Mariner 150 v/s mercury 225

[Destroyer]

Hi and welcome.

Really hard to give you a proper answer, since you seem to want two different things. If you stay with the 150 you'll get reasonably good performance from the boat. It will not be a speed demon, but Wellcraft sold these boats with 150's on them for a long time. and a lot of people think it's the perfect balance of weight to performance to fuel economy. Look for about 35 - 45 mph depending on prop, weight, water conditions,, etc.

On the other side of the coin, the 225 is a monster that will put you in the high 50 to 60 mph class, again depending on prop, weight, water conditions, etc. The downside will be considerably less fuel economy, and the extra weight will make your boat squat a little deeper in the rear end. Trim tabs will help a lot in both configurations, but especially with the big boy on the end. Hanging a bracket, especially a flotation type of bracket, will help tons with the added weight.

There are a lot of people on here that can dial in your particular engines and give you pretty accurate estimates of what to expect. My observations are strictly IMHO stuff.

[kamikaze]

If I were you I would run the 150 until it has a problem that not worth fixing while you establish reliability. Skip the bracket (ridge can disagree, but I believe you won't be happy with it on a 20 ft hull) and focus your rebuild efforts on the Seahawk. Besides its easier to recoup investment in V20 if it's running and you can rebuild rig the Seahawk at your leisure.

[phatdaddy]

Both answers above give good advice. I'm guessing it;s a 25 inch transom and not the notched 20 inch. I'd run the v as is and save the motor you know for your project you know.

[Troutkiller2006]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my biggest concern is gonna be the reliability/ quality of the mariner. I don't lnow not do I know anyone who know about these motors. I like tbe bracket on a smaller boat for the extra room of the full transom and it's really not that much work. Plus if it works well, I think it will make the boat easier to sell later. When I sell it I will sell it with the mariner, hopefully as a running boat. I can take it off while it's running well and put it back on to sell running well. Shallow water performance with the bracket, especially with the 225, even without the bracket running yhat 225... Those are my biggest unknowns. It does have Bennet trim tabs.

This is probably gonna come down to a flip of a coin, lol.

Worth mentioning, I'm not new to v20's. I love these boats. I have a 92 cuddy cabin with the Johnson sea star 175 that I restored. Great boat! I love it but my dad loves it a little more than I do. It lives with him now

[spareparts]

The Mariner is the same as a Mercury, what year model is it. I'm tempted to use a 250 Merc on my V as well, but decided to stay with my old Mercury 200(simular to your Mariner). I wouldn't put the bracket on just to take it off later, but I'm interested in how it would do with the bracket

[phatdaddy]

I ran a. 150 mariner for 20 years on my cuddy. I also used the oil injection system. Lotta bad feelings about the plastic gear on the crank that turns the oil pump. Mine never failed for 1800 hours, my oil alert went out and the tank sensor did not let me know the tank under the cowling was dry. Ultimately , it was my lack of attention that did it in.

One of the biggest issues on that vintage motor is the steering arm. My rotted fairly fast. To replace requires just about complete disassembly of the motor.

Sounds like your comfortable swapping motors around, so I'd do whatever you want to do.
It's only four bolts.

As far as reliability of the merc/mariner. Bout as good as any thing with that many moving parts using hot salt water for cooling.

[Troutkiller2006]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

I ran a. 150 mariner for 20 years on my cuddy. I also used the oil injection system. Lotta bad feelings about the plastic gear on the crank that turns the oil pump. Mine never failed for 1800 hours, my oil alert went out and the tank sensor did not let me know the tank under the cowling was dry. Ultimately , it was my lack of attention that did it in.

One of the biggest issues on that vintage motor is the steering arm. My rotted fairly fast. To replace requires just about complete disassembly of the motor.

Sounds like your comfortable swapping motors around, so I'd do whatever you want to do.
It's only four bolts.

As far as reliability of the merc/mariner. Bout as good as any thing with that many moving parts using hot salt water for cooling.

Thanks man. I am comfortable swapping motors around. Always enjoyed building stuff. I am a ship builder by trade so it's kinda what I do... Kinda. I build warships.

