150HP Four Stroke, Suzuki or Mercury?? Also a 7' gps combo

[melrichsin]

Hi guys, I am about to buy my first boat (early 90's 6 metre Signature) and want to put a 150hp 4 stroke on the back-

I know Suzuki is the motor of choice for most of the organisations out there, but after speaking to both Mercury and Suzuki dealers it appears the Mercury with Smart-gauges is about $18,500 fitted or the Suzi with standard gauges and a cable to plug into a Lowrance or Garmin combo will be around $19,700.

The Merc is a bigger 3 litre block, about 10kg lighter than the Suzi

Also who would suggest best 7 to 9 inch GPS/Sounder Combo? and what transducer for chirp, down view/side view.

[Shane69]

Suzuki is a proven motor. I would personally get suzuki

The mecury four strokes look good too though. I saw vmr at the pin put them on their boats.

As for sounder plotter. I would go seperate. Get a garmin gps or any lowrance.

Get furuno 587 as sounder.

You wont find much better for money.

Chrip looks good too mate but for what i have heard. Simrad chirp is not all that.

Furuno has chirp out too but its 10 grand

[rayke1938]

Do not know if it is relevant these days but when things got financially tough years ago suzuki pulled out of Australia and left a lot of owners high and dry with poor resale value and no spare parts..

Cheers

Ray

[sehrguht]

The sounder gps depends on where you plan on fishing.

Furuno for offshore lowrance for bay imo. Lowrance gps is good

The hds7 touch are sweet but having seperate screens for sonar and gps is nice. A lot less fiddling on the water.

[Shane69]

Who are you dealing with for the motors too? Wait few weeks till boat show youl get good price there.

[tugger]

Have you weighed up any yamaha 4 stroke options they have a top reputation in the 4 stroke I know mercury had loads of trouble with their fuel pumps out of your first 2 I would lean toward suzuki

[demarc]

Have you weighed up any yamaha 4 stroke options they have a top reputation in the 4 stroke I know mercury had loads of trouble with their fuel pumps out of your first 2 I would lean toward suzuki

Yamaha did come out with some new light weight 4cycl 4 strokes recently.

/>http://yamahaoutboards.com/f115

[melrichsin]

I have spoken to Karee, Cuninghams for Merc and Aus Marine Centre and Motorsport Marine for Suzi.

My father's Yammie saltwater from Bris Yamaha (local to me on the northside) left a bad flavour with me.... long story but not keen to go back.

I am hanging out the next few weeks till the boat show- conveniently my work bonus comes in that week also!

The Signature has a 3 year old Furuno in it, so as tempting as chirps/down views etc/ I may keep the wife happy and get the sounder for Xmas!

[demarc]

I have spoken to Karee, Cuninghams for Merc and Aus Marine Centre and Motorsport Marine for Suzi.

My father's Yammie saltwater from Bris Yamaha (local to me on the northside) left a bad flavour with me.... long story but not keen to go back.

I am hanging out the next few weeks till the boat show- conveniently my work bonus comes in that week also!

The Signature has a 3 year old Furuno in it, so as tempting as chirps/down views etc/ I may keep the wife happy and get the sounder for Xmas!

I'd definitely been leaning towards the zuk then. Another option that might be overlooked is Honda? If you wanted to chat to a good honest Honda dealer look up GD Marine, Garry is a very nice person to deal with.

[melrichsin]

I have glanced at the Honda's a couple of times but they seem to be close to 2k more than the Suzi, but if they make the right promos at the Bris Boat show I could think about it.

I think if I look at $$ I may compare the 140 Suzi (RRP $16,300) 150 Merc (RRP $17,800) 135 Honda ($18,799) these are list prices on the web... not quoted "fitted price" with gauges etc.

[melrichsin]

Ok looking at Hondas a bit closer... the cashback promo will pay for new electronics!

Thanks for the enlightenment AFO

[crazywalrus]

i have a Suzi and I am very happy. 2.5 years old and 900 hours

[Shane69]

Go see john eddie bay side marine.

He will do you good deal.

He deals with alot of suzuki.

You wont go wrong with it.

What furuno have you got on yours?

If you do want to get chirp go simrad nss12 evo.

I have seen chirp too. I will get it in next boat and go all out and get furuno nav net

[tugger]

Yamaha salt water series was that a 2 stroke outboard ? You will find the new yamaha 4 stroke models are right up there with the best look around yamahas are 1 of the most popular outboards on the back of boats now that says volumes for them

[hunter armytage]

Like tugger said I would reccomemnd the Yamaha four stroke , a good indication is to look at commercial operators and see what is on the back of their boats , in my experience its been mainly Yamaha.

I have a Yamaha fours stoke, and evinrude etec direct injected 2 stroke and have had various mercury 2 strokes and by far the best motor so far has been the Yamaha any way that's my 2 cents

[crazywalrus]

Like Tugger said you can not compare a two stroke with a four stroke engine. I have a mercury 1999 four stroke and i love it. I went the Suzi at the time I bought my boat as they where highly regarded and had the best fuel efficiency on the Market. That said I think you would be satisfied with any of the major brands in a 4 stroke. It always comes down to a ford vs holden argument and most push hard for the motor they have.

With regard to commercial operators I would disagree with Hunter above. In my experience commercial boats predominately have suzis on the back in the last few years. VMR and Coast Guard use Suzis however that being said commercial operators will buy the brand that is running the best deal as all are very close together on performance and reliability.

[demarc]

Like Tugger said you can not compare a two stroke with a four stroke engine. I have a mercury 1999 four stroke and i love it. I went the Suzi at the time I bought my boat as they where highly regarded and had the best fuel efficiency on the Market. That said I think you would be satisfied with any of the major brands in a 4 stroke. It always comes down to a ford vs holden argument and most push hard for the motor they have.

With regard to commercial operators I would disagree with Hunter above. In my experience commercial boats predominately have suzis on the back in the last few years. VMR and Coast Guard use Suzis however that being said commercial operators will buy the brand that is running the best deal as all are very close together on performance and reliability.

I've noticed the VMRs changing over to Merc recently Ted.

[melrichsin]

Yes it was a 2 stroke Yam saltwater, but the problem was Yamaha dealer was not helpful in solving the problem. We had a Suzi 115 4 stroke a few years back, which was no problem, and had a Merc and Mariner many years ago also... gee I think we also had a 1981 70hp back in the day.

The main issue is the $1,200-$1,500 difference in price, and connectivity to electrics from Merc Smartcraft to the Garmin NMEA2000 required for Suzi.

I know everyone has their favourite flavours and appreciate the input about Yamaha, but sometimes it is like the old Ford vs Holden battle. I know an XR8 may lose to a Clubsport, but I would rather have a ?????