop is extremely inefficient to require 150 hp to go 20 mph even at a loaded weight of 6,000 lbs. Maybe you are so heavily loaded that the boat acts more like a displacement hull than a planing hull.

And don't go back to your original prop or the 13" prop you mentioned in your blog. Even at low speeds the engine will appreciate running at a little more rpm which reduces stress on it.

Thanks for the data.

David
 
The light weight is big plus when just looking at the stats, but you have to wonder how they got a V6 lighter than the Yamaha and Suzuki inline 4, both of which are available with up to 200 hp. Something had to be compromised somewhere.

The reason the Honda is such a workhorse is in large part because of its heft. Things inside are stored in a rugged package.

It might be wise to give this one a few model years.

The door and handle on the top is very cool, though!
 
We had a 1998 Honda 130. For the past 2 years over 8 months, we also put 1,000 hours on the engine at RPMs mostly under 2,000 with some exceptions.

Two years ago (2016), after spending months up in remote areas of BC, we were in a marina in Sidney BC staging for pulling out in Bellingham within a few days. When turning the key, the motor just cranked without a pop. Talk about timing!

The dealer in Sidney is fantastic. He sent a mechanic out, determined what was wrong (fuel pump), and told us it was not a job that could be done on the water.

It turns out, even though this boat was originally bought at the Annapolis boat show, it was a Canadian motor and spent all of its life in the US so none of the recalls had been done.

They warrantied it (a 20 year old motor) flying the parts out from Toronto! We had some other work done and transportation costs so all this was not close to free, but if Honda had not warrantied it, I probably would have scrapped the motor (the labor and parts for this were that expensive).

The bizzare thing I found when researching new motors then, I was told it was not uncommon for Hondas to go 10,000 hours but if they were to buy a new motor, they would go with Yamaha.

Don't understand it and hopefully I will not have to.

John
 
That Honda was seriously overpropped, from a 15 pitch to a 11 pitch would account for about 800 rpm difference.
Overpropping an outboard is like hooking a loaded trailer behind your tow vehicle then driving over the mountain pass, without allowing the transmission to down shift. Lugging the motor all the way to the top of the pass.
Exhaust manifold temperatures SKYROCKET.
Boats with marginal horsepower, need to be propped at the manufacturers recommended WOT rpm. Does not matter that you drive the boat at 2500 rpm all day long.
 
JOHN C":2zqxbis3 said:
We had a 1998 Honda 130. For the past 2 years over 8 months, we also put 1,000 hours on the engine at RPMs mostly under 2,000 with some exceptions.

Two years ago (2016), after spending months up in remote areas of BC, we were in a marina in Sidney BC staging for pulling out in Bellingham within a few days. When turning the key, the motor just cranked without a pop. Talk about timing!

The dealer in Sidney is fantastic. He sent a mechanic out, determined what was wrong (fuel pump), and told us it was not a job that could be done on the water.

It turns out, even though this boat was originally bought at the Annapolis boat show, it was a Canadian motor and spent all of its life in the US so none of the recalls had been done.

They warrantied it (a 20 year old motor) flying the parts out from Toronto! We had some other work done and transportation costs so all this was not close to free, but if Honda had not warrantied it, I probably would have scrapped the motor (the labor and parts for this were that expensive).

The bizzare thing I found when researching new motors then, I was told it was not uncommon for Hondas to go 10,000 hours but if they were to buy a new motor, they would go with Yamaha.

Don't understand it and hopefully I will not have to.

John
Click to expand...

John, You lucked out twice. Being a Canada motor, they would work on it, get parts and service in Canada. Had that been a USA Honda, You would have had to take it back to the States, or got there and get the parts yourself to get the work done. Canada Honda and USA Honda are about as related as KIA and Cadillac -- both have motors, wheels and steering wheel, but the warranted parts and service are on separate planets.

(That issue has been around the block on this site before.)

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

PLI_and_SB_CBGT_2_225.thumb.jpg
 
TyBoo":2vhykfrw said:
The light weight is big plus when just looking at the stats, but you have to wonder how they got a V6 lighter than the Yamaha and Suzuki inline 4, both of which are available with up to 200 hp. Something had to be compromised somewhere.

The reason the Honda is such a workhorse is in large part because of its heft. Things inside are stored in a rugged package.

It might be wise to give this one a few model years.

The door and handle on the top is very cool, though!
Click to expand...

Mercury has a new very efficient state of the art system to produce their castings.
https://www.futurefc.com/mercury-marine ... h-america/
Their new 150 is widely considered the class leader.
 
JamesTXSD":2ui57wmy said:
What hands-on, actually-owned-one, experience do you have with Mercury, Pat?
Click to expand...

I have owned two Mercs. One was an old one purchased from my cousin for a Birch Bay crabbing boat, I forget the HP, maybe a 35, but it was on a 14 foot aluminum boat, and was too big for the boat. As I recall it was sometimes a cranky starter but then ran fine. The other was a new 2 HP Merc that I had on the Alaska Series, so maybe 2007? I bought it new in Canada just over the border right after we bought the Alaska Series, and the price was amazing, I think $500. I sold it with the Alaska Series last year. It was very reliable. Somebody told me the 2 HP Merc was actually a re-branded Tohatsu, but I don't know if that is true or not. Both of these were two strokes.

My point was, it remains to be seen, since this is a radical departure from the past in this new line of Merc outboards, how a highly digital electronic outboard will hold up in service, and what people will find if/when a computer fails. A computer failed on our 2008 Hyundai, and with a few other things, it would have cost $5,000 to repair. KBB on that car was $2,500. The new Hyundai has about 10 times as many computers, and although we never buy extended warranties, we bought the extra 10 year warranty that covers the computers, since the factory warranty only covers the power train, which was defined as parts lubricated by oil.
 
Might have been just some kind of coincidence but at the London(Ont.) boat show today there seemed to be a large sampling of Mercs everywhere I looked. Everything up to a 350hp Verado on a Scout - hey a Verado on a Dorado! Evinrudes and Mercs seemed to be dominating the market. Only saw a few Yamahas here and there.


Regards, Rob
 
One factor may be the shortage of the larger Yamaha outboards, which are back ordered from the 175 on up. Also certain builders have "loyalty" to exclusive brands of motors..
 
Mercury marine is no stranger to lightweight performance.
They used to build the all aluminum 32 valve Corvette engine for GM.
And we have been very pleased with our 90 hp fuel injected 2 stroke Optimax on our 22 C-Dory. Thousands of miles with no issues
 
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