The Yamaha F150 has an excellent reputation for longevity. You'll never find any 2S outboard with this many hours on the original powerhead.
Check out this testimonial.
"I came from a background of family that used to commercial blue crab. The Yahama F150 are pretty much bullet proof. Have seen the F150 motors over 7,000 hours on original powerhead and still run strong."
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... dos-3.html
Don't buy into the etecs 3 yr/300 hour no maintenance nonsense either. If you use the engine in saltwater it says right in the etec owners manual that requires
annual maintenance, just like a 4S does.
Check out this testimonial from a boater who faced a similar choice between 4S and 2S.
"I speak from experience as I owned a Wellcraft with twin 250 hp E-Tecs and have tested the exact same boat with Yamaha 250 hp four strokes. I bought into the "two strokes have more torque" arguement and paid an extra $ 2,500 just to get the E-Tecs when I ordered the boat new. My dealer tried to talk me out of getting the E-Tecs and in hindsight I wish I had listened to him as it turned out to be a very costly mistake.
I used the boat alot for cruising and at those speeds the E-Tecs easily burned 2 1/2 gph more than the same boat with four stroke Yamaha 250's did. I didn't believe it until my dealer took me out on the same boat he had in stock that had four stroke Yamaha 250s on it and I saw for myself. And both boats weighed the same and the sea conditions were the same as well.
I kept a log of all my expenses. Over the 300 hours that I owned the boat it cost me an extra $ 1,800 in fuel to run the E-Tecs over what the Yamaha four strokes would of used. Additionally, I used the xd-100 two stroke oil from Evinrude and averaged 80-85:1. I used right at $ 2,400 in oil during the 300 hours that I owned the boat ( averaged paying $ 40 a gal for the xd-100 oil ).
As if all these extra expenses to run the E-Tecs weren't bad enough, my greatest loss came when I tried to sell the boat. I ended up getting $ 12,500 less for my boat than the exact same boat my dealer had recently sold that had four stroke Yamaha 250's on it. Actually my boat even had a little less hours and better electronics on it but it still didn't help. Buyers are only willing to pay alot less for a boat that has E-Tecs on it than they will for the same boat with four stroke Yamahas on it.
It also took alot longer to sell my boat too and that again was because it had E-Tecs. My dealer won't stock new boats with E-Tecs anymore because they take so much longer to sell. The number of interested buyers is much much smaller for a new or used saltwater fishing boat with E-Tecs than the same boat with four strokes.
All totaled I lost nearly $ 20,000 just because my boat had E-Tecs instead of four stroke Yamahas. I could of done the oil and gear lube changes on the four stroke myself and kept the maintenance expenses to a minimum. How I wish I could take back that bad decision.
Learn from my big mistake - don't get the E-Tecs."
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... ost2417704
This is confirmed by Anglers Edge Marine, a very successful broker who sells over 700 boats a year, and his comments about the etec's poor resale value.
"The reality is that a very very very small percentage of buyers want an e-tec. About 95% of buyers want a 4 stroke.
E-tec is normally the kiss of death on resale.
I sell more boats than any dealer in this country and I can tell you that they are very hard to resell. Just the way it is.
Everyone wants 4 strokes these days.
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... ed-11.html
No wonder there are now over two dozen salt water fishing boat builders that have installed 4Ss exclusively on every one of the tens of thousands of boats they've collectively built since 2002. And how many salt water fishing boat builders install only the etec ?
Not even ONE !!!
You might even want to consider going with Mercury's new 150 hp 4S. It's their hottest selling engine right now and at just 455 lbs it only weighs 22 lbs more than the etec at 433 lbs.
Check out these test results on a boat similar to yours, a 26' Sundance with Mercury 150 hp 4Ss on a bracket. He cruises at 35 mph and gets an amazing 2.5 mpg, and still has a 50 mph top speed too !
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... rokes.html
