Real costs/experiences of an outboard repower?

. I’ll be taking the uscg 25-100 ton captain license course/test this fall.

ears later.
good on ya...got my 40 ton license in 74', upgraded to 60 ton when renewal rolled around five years later.
From the description of the boats you've been running, currently in the USCG?
 
good on ya...got my 40 ton license in 74', upgraded to 60 ton when renewal rolled around five years later.
From the description of the boats you've been running, currently in the USCG?
No USCG for me, but a lifetime's worth of operating small craft for fieldwork in marine biology gigs all over the world and a couple summers of naturalist guiding in SE AK for a high-end tourism company. Turned out the years of my life spent at sea on NOAA ships didn't count for anything so I had to dig deep into the archives for the requisite sea days.

I'm not sure I'll ever really use/need the license, but if I don't get it now I'll probably time out for the requisite sea days within the last three years so it's kind of now or never and it's good to have options.
 
For fun, call that dealer I sent you the invoice from. I've seen enough folks come down from WA to buy from them that I think it's worth pricing out. That quote you got sounds on the high side, but I haven't shopped that size range before.
I called the OR dealer and I'd easily save over $2k (lower purchase price and no tax) by shopping down there.
 
I called the OR dealer and I'd easily save over $2k (lower purchase price and no tax) by shopping down there.
Like I was sayin... haha. I've made that suggestion to a lot of folks, and every single one has gone to Sportcraft for the install. Did you talk to Ryan?

They're a great shop and I feel very good about sending people there. Plus, if you have time to kill, there's lots of fun things to fish nearby, and I have the tools to fish them.
 
Like I was sayin... haha. I've made that suggestion to a lot of folks, and every single one has gone to Sportcraft for the install. Did you talk to Ryan?

They're a great shop and I feel very good about sending people there. Plus, if you have time to kill, there's lots of fun things to fish nearby, and I have the tools to fish them.
I talked to the Dad. He was going to have me chat w/ his son but since I don't actually have a boat and 2s engine to trade in (ha), Dad gave me all the rough numbers I needed.
 
I’m sure this will likely elicit hyper partisan responses but are there any brands of engines that are significantly better/worse? For instance, I found a 2005 Montauk 170 w 4s mercury a state away. One of my capt buddies is adamant that Mercury = garbage and to avoid at all costs. I’ve seen all the maintenance records for this engine and everything seems legit. FWIW at the asking price I could repower tomorrow and still be ahead compared to some of the asking prices of boats on the market nearby.
 
I’m sure this will likely elicit hyper partisan responses but are there any brands of engines that are significantly better/worse? For instance, I found a 2005 Montauk 170 w 4s mercury a state away. One of my capt buddies is adamant that Mercury = garbage and to avoid at all costs. I’ve seen all the maintenance records for this engine and everything seems legit. FWIW at the asking price I could repower tomorrow and still be ahead compared to some of the asking prices of boats on the market nearby.
Complicated answer honestly. Mercs are not well-regarded in the saltwater sportfishing community here. You see more on the Columbia around my parts, but few if any out on the coast. They are the engine you hear by far the most complaints about. BUT... they also have one of the better local dealers (Stevens), so that keeps them going.

Here's a rundown of each brand for the most part. I'd say this applies to the last half decade or so, but Merc has kind of been the same category for a while:

Mercury: Prioritizes new tech and high performance, often at the expense of reliability and efficiency. Best motor if going fast is your goal.

Yamaha: Not as well-regarded as they once were due to not really updating their stuff for a long time, and have a few models that have been problematic. Problematic as in catastrophic failures. Overall, they're solid and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one but not really my first choice. I've owned a few and they did the job. My peers also have some and like theirs.

Honda: Rock solid, dependabe workhorses. Not the fastest, usually the heaviest (sometimes by a wide margin), but just bomb proof.

Suzuki: Bang for buck value is high here. They've really come a long way in their most recent generations of motors and are very reliable, efficient and lightweight. Had some engines with issues over the years, but they seem very on top of correcting things.

Tohatsu: Awesome little motors. Anything over like a 90hp is a rebadged Honda, but they are the king of small engines.
 
Mercs have earned their reputation for poorer reliability, but the current bigger blocks of 90hp+ (150 hp released in 2011, 90/115 released 2014) have proven excellent reliability. Any “high performance” motors (Yamaha SHO, Merc ProXS) that squeeze out extra hp will be more trouble prone
 
Engine I’m looking at is a 2007 90hp 4s EFI. Isn’t this a Yamaha in disguise?
Very possible. That's the era where a lot of mercs were rebadged Yamahas while Merc got everything updated for their 4 stroke lineups. You'd probably have to check a vin.

If it was built in 2006 or before, it's probably a Yamaha
 
I don’t know the years, but I believe that some of the “rebadging” was more like sharing components … e.g., Merc buying Yamaha blocks, and building them out.
 
I don’t know the years, but I believe that some of the “rebadging” was more like sharing components … e.g., Merc buying Yamaha blocks, and building them out.
There was some of that as well, but there were some models that were just straight up Yamahas with new cowlings.
 
I’m sure this will likely elicit hyper partisan responses but are there any brands of engines that are significantly better/worse? For instance, I found a 2005 Montauk 170 w 4s mercury a state away. One of my capt buddies is adamant that Mercury = garbage and to avoid at all costs. I’ve seen all the maintenance records for this engine and everything seems legit. FWIW at the asking price I could repower tomorrow and still be ahead compared to some of the asking prices of boats on the market nearby.
Believe the Optimax line of Mercury is the most problematic from that time period. If not an Optimax, perhaps worth chasing down the build info from the serial number...if a Yamaha design/parts with proper maintenance should be reliable.
 
I called the OR dealer and I'd easily save over $2k (lower purchase price and no tax) by shopping down there.
have you thought of diving into the San Diego market? When I lived in Half Moon Bay had several friends pick up boats down there that would have cost much more in our local. It is a drive, but if it save thousands...
 
have you thought of diving into the San Diego market? When I lived in Half Moon Bay had several friends pick up boats down there that would have cost much more in our local. It is a drive, but if it save thousands...
There are a couple SD boats that I’ve been looking at. That’s a new one but looks good. Just hard to deal with tire kicking from literally the other side of the country.
 
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