Starter pooped out

[cfelton]

I took the V out yesterday (second time this year, been really busy) and it ran flawlessly. I ran it about 2-3 hours with no problems. I came back to the boat landing and cut it off to wait to load it back up and when I went to start it up it wouldnt hardly crank, never got it started back up. I thought the battery was dead but after charging it up at home it barely started. The starter came from Advance Auto. Its only about 3 years old with very little hours on it! I learned my lesson about them. Does anybody know if theres an upgrade starter other than the Delco model? Maybe a new style geardrive or other. It goes on a Mercruiser 170 4 cylinder sterndrive.