Most reliable outboard?

[lured away]

personally, i don't own a big motor, but i have talked to about twice as many people that have problems with mercs as opposed to yamaha

Do you think this is because there are probably twice as many Mercs on the water as there are yamahas (or any one paricular brand for that matter)

[stockcars6]

that is very true!

[Gambler3.0]

I have a little over 400 hours on my 225HO Etech. Almost all of those hours have been at WOT. Never had the slightest issue with it. Hope I haven't jinxed myself now that spring is here.

[chadmack282]

the motor that is taken care of properly, preventative & regular maintenance(waterpump).
Fresh premium fuel always , a quality fuel additive (I personally like sea foam).
without these things & a couple other things depending on carbon or efi, 2 or 4 stroke no motor will be reliable.

[bigwormy]

I had a merc 150 for 10 years. And I've had a Johnson 175 for 6. I'm very lucky as I never ever service them, take any precautions, and basically just fish out of em. Not saying I shouldn't, but I don't. My dad never did/does and the habit wore off I guess. He never winterizes his boat and I've seen his cables in solid frozen ice many times. His boat always starts right up. In conclusion, I think if u got a good motor, u got a good motor regardless how much upkeep u do and if u got a crappy one, u just got a crappy one.

[Shellkat]

I have a 1976 85hp johnson that been on 3 boats,canada yearly,burnt a billon gallons of gas,in the river often,been beat banged and bounced off everything,only left me once over a dead battery. I put in dual batterys ,one for motor,one for other electrics and a switch where i can connect together for a jump start. Been through a dozen props.