Mariner 150 v/s mercury 225

[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

[1224bret]

I agree the weight I have forward helps me out a lot even still I get some proposing at certain speeds and conditions could just be me still getting used to my set up though... Wasn't really thinking about it but without all the nose weight from the cuddy it would probably porpoise a lot more... I have trim tabs on the boat now but I haven't got around to hooking them up so in all reality they may as well not be there.

Yeah docking is a pita for sure I've hit the dock with this boat almost every time I've took it out since I installed the bracket... Getting pretty good at wet sanding and buffing... But I will be adopting the gel coat cost money skin will grow back motto on my outings with others in the boat now!!!

In the end you have to be the one to make a decision and be happy with it! I'm glad I put the bracket on mine since I wanted a outboard. But my boat was I/o and if it had of been outboard when I got it I wouldn't have went through the trouble of adding the bracket. There are pro's and cons to everything it's all in what you want..

[Troutkiller2006]

For me the biggest benefit of the bracket would be the extra room in the boat. Planing faster is good too. But those are things that I can work around. Can't work around a motor digging in when you need to get into shallow water. Even the 150 on tbe bracket would prob too much of a trade off. May or may not end up throwing the 225 on there without the bracket, don't think the extra 140 pounds would be too bad. But if I like the 150 well enough I probably won't. If it's reliable and fuel consumption is decent (only 60 gallon tank on these boats) I'll just go fishing. The biggest reason for considering the swap to start with is I know my merc is a good motor, don't know jack bout a mariner. Broke down on a boat sucks! Ask me how I know

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Troutkiller2006

For me the biggest benefit of the bracket would be the extra room in the boat. Planing faster is good too. But those are things that I can work around. Can't work around a motor digging in when you need to get into shallow water. Even the 150 on tbe bracket would prob too much of a trade off. May or may not end up throwing the 225 on there without the bracket, don't think the extra 140 pounds would be too bad. But if I like the 150 well enough I probably won't. If it's reliable and fuel consumption is decent (only 60 gallon tank on these boats) I'll just go fishing. The biggest reason for considering the swap to start with is I know my merc is a good motor, don't know jack bout a mariner. Broke down on a boat sucks! Ask me how I know

Don't forget that Mariner and Mercury are really the same engine. In fact (and I could be wrong on this) I seem to recall that in it's first couple of years, the Mariner was called a "Mercury Mariner" engine.

[RidgeRunner]

At the dealership we always said that a Mariner was a Mercury with a bad paint job. The powerheads are all black under that Gray cowl IIRC..

I did have a old 2.4Liter 200 (389 lbs and approx 175 prop hp) on the bracket at one point. Balance was spot on, I think it ran 48 MPH.
The 550 lb motor, is a drawback in the weight department. But I like to ride out. 45 is a good cruise with the Opti getting real good mileage. 50 is a fast cruise and well, not bragging about top end because 61.7 MPH has not been seen in a very long while. BUT It will run 58 any day, on the rev limiter. It is more fun to have the power and not need it than to not have the power at all. Just saying... LOL! The hull behaves absolutely normal at speed even though it has been said they weren't designed to be fast.

[bradford]

45 is a good cruise with the Opti getting real good mileage. 50 is a fast cruise

That sounds great to me, love my 150, but just a little more top end would be my only change.