Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My parents are looking at buying a new 22' pontoon. The dealer carries Suzuki and Mercury 115 hp 4 strokes. The Mercury is $300 more. They claim that the Suzuki is just as reliable, with a much stronger bottom/mid range, and equal with the Mercury up top. Do Suzuki's hold their value as good as Mercury's? Thoughts on the Suzuki? Thanks!

Which has the best dealer support where you are? Both are good engines. I like the Merc though..

jrolin1 wrote:Which has the best dealer support where you are? Both are good engines. I like the Merc though..

There's a good mix of both where i live within an hour drive. My dad is a Merc man, but i've read some good things about the Suzuki as well. I think he is leaning towards the Merc but he wanted some more input. The dealer's mechanic supposedly has a Mercury tattoo but admits that the Suzuki is a stronger motor in the low/mid range. I do know that the Suzuki has an oil bathed timing chain(no maintenance) while the Mercury has a timing belt.

Mercury has some sweet warranty specials. I got 5 years on mine.

I'd check to see what the best warranty is.

Disclaimer: I'm a Mercury man. Always have been. Always will be. I've always received excellent service and support from Mercury, never a complaint about them. I've had engines from an early 110 Thunderbolt, 150 Black Max, 225 Optimax, 250 Verado, 150 Verado, my 90 EFI, 40 EFI Jets. Also went to Mercury School back in the day and toured the plant. Although their smaller engines (60 and under) are built in China either by Tohatsu (30 & under) or at their own plant (40-60) , they still build everything over 75 HP in Fon Du Lac.

They've been around longer than anyone else and are what the other builders strive to be or beat.

But that's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

If you're wanting low-medium speed power out of a 115 horsepower, go with a 2 stroke Mercury 115 Optimax Pro XS. They're less expensive than a 115 hp 4 stroke and get just as good fuel mileage. They're a little louder at low and medium cruising speeds, but 2 strokes are better when pulling tubers and skiers.

The Suzuki's simply don't have the resale value of a Mercury, which makes the Merc a better value even if slightly more expensive on front end.

Suzuki's push large high pitch props since they have much lower gear ratios, and their props are hard to find in many places.

Suzuki pros over Merc
-Bigger block , 100/115/140hp on a 2.1L block Vs Merc 75/90/115 1.7l block
-Big gear ratio that swings big props for that 2 stroke "out of the hole" feeling
-6 year warranty that you probibly won't need
-Resale varies by market, up here in Minnesota Suzuki is has more resale (and lots of dealers)
-Refreshed 2013 model has lean burn and lost a few pounds, better fuel efficiency then previous and already thrifty 12' and old model.

Granted I'm Jap motor guy, but my Johnsuki has swayed me away from just having Yamaha and Honda power toys. And I tend to still shade away from Merc due to bad experiences I the carbed 2 smoke era, towed way to many off the lake in my teens, that said the only boats I've given a tow to in recent years is a I/O with a fuel leak and a locked up Etec.

Thanks for the replies everyone. My parents ended up going with neither! Went to the dealer and they were not impressed with the quality of the pontoon line they carried. I rode with them this morning to help point out things that they wanted.

On the way back home i decided to call a dealer closer to our house, but i hadn't talked to them yet. They carried Bentleys and Sylvans. After looking around for an hour it was between a 22' Bentley with strakes and a f115 or a 20' Sylvan with RPT tubes and a f115.

They ended up with a Sylvan 8520 loaded with options and RPT tubes powered by a F115 Yamaha . I was so glad to see them buying this boat and enjoying themselves! They had an aluminum bass boat which was fast, but was not comfortable at all. I spoiled them with comfort on my pontoon so they had to have one! Now they have a pretty bad @$$ pontoon loaded with options and the max horsepower. He's like me, he won't have a boat unless it has the max power that it's rated for. I'm so happy for them! This thing should roll pretty pretty good with the f115 and RPT tubes

They will do well with that setup. I just bought a Sanpan with that same motor. I won't win any drag races because my boat is heavy, but that motor is smooth a butter and has a great reputation. A 115 on a pontoon boat isn't really a speed demon. It's just a nice powerful cruiser that can kneeboard and tube. A 150 or better is needed for better performance. Congrats to them.

810 HOURS ON MY 2007 F115 YAMEY. ONLY HAD TO REPLACE STATOR UNDER WARRANTY. STILL PULLS AS HARD AS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT NEW. NOUGH SAID!

schmeg wrote:They will do well with that setup. I just bought a Sanpan with that same motor. I won't win any drag races because my boat is heavy, but that motor is smooth a butter and has a great reputation. A 115 on a pontoon boat isn't really a speed demon. It's just a nice powerful cruiser that can kneeboard and tube. A 150 or better is needed for better performance. Congrats to them.

I'm sure the 150 would be strong. Theirs should move along pretty good though. It's pretty light at 18xx lbs and is 20' long with Sylvan's new RPT tubes. Should run low 30s minimum?

slingshot wrote:810 HOURS ON MY 2007 F115 YAMEY. ONLY HAD TO REPLACE STATOR UNDER WARRANTY. STILL PULLS AS HARD AS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT NEW. NOUGH SAID!

That's good to hear for both him and me. My 90 Mercury is a YamaMerc. No clue on how many hours are on mine though, no hour gauge.

DRock wrote:

slingshot wrote:810 HOURS ON MY 2007 F115 YAMEY. ONLY HAD TO REPLACE STATOR UNDER WARRANTY. STILL PULLS AS HARD AS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT NEW. NOUGH SAID!

That's good to hear for both him and me. My 90 Mercury is a YamaMerc. No clue on how many hours are on mine though, no hour gauge.

*CAUTION: THREAD JACK*

I also don't have an hour meter. Which, for a maintenance freak like me, doesn't allow for accurate service intervals. During the off season I'll be installing a Smartcraft multi-gauge which will pull the hours from the computer and I'll be able to monitor all the engine systems.

It would also work on your '06.

BoatCop wrote:

DRock wrote:

slingshot wrote:810 HOURS ON MY 2007 F115 YAMEY. ONLY HAD TO REPLACE STATOR UNDER WARRANTY. STILL PULLS AS HARD AS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT NEW. NOUGH SAID!

That's good to hear for both him and me. My 90 Mercury is a YamaMerc. No clue on how many hours are on mine though, no hour gauge.

*CAUTION: THREAD JACK*

I also don't have an hour meter. Which, for a maintenance freak like me, doesn't allow for accurate service intervals. During the off season I'll be installing a Smartcraft multi-gauge which will pull the hours from the computer and I'll be able to monitor all the engine systems.

It would also work on your '06.

Good to know, thanks for the info. I'll have to look into that

New Mercury 4 stroke 150 is nearly as light as the Yammy 115 and offers much better power and top end. My .02