Advice on Mercury Sea Pro or Evinrude Etec

[Ronn]

Hello, new to the forum with a question.

Recently purchased a new 2012 Crestliner Sportsman 14 with a 2012 Mercury Sea Pro 25hp on the back all sitting on a Shorelandr galvanized trailer. Since I've had the setup, I've had numerous problems with the boat, motor and trailer. Some of the issues with the motor include shallow water operation not working, motor gets locked into down position and won't move, takes up to 8-10 pulls to start it following manufacturers instructions, runs rough during trolling, it turns the motor and makes the boat go into a circle, friction adjustment doesn't work etc etc. Motor is under warranty and the issues haven't been resolved. The dealer manager is trying to work with me to find a solution.

My question is about motor replacement, in your opinion or from personal experience. If you could get your hands on an evinrude etec 25 or 30hp instead of the sea pro, would you take it?

Specs on my boat:
Weight: 520lbs dry
Transom: 20 inch
Deadrise: 6 deg
Max HP: 35
Boat loaded with gear, fuel and 2 adults 28mph.

Thanks

 

[steelespike]

Re: Advice on Mercury Sea Pro or Evinrude Etec

No personal experience but they are made in the USA. no maintenance for 3 years or 300 hours, no break in period,
electronic trolling speed fine adjustment on the tiller. Couple of 25 hp. tests Alumacraft V16 280 lbs.Dry 2 men,gear and battery31.67mph.5800.12" prop
Alumacraft 1648 380 Dry,2 men,fuel and gear 26.2 ,3.5 to plane,12"prop. Sea Ark "1100 lbs",Dry, 2 men,fuel,gear 2 batteries 19.2,
8.23 to plane.11" prop
Motors weigh 146 to about 180 depending on the leg and options.
My limited exposure to the Etec and your description of the Sea Pro I would take the Etec hands down.
Where is the Sea Pro built?

 

[Ronn]

Re: Advice on Mercury Sea Pro or Evinrude Etec

The Sea Pro says made in Japan. Thanks for the stats on the etec that is helpful. I don't want to downgrade the performance of the boat, that's why I was thinking possibly a 30hp from evinrude to offset the extra 50-70 lbs of weight from the outboard.

 

[Ronn]

Re: Advice on Mercury Sea Pro or Evinrude Etec

So judging from those tests above, those alumacrafts are lighter boats than mine by almost 200 lbs and went around the same speed. Would the 25 or 30 etec make less power than the 25 merc seapro? Displacement on the seapro is 430cc and the etec is 577cc. Thoughts?