Well, I up and did it.

[MOPanfisher]

Think I will keep on with my old 90 HP Yamaha, maybe I will even get it out on the water this year. For what it's worth we have 4 strokes at work and have run the dog crap out of them, and never had any issues.  We do make sure to service them at the end of each year though.  Boats we have broken and had welded repeatedly but the motors keep on chugging.

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, MOPanfisher said:

Think I will keep on with my old 90 HP Yamaha, maybe I will even get it out on the water this year. For what it's worth we have 4 strokes at work and have run the dog crap out of them, and never had any issues.  We do make sure to service them at the end of each year though.  Boats we have broken and had welded repeatedly but the motors keep on chugging.

What make/year/and HP are they ? 

There's bound to be a few good ones among them.   I just haven't noticed any pattern yet.  

I have a tech buddy in Australia that swears that the carbureted Yamaha 60 4-stroke is going to be one to make me eat my words.     It has no plastic in the powerhead, rattles like a diesel, but he thinks they'll live long and not suffer the typical loss of low-end grunt.     

 

[MOPanfisher]

The older one is about a 2006 90 HP Mercury 4 stroke on a Yriton aluminum 18 ft boat, with multiple welds on the boat.  The newer one is a maybe 3 to 4 yrs old, 115 Mercedes 4 stroke on an Oquawka 20 footer, that boat is a tank.

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, MOPanfisher said:

The older one is about a 2006 90 HP Mercury 4 stroke

Well that one won't be voting in the next election, I can promise you that. 😂

 

4 hours ago, MOPanfisher said:

The newer one is a maybe 3 to 4 yrs old, 115 Merc 4 stroke

That one won't outlast it's original set of spark plugs.   🙄

[Basfis]

I’m biased towards Japanese outboards. They just seem to work, much like their automobiles....

I have thoroughly abused a 97 Honda 40 duck hunting and would have another one in a heartbeat. Yamaha 4stroke on our pontoon is incredible. Doesn’t even require a strong battery to get rolling. 
 

mercury made by Yamaha 👍🏻
Mercury home brew, probably not. 
 

4strokes aren’t inherently bad outboards. Hp to displacement rules internal combustion. No replacement for displacement. 

[Dutch]

I too guess I am one of the lucky few.  My 250 Verado is coming 5 and hasn’t missed a beat.  I had several JonRudes over the years and I blew all of them except a 50 hp which I only had a few months.

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Basfis said:

4strokes aren’t inherently bad outboards.

They certainly don't have to be, and they hopefully won't be forever.  But up to date they continue to be disposable outboards,  which really wouldn't be such a bad thing if they weren't so gawd aweful expensive to buy new.    

From my perspective as a repair center owner, I'm not going to charge someone for trying....but failing to succeed.... So attempting to fix a 4-stroke with a running problem is always a gamble for me, which in 80% of cases means a huge waste of my time.   And lost time is money lost.    It's just frustrating because I could have been making money, out fishing, or enjoying myself otherwise.

[Basfis]

21 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

They certainly don't have to be, and they hopefully won't be forever.  But up to date they continue to be disposable outboards...

Honda produces 23M engines annually. More than any other. 

I can appreciate your repair perspective. Good engines (reliable, low maintenance) aren’t good for parts and service. Poorly designed engines suck for service. 

friend of mine left Brunswick for another brand of boat. Business model doesn’t include p&s at an appreciable level due to not needing p&s. 

[fishinwrench]

37 minutes ago, Basfis said:

Honda produces 23M engines annually. More than any other. 

I can appreciate your repair perspective. Good engines (reliable, low maintenance) aren’t good for parts and service. Poorly designed engines suck for service. 

friend of mine left Brunswick for another brand of boat. Business model doesn’t include p&s at an appreciable level due to not needing p&s. 

The majority of outboard sales, believe it or not, is in a saltwater environment where no matter how well they design and build them they simply are not going to last very long.    So the incentive to build long lasting ultra-reliable outboards just isn't there.   Johnson/Evinrude did it.... but they aren't producing outboards anymore.    The remaining outboard manufacturers know that the motor will succumb to saltwater corrosion within 10 years regardless.  So designing the powerheads, gearcases, ect. to last forever, and providing parts for motors older than 7-10 years old is pointless from their standpoint.     I get that, but it sucks for us freshwater users.   

[BilletHead]

6 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

The majority of outboard sales, believe it or not, is in a saltwater environment where no matter how well they design and build them they simply are not going to last very long.    So the incentive to build long lasting ultra-reliable outboards just isn't there.   Johnson/Evinrude did it.... but they aren't producing outboards anymore.    The remaining outboard manufacturers know that the motor will succumb to saltwater corrosion within 10 years regardless.  So designing the powerheads, gearcases, ect. to last forever, and providing parts for motors older than 7-10 years old is pointless from their standpoint.     I get that, but it sucks for us freshwater users.   

                    This I tend to believe. From what little time I spent along the coast fishing every yard had a pile for salt destroyed outboards. Every day when pulling mine out of the water I took a hose and washed it off and ran some water through it with muffs. A local came along and asked what I was doing? I explained and he laughed. Said that well water you are putting through is is bad too. I take mine way inland to flush and clean them. if you live down here you will eventually loose the battle.  Did the same with my fishing reels. Thankfully it was only a weeks worth of salty water.