Yamaha 250 Show vs Mercury 250 Pro XS

Looking at a new boat. Can't get the Yamaha till about Sept. so I'm told by ore than one dealer. I have ran Merc before 14 years ago. What are yall's opinion between these two motors? Yamaha 250 Show and Mercury 250 Pro XS. Thanks

Probably a lot of people will tell you the SHO, they are great motors. Personally I’m a Merc Guy. Just love mercs, cheaper, I think parts are easier to come by. But SHO is a good motor too. I like the performance of a Merc. If I could get a new one right now, Merc 250XS all day long. Sporty for my application.

If your waiting for Yamaha to finish up doing whatever their doing, your gonna wait a whole lot longer than 8 months, production works with a 4 to 1 ratio, for everyday 1 day down, 4 days lost, you might get your Yamaha in 2019/20. I would go to your next choice and research it, can't forsee them getting any motors out this year, thats only being realest

Go Mercury

The Merc. I helped a friend break-in his SHO over the weekend. I was not impressed after following break-in instructions for 5 hours, I opened the 2018 Skeeter FX21 Limited w/ a 2017 250 SHO 66mph with a light load. Took it a long time to reach that speed. Drove a 2017 521C Ranger with tournament load 74mph and got there pretty quick.

Whatever.....my TZX190 will get to 66. I have a good friend who lets me take his FX21 out with his SHO 250. It does 72 gps all day long. It's a dual console and loaded with his crud and all the stuff I feel like loading on top of his stuff he leaves in it.

Get the SHO. Having the best, and what you WANT, is worth waiting to get. Get the ProXS and you'll be kicking yourself in the [censored] every time a SHO fires up at the ramp. So quiet, so refined. And still plenty fast.

And getting new power heads every 200 hours. I would go mercury.

And blow motors because the air pump acted up....

I'm not about to stir the pot anymore, because both of those are great motors. I wouldn't mind a SHO.

But all I'm going to say is Mercury has been around MUCH MUCH longer than Yamaha outboards..

Blow motors because the air pump acted up..? Are you talking about the compressor? No issue with that on the newer ones.. The earlier Optimax's, yeah. Newer ones are fine. Just like Yamaha and their 250-300 HPDI's. THOSE actually blew up. When the compressors went bad on Optimax's, you just replaced it and went on with fishing.. All I can say is you see Mercury out number Yamaha at bass tournaments 7 days a week.. Mercury is a proven brand

Thought you weren't gonna stir the pot?

Haha. Go to the coast......Yamaha out numbers merc 100/1 where lives matter. Break down on a lake and it's simply a bad day.....break down out at sea and you are in a world of trouble. Yamaha brings em home.

Go Yamaha!!

That's just cause 4 strokes have more torque to move those big heavy bay boats around. 2 stroke life on the fast bass boats. In truth, they're all good motors. With a brand new one under warranty, I just like the Merc cause they're tried and true, and cheaper! Everyone works on them. Parts galore. I just being the guy that I am like Mercury cause... GO FAST I mean shoot my little 225 Merc'll put 73 mph to shame

that is because you have Bullet. When I was looking at bay boats most of what I saw down south had Suzukis. One of these days I will hang a 250XS on my Champ. Maybe sooner if stocks keep going up.

Honda has a 5 year warranty that you would probably never need. Do the Mercs and Yamahas have that?

Hyundai has a long warranty too.....

Why does Honda have a longer warranty on their outboards than they have on everything else they make? Because it is a sales enticement. It helps move product.

Haha I know I'm just stirring the pot and playing. Interestingly enough I think this Bullet /225x combo is going to the chopping block... I'm finalizing details on getting my new (to me) Bullet 20XDC with a 250XS on the back shipped down to me tomorrow so.... That should bust 73 by a little bit as well

4 strokes of equal displacement have no where near the torque of a 2 stroke.

The yamahas you typically see at the coast are the f-series 4 strokes. Plenty of SHO's on the shallow running boats, I guess they're meant to compete with the torque of a 2 stroke and they have short shafts. The gray f series 4 strokes have a reputation for being extremely reliable - something the 2-stroke guys won't typically argue, but they don't have the hole shot the optimax or e-tecs can get. I have an optimax 150 on my Mako 2201 and I love it, but would not mind a 4-stroke re-power!

Anyway - to the OP, it's your call.. the Yami will be much quieter than the opti. performance will be similar, but the opti will likely have a better hole-shot and top end speed. I'm betting you won't be disappointed going either direction all things equal.

the four strokes in the end will hurt the fishing industry, just like it hurt the motocross industry. 4strokes are great when they are running, but when they blow up, it costs twice as much to repair. For some people that isn't an issue, but for the working class that could be very difficult. As more and more boats are equipped with more 4 strokes, years on down the line they will be just a ticking time bomb.. If money isn't an issue, get the yamaha, otherwise by the Mercury, I know i would.

You really can't go wrong with either. As long as they are in warranty, who cares if it blows up and someone else pays to have it fixed? Everyone currently offers 5 years of warranty with promos figured in. Mercury will allow you to warranty for a total of 8 years if you want to pay for it.

As far as failure rate, anyone can argue both sides depending on brand saturation in their market. I have personally replaced more Yamaha SHO powerheads in the last 6 months than I have Mercury. Yamaha SHO is fast and quiet. Opti is fast and a bit louder. It's supposed to be that way. SHO is not available.... Mercury is....

Longevity could be either way. They are all prone to failure. The 2 stroke will be cheaper in almost every case. If you're in the market, give me a call. I will not give a sales pitch, but will honestly answer any question that you may have about either brand. I sell and work on both.

I stand corrected. I for some reason had always been told 4 strokes made a bunch of torque but that a 2 stroke was better for top end. My mistake.

I live on the coast! I'm about 15 mins from Galveston and fish this bay complex quite a bit. I get it, lots of Yamaha's down here. But I'm pretty sure the OP is mounting on a bass boat..

Sorry for stirring the pot unintentionally