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I recently bought my first BW. It has a 1990 25hp Mercury 2 stroke console steering and moves plenty fast. I'm itching to repower with a 4 stroke with power trim. I'm considering Yamaha and Mercury, 25hp and 40hp. Any pros and cons, opinions and advice on manufacturer and hp/weight would be appreciated.
I have a 1977 BW13, and re-powered with a 2012 25 hp Mercury 4 stroke that has ppwer trim and tilt. I bought it used, with 7 hours, from a dealership sells pontoon boats with that motor on them stock. I was told a lot of people think they will be happy putting around, but soon decide they want more power so they end up with a lot of the 25hp Mercs with very few hours.
The motor has been very reliable and uses almost no gas (I can easily cruise around all day on 6 gallons). I do like that if my battery dies I can pull start the engine, and it's very easy the few times I have tried for funsies. The only maintenance I do is lube changes. If I were buying new, I don't know if I would get the power trim on such a small boat. For the most part, it seems like the boat is on plane or isn't. That may change with load and waves though.
For my uses, 25 hp is enough. I had a 50 hp 2 stroke on when I bought and it used a ton of fuel and unless the water was nearly flat, you just got beat up if you opened up the power. It went about 30-ish mph. The 25 can easily push 22 mph with 425 pounds of people, a 50 pound dog, and some gear. It only takes about 5 seconds to get on plane, which I think is acceptable. You won't be able to ski behind it, and tubing might be iffy.
The only two things I don't like about the 25 hp is that it can vibrate a little hard at low rpms, and it is heavy - about the same weight as the 50hp 2 stroke I started with.
Going by what i think you are aiming for I recommend the 30hp Suzuki. Offset main crank, injected, charges without a battery, light weight and all is included for a tic over 4K. I just powered my 13' with a 2014 Yamaha 40. Very expensive but I need the extra 10hp for how I use the boat.
Thanks to all for the responses. Based on what I'm looking for, I think I'm going with Eddie M's suggestion of the 30hp Suzuki. I've learned a lot about them lately.
Glad it meets your needs. BTW I bought the motor when Suzuki had a special that includes an extended 6 yr warranty so you might want to watch for a similar promotion. Check Porta-Bote which is where I got mine....
