Mercury 60hp Outboards

G

Gene&Mary

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Joined
Jan 10, 2005
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C Dory Year
2005
C Dory Model
22 Cruiser
Hull Identification Number
CDO22279A505
Vessel Name
Linnea
I searched on Mercury outboards and found that most of the comments were generally favorable but are about 10 years old.

We are thinking about purchasing a Lund with a Mercury 60hp.

What is the general opinion on Mercury 60hp outboards. I understand its part of the 40/50/60hp family.

Thanks
 
My only bad experience with "modern" mercs has been my 90 hp carbed merc engine. It was a gas guzzler, and the carbs did get dirty even with good maintenance practices. Somewhere along the line, Merc went injection I think. However, many old mercs have thousands of hours even carbed.

How old is the merc on the lund?
 
Lund is great. Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda, but never Merc!
 
Unlike Pat's experience, we currently have a Merc on our SunTracker, and it has been a reliable motor - starts right up (fuel injected), runs smooth, gets the boat up on plane. Economical, as well.

I have had 3 small Mercs on a sailboat and a couple dinghies, and they were, likewise, reliable.

We have owned 3 Honda outboards as well; two were great, one (a 5hp) was awful. No hands-on experience with Suzuki or Yamaha outboards (but I've owned motorcycles from each, and they were good).

From a weight and price standpoint, I think the Mercs have a lot going for them.
 
The only Merc, I currently own is a 3.5 hP 2 stroke--but 15 years old it is going strong. I have seen a number of the C Dorys with Mercs and they seems to be trouble free. Same with the experience on The Hull Truth Forum. Despite some of the bad publicity, even some of the older Mercs were good motors. For years Mercury dominated the racing circuits--if you wanted to go fast, buy a Merc.

I would not be afraid of a well cared for Mercury.
 
I ran a 60hp Merc from 2002-2009 on a 18 Harbourcraft and had no issues, 1200+ hrs on it when I sold the boat to a friend, he is still using the same motor. I now run a 2015 90hp Merc Ct on my 22 cruiser and love it. 600hrs on it and no problems at all, and still has three more years of warranty on it!

Jim.
 
I have a mercury on my duck boat. 60/40 jet. Its a 60 hp head but the jet drive knocks the usable hp to 40. Its a tiller handle Electric start and I love it. Has not let me down yet. Starts up on a push of a button. I only duck hunt in the winter so most of the time its 40 to 10 degrees out side when I am hunting. Never had had a problem yet. I let the boat sit all summer with out a charger or gas additive and it starts every time. This is the start of the third season with this boat and the motor was used when I got it. I have never been a big merc fan in the past but I have no complaints with this motor.
 
I have had a 6 hp, 20 hp, 25 hp, 50 hp, and a 115 hp Mercs, all provided lasting service. Not a single one died an early death. All motor manufacturers have had lemons in there line up. Some of the Japanese motors have had Real corrosion issues, and died an early death ie. Yamaha 225 exhaust housings, Suzuki 70-90 steel plugs, etc.
There are far more old Mercs running around than Japanese motors.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. We bought the 1650 Rebel Lund with a 60hp Merc on it yesterday, new....2017.

Lund and Merc are tied together at the hip; both are owned by Brunswick. They do offer the Honda but at a large premium.

BTW not to start a thread war here but I did talk with an outboard mechanic at Friday Harbor with no axe to grind. He rates the Merc and Yamaha as #1.
 
I have a 2017 60/40 merc and it's great. I like the features available with their reasonably priced smart-craft tachs. The motor performs great, sips gas, and is pretty quiet.

Mine has a jet foot on it (thus the 60/40 designation) so I can't speak for the lower unit or prop, but the motor itself is great.
 
Gene&Mary- congrats on pulling the trigger on the new Lund. I've heard only great things about the current 40/50/60 Merc model. I've been grinning ear to ear thru all 221 hours of my 2016 Merc 90, including the 200 hr service which I did myself and found to be the easiest of any previous 4 stroke I've owned (although in the over-50 category the Merc is the only one I've had)

Forgive my ignorance/forgetfulness, but do you still have the 22? Or is the Lund a 2nd boat for a different sort of boating/fishing?
 
Thanks MikeR, its great to hear your opinion/experience on the Mercs.

Yes we still have the Linnea but despite being retired now, its hard to justify having two boats.
 
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