Used Honda Vs New Mercury

T

Tom Roberts

Well-known member
I was considering buying a used 1995 40HP Honda motor for my 16ft Tracker Grizzly. Anybody have any opinions on this particular motor? I was considering a new 50 HP Mercury but for 3 or 4 thousand dollars difference and 10 HP the Honda is tempting.
 
i don't know if you are like me or not, but if you are at some point you want power and speed. i would get a used two stroke mercury tiller rated at the max hp of the boat. That is just me.
 
Kris.....My boat is rated for up to a 50 HP. I see that Bass Pro still has some older/new stock 2 cycle 50's but I would have to set my boat up for a steering wheel ($1000). I wonder how much power/speed difference between a 40 and a 50 ?
 
I know in SC the older honda 4 stokes water jackets were gearing eaten up by the tannins in the water from all of the cypress trees. That being said once a motor reaches 10 you can usually start considering more expensive problems occurring. I would opt for the merc any day new or used. My 2 cents

R
 
Think about it.........50 hp is a 25% increase over a 40 hp......that's significant.
I would definitely consider a 2-stroke, especially now that they're fading away (I'm still annoyed by that). My 2000 40hp Mercury 2-stroke is only 167 lbs.....even new 2-stokes are much heavier.....and 4-strokes are much bigger/heavier.
Good luck.
 
Tom,

When comparing hp here is how I look at it. Your boat will take a minimun of 15 hp to get up on plane empty. So that leaves you with 25 hp (40 minus15) or 35 hp (50 minus 15) for the gear and people, dogs, etc.

This means that stepping up from the smaller motor to the bigger motor is a 40% increase in the power available, after discounting the hull requirements. I would go with the larger motor. You will definately tell the difference when carrying a full load, not so much when empty.

Just my 2 cents.
 
my prop man had a 30 honda on a 15 alumacraft waterfowler and he tried every prop pitch and cupped them and the damn honda just didnt have the gear ratio he claims for performance
 
I guess it depends what you can afford.

I'm not a big fan of overpowering boats. I've never put a motor at the max HP rating on any of my boats--except for my canoe, which is grossly overpowered with a 3.5 HP . . . . .

Most of my spots aren't too far away, and the difference between getting there at 20 mph instead of 30 isn't much. Reliability, durability, easy starting in the cold are all way more important than HP, IMHO.

I might prefer a new motor for lots of reasons, but the 10 HP difference isn't what would make up my mind in your situation.

I might feel different if I was making a lot of long runs in the boat.
 
Honda's are great motors, but I'd go for the new Mercury. Brand new you'll have a 5yr warranty, you can't beat that...been there done that!
 
Davey....Thanks for the imput. Your reasoning makes sense. My local bass pro has a couple of 50's and I figured if I ever have any problems I should be covered.
 
I don't understand how some folks claim they can't get enough power out of a 40 for a 16' alu. skiff.
I run a 40 hp Honda on a 19' Carolina Skiff, all the associated gear, and put 25 totes of crab on it and still get it on plane and get where I'm going.
You guys must be looking for warp speed. :)

That said, a new merc is probably the Tohatsu motor which is a good one, and a 10 year old motor is....10 years old.
 
George S. - you can drive that skiff full of 25 totes of crab all the way to my house in Little Rock an I wouldn't be disappointed!!!! Trip :)
 
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