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Member
Posts: 2567
Location: Manitowoc, WI | This being the boat and sport show season, along with many of us rigging our boats and others looking to buy, I thought it would be helpful to start some posts in regards to the different motors that are available. In a short paragraph or two, tell us what you like about your Mercury. |
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Member
Posts: 2567
Location: Manitowoc, WI | The first walleye boats I owned were equipped with all Mercury motors. Having spent alot of time on the water with them, I can say that I never had one problem with them. The last boat I had was pushed by a Mercury 200 EFI Saltwater. That motor does use alot of gas. But, it was a super runner. I've also had two 9.9 4 stroke kickers and they were smooth operators. The people at Merc. have always been freindly and easy to deal with. The guys in the trailer, specifically Jay, are always helpful at tournaments.
Once my current boat is sold, I will be taking ownership in a new Crestliner with a 250 Verado on it. Can't wait to tear up the water with that big machine!!! |
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Location: Rhinelander | I bought my first 'Mercury freshwater Team' engine in the 70's. I believe the motor was a 40 HP manual long 2 cylinder. Klem Kaylor was my contact for years there, he's been retired for awhile, I think.
I've been running a Mercury ever since. I worked Jim Kalkofen and company in the early MWC days as a co-sponsor and watched as they did a great job building Mariner from an offshore brand to dual branding, met and worked with great people and always was teated very well. Without Mercury Marine's support and input, Walleye tournament angling wouldn't be anywhere near where it is today. Great product, and a great company. |
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| I've been buying Mercury motors since the early 60's.Even had one of those 70hp. ones that had "No Neutral" you had to start it in Forward or Reverse,(a little scary)I've had 1-6h,.3-10hp,2-20hp,1-65hp,1-90hp,2-125hp,2-175,1-225hp,and only problem was one of the 175hps lost a screw on the air cleaner,that rattled around under the cowling until it went into the engine, thru the carb.Needless to say,I thru that powerhead away.Can't even blame the failure on Merc,I could have forgotten to tighten that "one" screw after fogging the motor the previous spring.All said and done,Merc All The Way Forever,on my boats. I've delt mainly with Hergert,and Mr. Marine, for sales and service,and like them both very much.Workman ship and on time delivery are something you have to have,and they both have given me the satisfaction I demanded from them. |
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Location: WI | I have owned 1 motor for about 9 years now. I have not taken extra good care of it. It in return has been good to me.
60 merc. |
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Member
Posts: 3899
| I had a 25 on my Tuffy Walleye Rampage for 12 years. Thing ran like a top. Upgraded to a 135 Opti and 9.9 4S kicker in 2002. The Opti is a great motor. Easy on fuel, fairly quiet, fast, smooth. The kicker is a manual start, and only had to pull more than 2 times once. That was with Sunshine on Shelbyville last December. My fault. I flooded it. Been a good motor since. Trolls down real slow. I think I'm going to add the Tilt and trim to it this year. Or maybe I should sell it, and upgrade to the Pro Kicker.
I don't see myself with anything other than a Merc on the back of my boats. I have several relatives and friends that work for Merc. And Mercs have been good to me. No reason to change.
Edited by Shep 2/15/2005 8:31 AM
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Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | My Ole' Man was an Evinrude owner and passed that trait on to me. But in 1981 I took the big gamble and upgraded the old 9.9 Evinrude to a big 25hp Merc. I thought that I died and went to heaven. WHAT POWER AND SPEED! That lasted for two years until I upgraded my old AlumnaCraft T-14 to a LUND Pro Angler. It had a 40hp. Merc and my first electric start with trim and tilt. Now I KNEW that I really died and went to heaven. That motor was/is one of the best investments I ever made. I could backtroll 12 hours a day for a week straight without it missing a beat. It never failed me and when it was time for my next move up it was sold for more money than what I originally paid. Boy, I miss that rig.
