[willy]

Kajun, just some thoughts based on my personal experience for what it is worth to you. I had a 50 horse Force that came on a 18 foot tin boat that I used a lot. It was a good basic inexpensive engine built on a Merc block and out sourced peripheral parts to keep cost down. It was never intended to be a top line and durable engine. Mine was reliable while I had it but it was very low hours. And even though I will get some sh!t about this this is my own humble opinion based on three engines and numerous friends experience, unless you are a good marine mechanic Mercury's will nickle and dime you to death, they will leave you stranded 3 to 1 or more compared to just about every other make out there. The Force was a inexpensive version of these motors so if you got some good running time out of the one you had count your blessings and move on to another make.
It kills me to say this because they are American made which is very important to me but very hard to live up to sometimes.
Some guys here are a lot more mechanicaly inclined than yours truly and could make a Jaberwarthy Marine engine from the 1940's run on nothing but their self produced methane if they had to and God Bless them but for the average bloke like me Mercury is a dead issue in my opinion.
Now after all the arrows pass overhead I will tell you that you can find a good used Johnson/Evinrude for a good price now and if you can get your hands on a Yamaha 2 stroke you will probably have the best two stroke engines ever made. If you are going four stroke then you can pick any one of the Yippanese models cause they are all good. And of course you got the ETECS of which I am holding my opinion in reserve at this point. ;)