I'll prob run a tank or two through the mariner first. See what I think of it. What kinda economy it gets. I might be okay with it. Might come down to a coin flip! I'll probably build a t-top for the boat before anything else. I've never built one before so it will be good to get one under my belt before I tackle what will probably be the last fishing boat I own

[Troutkiller2006]

Originally Posted by spareparts

The Mariner is the same as a Mercury, what year model is it. I'm tempted to use a 250 Merc on my V as well, but decided to stay with my old Mercury 200(simular to your Mariner). I wouldn't put the bracket on just to take it off later, but I'm interested in how it would do with the bracket

Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't remove the bracket later. If I put it on I'll build the transom up just like if I'm gonna keep it. And when I seel the boat it will all stay. Only change for the sale would be a motor swap, if I do run the 225.

I don't live in the country anymore. I don't have room here. Not even a shop, just a two car garage. Ole lady don't like the boat parts, jeep parts and motorcycle parts laying around so the bracket can just go with the boat. She even acting like she might wanna park in the garage one day! Smh

[RidgeRunner]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

If I were you I would run the 150 until it has a problem that not worth fixing while you establish reliability. Skip the bracket (ridge can disagree, but I believe you won't be happy with it on a 20 ft hull) and focus your rebuild efforts on the Seahawk. Besides its easier to recoup investment in V20 if it's running and you can rebuild rig the Seahawk at your leisure.

I can but I won't, Kamikaze. I agree with you 100%. Don't get me wrong, I do like the bracket. But what a lot of work and $$$ to get it right/or my idea if right in any case.. Hydraulic steering is almost mandatory, extending the cables and harness and all the little things that got moved fore to compensate for the weight and lever action of the bracket and outboard hanging 30" farther back. Another huge detractor if you go with a bracket you will loose the self-bailing ability of the hull. To some a self bailing boat for offshore is very important. I believe the draft would increase(even if the bracket were a floatation type) which is not anything you would want running in the shallows. Coming off plane, the motor will dig in. However, the bracket does help to keep the bow down on planning, so the draft might be even bracket vs no bracket. You will be squatted in the stern to start with..
As for what it might be worth after the upgrades? I have doubts about recouping any additional funds on the resale, who knows it might hurt the sale. At the end of the day you will still have a 30 year old 20'6" boat. I would concentrate on the other restoration project and run the V just as you get it, especially if it is in good shape.. Just keep it that way while you work on the other boat and when it comes time you can sell it off and make a profit, who knows you might need funds at some point to finish the project(yes I am a complete smart arse) My point being there are still a ton of boats on the market for cheap that are many years newer than your V, I am not saying they are better but there are some with more "curb appeal", I love my V and it works for me, but nobody will ever give what I have put into her over the years, I knew that after the first couple days of grinding fiberglass.. Mind you, I don't want to be the wet blanket, you seem to have a lot of enthusiasm and there can never be too much of that, SO whatever direction you decide to go.. My humble offerings...
Bret, I am so happy that motor is doing you right. As for your bracket, your cuddy has a lot of weight forward that the center console doesn't have. I would be afraid that the center console with a bracket and the 3 liter would porpoise. You mentioned handling at the dock. There is a huge issue in reverse with a 20' bracketed boat. LOL! Add a little wind and let the fun begin! The reverse thrust from the outboard gets piled up and deflects off the transom and often moves the stern around unexpectedly, very slow to react port to stbd in reverse--- versus a non-bracketed boat where most of the reverse thrust goes under the hull and you have a good bit more "control". Not a big deal, flat bottom boats, airboats, jetboats, all have similar docking issues..
The V is still a breeze besides I consider all on board to be "human fenders" and the pep talk goes like this: "Gellcoat costs money, skin will grow back."

Welcome aboard TroutKiller!

[Troutkiller2006]

Anybody got a quarter, lol! Thanks for all the opinions guys. And ridgerunner, thanks for the welcome. But it's really a welcome back. I was a god (still hate using thT term) here years ago. So I know a lot of you guys, y'all just don't know me! Muhahaha