Best 300 4 Stroke?
 

Curious about yalls opionions. My dad and I have a Yamaha 04 250 HPDI that has blown 2 powerheads and now we are thinking of repowering. We are in the market for a 2005-2010 250-300 4 stroke. Any opinions? :help:

suzuki or yamaha SHO

Suzuki

Don't beleive Yamaha makes a SHO 300 yet? But the yammy 300 is legit. Merc Verado 300 is a good engine now that they have the lower unit figured out. Can't go wrong with Suzuki either.

Ford vs Chevy debate......buy whichever one you like and who gives you the best deal and the dealer with the best service.

I have over 200 hours on my DF300 Zuke.
It's a great motor, not a single problem, and I ain't not tinder foot when it comes to outboard motors.

they have 6 years warranty if that matters. Dealers are still a little snotty on what prop to run on what particular boat.

I had to go tp PropGods.com to finally figure it out.

All you will ever need!

Attachment 35856

Suziki
 

I've been reading alot of good posts on the the Zukis. It seems as if it's between the Suziki 300 and Yammie 300. Smoke Shack, what model and year is that motor in the pic you posted?

I am a big fan of yamaha but suzuki's four strokes are better IMO....hard to beat 6 year warranty.

You can get the 6 yr wty on the Yams. There are extended wty promotions each year and your dealer can get you one for an existing motor. Each motor line has deals like that.

My family runs 3 Zukes (2 - 200s and 1 - 225) on a couple of boats and parts and service can be a real pain to get vs. other motor lines. They have been good motors overall, except for one powerhead replacement that took 3 months to get from Japan. They are heavy motors too vs others and that may be a consideration on certain boats.

I am going with the 300 Yamaha 4.2L Offshore on my next rig - a 2013 24 Yellowfin. Lots of power and light weight. It will hang out in the Grand Isle area starting in August or so when it is completed.

40 lbs isnt that much unless you are tournament fishing

Meaux, Good point on the 42 lbs. Parts & dealer network, if needed, and resale are considerations for some too.

very good points... also on the motor weights if you look at older (pre 2011) yamahas weigh 200lbs more than the suzuki because they are a v8

Although the Suziki has a strong follwing I think it's gonna be between the Yammie and Merc. I"ve done some reading and read some bad and good stuff on the Verado's, but I don't know anyone that has or had one. My family mostly runs Yamaha or Mercury (except me I have an old Rude on my bass boat), but all 2 stroke. My friends dad has a Yammie 150 4 stroke on an Express and that thing is sweet. BTW the engine in question is going on a Ranger 23 Bay.

i have 3 good buddies with 300 verados, 2 are guides, no problems ever. other buddy has one on a 24 shearwater, we run offshore all the time. no problems with it ever either.

If its between those two I would go with yamaha. Here are the performance bulletins on similar boats. I threw in the suzuki just for comparison although the bluewave it was tested on is 500 or so lbs lighter than than your Ranger. The Triton the Verado was tested on is 200 or so lbs lighter than your Ranger

http://www.yamahaoutboards.com/sites...-12-14_bay.pdf


http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines...10.39566850022

http://www.suzukimarine.com/Product%20Lines/Outboard%20Motors/Products/DF300/2012/~/media/Marine/BoatBuilders/TestResults/B/Blue%20Wave%20Boats/Bluewave%202400%20DF300

Appreciate the links Meaux, that's some good info.

I've got about 130hrs on my 300 Verado so far. Extremely quite and decent fuel consumption. So far really happy with it. Good luck with whatever you get.

I love my Yamaha 300, only 8 hours on it so far, but it's really nice. I'm impressed so far. I've got it on a 24 foot yellowfin that I've had for 3 weeks. Skeeter77346, you're gonna love the ride. Cruises on top of the chop at 40 mph just great and according to the dash information is getting 3.3 mpg with a four folks and a full load of ice and water. Cruising at 3300 rpm, fuel mileage goes up to 4.0 mpg or so.

Rocky's Pal. The YFs are very sweet, my 21 sure was and looking forward to the 24 for Sabine to Venice. Will spend lots of time in Grand Isle. Where will you mostly fish your 24?

Sounds like someone knows how to work google....lol:rotfl:

I learned it from watchin W

One of the boats here has over 2000 hours on 350 yamys and only lower unit problem once. injector issue recently. was fixed and was not an issue that put him out of business. Would have if he let it go. I have 800+ on my 2011 yamys w/o any issues. Agree with the guys about the suk parts.

Hey skeeter77346, you are right about the 21, rode in one in Kemah in April, what a nice ride! That one had a 300 on it and did about 70+ mph! At cruise it did some crazy numbers like 4.5 mpg, really awesome. Did you sell yours recently?
BTW, I fish Big Lake mostly, but just got back from fishing in Venice with it. Pretty much the maiden voyage other than a couple of runs on Toldeo Bend. We didn't catch many fish, dang tropical weather system really kicked up the waves and took out most of the spots we were going to fish in Breton Sound. I still had a great time, since I got to ride around in a new Yellowfin!!!

Yep, sold my 21 to a guy in Greenwich, CT about 6 weeks ago. Got a call out of the blue and I did not move on price. My 250 SHO would run 74 light, 69 loaded with both wells full. Are you running the Rev 4 21, or a different prop? Atlas JP or Bob's? Thanks.

You nailed it! Rev 4 21 prop with an Atlas JP. I've been playing with both, trying to dial in the sweet spot. Maybe it's just me, but the boat seems to be pretty forgiving of whatever settings I make. It's pretty cool though that you can ramp up the speed to around 40 mph and take most of the bounce out of a foot and a half chop. Swells on the other hand, well, I need to slow down to keep my fillings.

Funny thing though, seems like everything I take the boat out, we are in for 20 mph winds. I hope this weekend is a little calmer for Big Lake!

That 350 Yammy is a V8 right? Looking to the 300 Yammy our boats max recommended HP is 300. What size is your 2011?

Yamaha 350 is a V8. http://www.yamahaoutboards.com/outbo...-5_3L/overview