Honda vs Merc

[Bob Thomas]

Does anyone know anything about which 4 stroke would be better a Honda
50HP or a Mercury 50 HP Bigfoot????

[PRidau9482]

I have a friend who just bought a 50 honda. He absolutely loves it. Honda has
had more experience in developing the 4 strokes than mercury has. I just
ordered a 130 honda.
I will let you know what I think after it comes in.

paul

[Mel Haylock]

Bob,
Have you also looked at the Yamaha 50T (high thrust)? The advantage
over the Honda is that it is geared lower (about 2.4:1 as opposed to about
2:1) and can swing a 14" prop (vs. about 12.5"). This gives substantially
more low end thrust -perfect for displacement or semi-displacement hulls
to run at or just above hull speed. I have been told that the bigger
4-strokes sold by Mercury/OMC are actually Japanese. I haven't seen the
specs, but I suspect the Mercury Bigfoot is actually a version of the
Yamaha 50T.

Mel Haylock

[Les Lampman]

Bob,

I'm going to jump right in here with both feet but up front I'm going to
tell you I'm a Honda Marine Dealer. I can't ship Honda's out of my store
(not allowed by Honda) and am not looking for business. If you expect me to
tell you to run out and buy the Honda I'm going to surprise you. I love the
Hondas, I think they're superbly engineered and have a long history of
reliability and are easy to work on. But that doesn't make them the 'right'
engine in every situation. You have to look at weight, intended use, up
front cost, maintenance cost, etc.

So...what kind of boat is it going on? The point made about the High-Thrust
engine is valid but it's like putting a 4.11 rear-end in your truck. You're
kinda stuck in 'low gear' so to speak but if you're trying to push around a
really heavy boat it might just be the ticket. If the boat doesn't weigh so
much and you want a better cruise speed at lower rpm then the High Thrust is
working against you.

The price of the Honda 50 includes the prop, a 6.6 gal fuel tank, the fuel
hose, the tachometer, a trim/tilt gauge (on the power trim model) and the
remote control unit. This adds up to quite a bit of money if they have to
be purchased separately on another brand.

The 50 Merc power head is built by Yamaha. Nothing wrong with that, Yamaha
builds a great product. Mercury builds the rest of the unit.

I find the Honda extremely easy to maintain and work on. It uses carbs that
are easily cleaned if plugged by old fuel/debris/whatever and routine
maintenance is quick because removal of the hood gives you access to
everything in the engine compartment. You do not have to remove more casing
to get to things.

A Honda 50, with power trim and tilt, in a long shaft version should set you
back about $5,800 with all the aforementioned equipment. Obviously, this
can vary a bit.

Hope this helps and happy boating with whatever product you choose.

Regards,
Les Lampman
_______________________________________________

Bob Thomas wrote in message <35A3C951...@cisco.com>...