New 15hp Two Stroke - Mercury Super Or Yamaha

[robnliz]

Hello Ladies and Gents
Looking to replace my outboard on my v nose punt with either a new 15 hp Yamaha or a mercury 15hp super from what I can gather is a 18hp Tohatsu rebadged. I am lead to believe Tohatsu makes Japan Merc not USA, Mariner and Evinrude under 30hp please correct me if I am wrong. My main question is has anyone had any experiences with these two outboards positive as-well as negative. All I can tell so far from my research is the Yamaha is a 100:1 oil mix weighs 5 kgs less then the merc and is suppose to be quieter and a 3 year warranty. Merc has a 5 year warranty and a 3 years corrosion warranty, supposedly idles rough and is a little loud and goes as hard as a 25hp, everything else I have been told by the dealers of both yamaha or Merc is that they are the best and nothing goes wrong them. Everyone else I ask gives me the old cartoon I use to watch on ABC when i was a kid Freaky Stories, This happened to a friend of a friend of mine, from Yamahas 100:1 oil ratio being to low and bearing and rings burn out too Mercs corriding out like aspirins dropping in water.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Cheers....Rob

[robnliz]

Cheers Matt appreciate your Quick reply. looks like you have made my decision very easy.Regards Rob

[Windknot]

I've always owned Yamahas and I have never had reason to question my choice. The only other motor that I might consider would be a Suzy.

[bender]

have mates with both - the genuine mercury is bullet proof - the tohatsu is rougher but just as good ... anyone who told you they corrode fast is pulling your leg.

murcury have the best corrosion technology of all the brands and it was purchaced on partnership from tohatsu..,,

there is a readon why merc is such a large seller - they are great motors ...

yammies are popular because generally they are cheaper than genuine mercs...

and tohatsu/mercs are a no frills merc that are used heavily in asia where thete dont get flushed and rarely get regularly serviced - but they start every time and run for years ..

the asian yammies also run long and hard but outrate the aussie models by far

[robnliz]

Cheers Wind Knot and Bender
Bender you have given way more insight then I could have found on the net.
I absolutely hate making decisions just on impulse, I need a new outboard and apart from the warranty each outboard company has and the oil fuel mixture the sales people can not tell me anything else about these outboards other then I wont have a problem and that they never had any come back with any true genuine warranty issues. This to me raises a few alarms in itself(Being Truthful to your customers) or are today's outboards that great and never break down...?

[bender]

Genuine merc - forward/reverse on tiller ... smooth idle .. retain value but more expensive to buy

Tohatsu metc - gear lever on side of motor ... they idle a bit rougher ... more power than a 15 genuine merc but hard to notice

Yammy - i think they are noisey and also dont idle as smooth as a merc but a good alrounder at a good price ..


Tohatsu merc has some brackets made from
2mm cut and bent marine grade stainless plate

Genuine merc has cast alloy brackets .

Both as good but stainless looks cheaper however lasts longer and doesnt corrode.


A quick search on prices shows this

WA - Merc tohatsu and Merc genuine
15 hp M Super (tohatsu) - $2,149
15 hp ML Super (tohatsu) - $2,179
15 hp M - $2,449
15 hp ML - $2,499
Region: Western Australia
Location: Midland Wa

Brisbane Yamaha -

Yamaha
15HP REDUCED!
SHORT: $2250 / LONG: $2400
15FMHS - Yamaha 15hp 2-Stroke

Im sure you will be happy with whatever you buy ..

I prefer genuine mercury
I like forward/reverse on tiller
Gen merc also has multiple stages of tilt
5 stages of trim
The cheapest by far to run

I also prefer long shaft as i like tinnys with deeper sides and a full transom for those days when the chop comes up .. long shafts hold value better too.

[Twoshoes]

Hey mate,

I've had a 18hp Tohatsu on my smaller tinny for about 5 years now and the thing is incredible. We used to wave ride 2m+ swell in our 3.6m and it starts first pull every time even after 8-12mths of sitting outside.

