Taking the Verado plunge...300's vs. 350's
 

Going to repower my Cig Cafe Open. It currently has twin Merc 250 EFI 2-stroke smokers. Gonna pull the trigger on some Verados tomorrow and looking for opinions on if it's worth it to go with 350s over 300s. PS- I don't care about speed.... It's not a speedboat. The boat does 58-60 mph with the 250s. Anyone have any real world experience with this choice???
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I don't know about the 300's, but my 350's would take the place very well.

?? Are you selling them?

500HP in a 35 foot boat doing 60mph seems pretty fast to me. If you figure 58mph divided by 500hp that gives you .116 mph per hp. Multiply that by 600 and 700 you get 69.6 mph at 600hp and 81.2 mph. That being said please disregard the last 2 sentences. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Your math forgets to adjust for weight.........Verados are a lot heavier than old 2 strokes

Just needed to save this! :D :D :D

What about the new 300R? Lots of torque!

Way back question, on this boat you had a fuel smell/possible leak. What was your solution/outcome?

I think that 63-4 with the 300's and 67-8 with the 350's is more realistic. We spend the majority of our time around 45mph.. But, less stress on 'em at cruise speeds with the 350's is what I'm wondering??? I think that the pricing is about 3-4000 per engine. Trying to figure out if it's worth it. Are they the same engines with different programs or are they different builds?

Just a quick search and found this. https://boattest.com/view-news/5886_...the-difference

Well.... I have to admit that I obviously don't know chit about these outboards. LOL I was talking about the 300 and 350 that look the same and wasn't even considering the new style 300. I'll make a last minute decision when I'm at the table. :drink:

I have 300's on my 39CC Cig and they have been good, the 350's get you 3-6mph from what I remember, more torque as well. I do look at the style of your boat. It needs to look good off the back of your Cig. The 350 looks like it belongs on your boat IMO, 300's are narrow/tapered, certainly modern. I also read something about Merc doing away with the 350 at some point as the 300 power band is comparable to a 350 in certain speed ranges, weight would be a consideration as well, .
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Unfortunately no, they run well with this boat.

The new 300 V8 Merc is going to be the closest weight match for the 250 EFIs you have now. I have the same 250s on my 28 Manta and if I were to repower the 300 V8 makes the most sense. The supercharged inline 6 Mercs are a solid 100 lbs heavier EACH. Might be less of a concern on your 33 vs my 28, but still worth considering.

The 350s have an intercooler and are a little more forgiving with lower octane fuel. Great engines. Can’t go wrong with either.

Go with a pair of V8 300 ProXS or even a set of 300Rs. Around 540 pounds each for 25” midsections. They’re available with mechanical or DTS controls and they’ll retain your current steering setup. The new V8 Verados are DTS only and will require power steering. The new V8s only require 87 octane fuel.

300 V8's would be my choice, and I have 3 350 Verado's on my Cig. I'm a fan of the torque the V8 platform provides.
But you really can't go wrong with any of your choices. Good Luck

I have a 33’ ocean hawk which is essentially the same boat as yours, but a bit lighter. I have twin 300 verados and my boat will go 68-70 and cruises effortlessly at 48. As some have said above, the verados are heavy and the 300 pro xs 2 stroke is considerably lighter, but if you’re not out for speed, you will appreciate the torque of either the 300 or 350.

The 300 V8s will be the most fuel efficient.

Old 300 I6 vs 350 I6, the 350 is upgraded in more ways than the tune. The 350 is a detuned 400, and can be turned as high as 450+ by a tuner.

Me I would go with the 300's on that boat. I think in the long run you will be better off.

Not sure if your dealer mentioned it but today is the last day for a Mercury factory rebate. $1000 on the 300, $1250 on the 350

We repowered from 225 opti's to 300 verado's last year. If your doing the work yourself its pretty straightforward and hopefully you don't have all the wiring issues we did. If given the choice between the new v8 300's and the I6 350 verado I'd go with the new v8's. Remember you have to replace all your steering components as well and probably your batteries. These new motors and power steering pump need lots of power to run properly. Here's the thread on our repower: https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...zf-refurb.html

But, there is the mechanical mid section 300 V8 option, which is a big weight savings, power consumption savings, as well as a complexity savings.

I'd go with the V8 300s. The 300 Verados require 92 octane for the full 300 HP.

How beefy is the gear case on the V-8 300 vs the 350 (and optional case on I6 300)? Given the size of boat here I’d want the sturdiest gear case I could get.

These are what you want

USED PAIR MERCURY VERADO 300HP V8 BLACK OUTBOARD MOTOR | eBay

White 300 V8 😎

Ive never had power steering but it sure would be nice aside from the complexity.

Regardless of the power choice that Cafe Open is just a killer boat. Doing a full acrobatic pull-up over the side of my tiger this weekend while it was on the trailer 40 freaking times made me realize a day will come when that's not possible. Hopefully it's still 20+ years away, but it makes you realize how cool this boat is!

Good luck on the power choice....

New 300s all the way unless you have the $ to buy the extended warranty for the 350s. If a supercharger breaks it’s a $5500 part. I had twin 2014 300 Verados (inline six) and had to replace a supercharger, thankfully under warranty. Verados are the way to go all the way regardless of your decision. I’m in the process of buying a new boat and will only go with the new 300 even though 350s are an option. I’ll sacrifice a few ticks on the Speedo for piece of mind with reliability. Good luck.

Man there’s a lot of mis-information in this thread.

That said, I love my 400r and the 350 is mechanically nearly the same. However, in this case if it were mine I would go with the 300 v8. Make sure you get the 296 hp version not the 276 hp version.... The 350 has a small torque advantage but the 300 will achieve max performance on 87 octane, weighs less, and will operate under lower cylinder pressure/stress at almost all times. The 300 would sacrifice 15% power and 2% torque but coming from 250 2-strokes I don’t think you’ll miss it.

I thought I read there are some new Diesel Outboards that are pretty interesting.
Not Mercury though.

Oldschool, I just wandered on here...great to see your boat again...its been a long long time!

go for it, never enuff hp
 

I repowered my 1998 Fountain 31 cc /twin 2004 Mercury 225hp EFI 2 strokes with twin counter rotating Merc ProXs 300hp last spring, love the new Mercs. Unbelievable power ,control and response. If your hull can use the extra hp
handle the extra weight go with 350 or 400hp

I installed a custom aluminum ladder from my trailer to the boat bow, priceless.

The new Mercs require AGM ( Absorbed Glass Matt )batteries or else you will eventually fry ur alternators

which engines did you buy?

AGM batteries are required to extend the life of the batteries, not the alternators. AGM batteries can handle voltage spikes and drops from the DTS system and power steering better than a lead acid or gel battery.

My Merc owners manual specs AGM batteries for my 2020 Mercury 300ProXs. it doesn't say why but other multiple online sources state the alternators will burn out over time if AGM batteries are not used.

My info comes directly from Mercury’s engineering department, not ‘multiple sources online’. I’ve been handling Verados and DTS since their release in 2004.

If you wear out the acid batteries prematurely as you say and the alternator has to try and recharge the burnt out batteries then the alternator will wear out prematurely too correct?

Mercury recommends the AGM batteries for both the Verado L6 and new V8 so it’s a moot point.

Hey Mike!!! Long time... Hope all is well with you! OSO isn't what it used to be in the good ole days!! I'm not posting anything else on this post..... way too many "experts" posting! LMAO :drink:

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