That leads me to my next purchase, a Lund Pro V 1775 with a 100 Merc. This motor was what they called a 2+2. It would run on 2 cylinders until it reached a certain rpm and then go to 4. I could and would troll with a 100 hp motor! I couldn't troll down to crawler harness speeds without additional help but the motor tolerated me and my antics. This motor never went over real well with the general public which was too bad. It was a great engine for me. People had a hard time with the way it sounded at low rpm's, they thought it sounded out of tune at times. Believe me, it was very dependable and that whole rig was the most multi-functional rig I ever owned. It handled the family ski trip, backtrolling, Canadian muskie trips and anything else I threw at it. Boy I miss that rig.
For my next rig, I stayed with the Lund Pro V 1775 but up graded to a 150hp merc and a 9.9hp kicker. The kicker was manual start but I quickly added a panther lift. Planer board trolling was the name of the game now for me and this setup was awesome. I would have stayed with it except I was now fishing more and more on the great lakes and wanted the safety of a larger and longer boat. Besides, I convinced my wife that if I had a faster boat, I'd get home quicker to be with her (true Story ;-)).
Since that time, I feel that I have found the perfect rig for me and what I do with it. I now get a new rig every year because of my various sponsorships but I stick with a Lund Pro V 1900 and a maxed out Mercury. The last two boats had 225hp Opti Max’s on the back along with a 9.9 kicker that has t/t and electric start. I love everything about these motors. The sound, performance, dependability, resale and looks are fantastic. I’ll have a hard time switching over to the Verado and a Pro Kicker when the time comes only because of how much I love these things. I know the day will come soon where I will make a model change BUT I’ll never switch from Mercury. In the 24 years that I have been running them, I have NEVER had ANY problems with these motors. I have always been treated well by Mercury and my allegiance will always remain with them.
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| As a dealer, I admire Mercury and have confidence that they will do what is right when a customer has a problem and it is "crunch time". They have not left me hanging when I needed them, yet. Sometimes I had to wait for parts quite awhile, but all motor companies get into jams like that now and then. But, Mercury always did what was right and I thank them for that. |
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| I recently bought a 621 Ranger with a optimax 250 xs and with talking to people about this motor they have been telling me that there were some problems with this motor. It's still under warnty so i'm not to worried, has anyone heard anything and are there surtian things i can do to keep this motor running at top performance. |
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Member
Posts: 874
Location: Neenah, WI | Marbleye, The only Opti I ever owned was a 1999 225 HP. It was on a Triton 205 and performed flawlessly. Here's my advice to you: Don't rely on "what you hear" too much. Read your owners manual and seek advice from a reputable dealer with a good service department. So much crap is spread about this or that motor or boat brand that they are all made to look like junk. You've made a big investment in a pretty nice rig, protect it. Good Luck this year. |
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Member
Posts: 1656
| Two of the most abused Mercurys that I know of are sitting in my garage.
My 5 horse, has been a tough little motor.....It's got a "pretty" camoflage paint job with a cattail and mud polished prop. It's ran over stumps in the middle of the night and keeps on going. It's ran with no water pump until it decided it could give no more and would limp in on idle. All I've ever done is fed it good gas and kept the gear lube changed and a new spark plug. I'll have a hard time parting with that motor.
My recently aquired 7.5 horse was bought new by my grandfather. It's been well used by him and my uncle and myself. A little TLC and I'm sure this motor will continue serve me, and my family, well over the years. |
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Member
Posts: 376
Location: Menominee MI, In Da UP Eh? | Hmmm.....
Personally all I have ever owned were Merc or Mariner outboards. Never had any real reason to change. It helped with them being MWC sponsors when I was on the trail too!
Never had any major troubles with any of my motors. Aside from a few little odds n ends, and one potted voltage regulator, they have all been dependable and strong motors.
Of course you all realize, I leave out consideration for things that I did to my motors...Just ask Jay at the Merc Trailer about Nofish and his Props..... 
And, in all honesty, tho not sponsored by any motor co at the moment, Merc will be one of the first choices when equipping next rig!
Edited by Nofish 2/27/2005 10:51 PM
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