[robnliz]

Cheers Guys for the replies.
Getting some perspective on things and appreciate your feedback from your experiences and wealth of knowledge. Going to go in tomorrow see what deals I can get on the outboards either one seems to be worth having a crack at.
Cheers rob

[bender]

They are all good ... just match to your budget and see if any will thrown in a free service etc...

Merc - bells and whistles
Tohatsu - more ponies
Yamaha - all rounder

[CLAY]

canty see a big drama with either, i myself run a 2008 30 merc (tohatsu i think)and have had no dramas with it at all, elec start and have only ever had 1 drama starting it and i think i flooded it to be honest. was just lining up for a comp at the tiem lol, sometimes i give it a big run and other times ive been known to run it for 50mtrs and no dramas either way. only thing id like it to be is a 40 instead lol

[damob]

Yamaha 15 2 strokes are great very reliable and very easy to start also troll very well

[chris the fish]

hi mate,
I totally agree with all of benders info, ive owned a boat hire business for 14 yrs running mostly yammies,great motors and proven to be reliable and almost unbreakable...even in the hire industry!! of note one 15hp 2stroke is still going after 14yrs with only annual leg oil change,two plug set change and two water pump replacements it rufuses to die! god knows how many hours its done and its on a 17foot cabin cruiser too so its worked very hard all its life...due to hire and drive regs we are limited to max speed of 10 knots so rather than govern a larger motor we under power them.it still starts first pull and runs sweetly.

[chris the fish]

hi mate further to my 1st post heres some more info.......
my mate and I a year ago both bought 385 jabiru pro tinnies,he got a yammie 15 2stroke and I got a 15 hp merc super.... and yes mine is really an 18 tohatsu painted black.( tohatsu's reliability is legendary). once run in as boys do we had to see who's was fastest,of note he is a lard ass and 20 kg heavier than me, under acceleration there was nothing in it and over about a one kilometre flat out run I gained about 70 metres so not much in it really.
his is 100to 1 oil mix mine is 50 to 1 and no mine is not a smoky stinking two stroke at idle. i like his gear change location on the tiller arm just below the throttle and at idle his runs smother than mine..... its hard to explain but I'd say generally mine is a harsher? running motor than his but not overly so. both of us are happy with our motors with no problems thus far and none expected. I bought the merc mostly on price as when I bought it it was around 600 dollars cheaper than the yammie, of course when mate bought his dealer had end of year run out and he didn't pay much more than me...grrr! another reason I bought the merc was there is a dealer in mt gambier who I trust with servicing etc and he has an excellent reputation in local circles ..... 4 years ago I bought an optimax for my bass boat from him and his service is great... of note too is keep in mind that to qualify for the 5 year warranty you generally need to have your motor dealer serviced at least annually. in hind sight I guess the main factor on what I purchased was the dealer location and reputation and not price.
in summary I don't think you can go wrong with either of these motors mate and to further confuse the issue Suzuki make a good product too
hope this helps in your deliberations... chris

[robnliz]

Cheers Guys for the replies, I have bought the US Mercury 15hp as my wife has been caught wife the fishing bug and thought it would be the most easiest for her to learn on. Coming up to crab season thought it would be the best outboard for her to learn on and was really impressed when we looked under the cowling cover to see all the wires painted in the Mercury anti rust stuff, the Super merc seemed to have their wires exposed with no coatings and seemed to have their throttle control connected to a plastic plate pulley? My brother just bought a Vortex which is a Parsun rebadged as far as he was told, was also told that they have alot of the same components as the Yamahas, supposedly weigh the same have the same engine? All in all Happy with my choice and I am very thankful for everyones replies
Cheers Rob

[aussiematrix]

After owning a US Mercury 9.9 for 12 years with no issues and now I'm running 15hp Mercury Super I would go the US version any day. Much better engine and as you said way better quality. My new 15 super mec didn't even make it to it first service before having issues. When I sold my old 9.9 it still looked like new except from the usual usage marks and it's still running around Lake Illawarra.

Aussiematrix