Hello guys,I want to purchase a 150 and was wondering which would be the better buy of the two?Has anyone ever compared the two motors together?

Yamaha. 9 out of 10 fishermen in SoFla will tell you to run like hell from the opti pops.

My personal experience is the Merc will out run the Yamaha
and get better fuel economy to boot.

Get the mercury.

Are you limited to 150 horsepower for a reason? Merc 175 proxs would be my choice for a sub 200 outboard.

What about the 150 Etec?

My dad runs the 150 merc on his center c. he has had zero problems with it. 2 of his friends have the yamaha motors same set up. Dont know what there maintanance is on the Yamaha motors however he gets a considerable amount better gas milage than the yamaha's. He also has a friend running a Suzuki and has had good results. Not sure what model the Suzuki is. I know its a 150 though

Think the Yammy motor is only in 20" shaft, if that matters

I had nothing but problems with my Optimax. Before I bought it, it had the powerhead replaced as a warranty issue. after that I had problems with the injectors and the wiring harness. It was a very expensive fix because of the time it took to diagnose the problem. Also, all of my recirculation lines had all rotted on a 1999 OB by 2006. I don't know if that is common or not for other brands.

After I had all the problems I talked to a couple of friends of mine in FL who are OB mechanics and they don't have anything positive to say about the Optimaxes.

I bought a Yammy because the warranty was 5yrs instead of 3yrs. No problems at all. Both have problems though. I would buy the one that best matches your boat!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P.S. ETECH is a great running motor but here in OK we have had a ton of powerheads go bad with low hours. Mabey its our drivers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ya ya ya i have a 1959 merc that runs like a top neave been torn down when yam can top that then tell how well there built i know the guy that rebuilds most of the power heads for the dealors around here . i see more yam at his place then merc .

I've heard great things about the older Mercury Blackmaxes. Thrillseeker and I were looking at them for the Whaler that we just picked up. I just personally didn't have a good experience with the Optimax and haven't heard good things about them.