719 mercury 225xs or SHO

[beebow]

I have been wanting to get me a boat and keep waiting and trying to decide. If I spend the money which is SO MUCH for these boats now I dont want problems. I really would like the SHO but it seems so many of you that have them say they are getting fuel in oil. Even ones that say no all is good later down the road at 50 to 90 hrs or whatever all of a sudden yes now I have a problem too. It comes from idling and I do idle too or will. Shouldnt have to not be able to not idle your boat. Maybe my wife wants to just troll for some sand bass sometimes because she just cannot cast repeatedly due to her bad heart and she wouldnt have the energy to do it. She can crappie fish. Plus when you are just watching the graph and looking around also. I am planning on the SHO and want to go that way. I know Yamaha has to know this problem is not going away and surely has a fix but havent heard anything yet about it. Should be able to break in motor and just run it how you need with no problems. What is the thoughts of you that have the SHO? Would you do it again or wait till you know there is a fix?

[bassinbama]

That is a good question. Having the 225 SHO and not having any of the problems (knock on wood) stated on the Yamaha board it's hard for me to say... I truly love this motor but should I ever have trouble with it I would have no trouble going back to a 2 stroke engine...it would probably be and HPDI not a Merc....but you'll get all kinds of opinions and that just mine...

[basspro]

Have over 100 hours on two SHO's and have not had one problem here at our shop.

Its not good to idle for a long time with any motor whether two or 4 stroke.

Russ

[weeks]

It's all in breaking the SHO in correctly!!!

[falcooon]

You can go on the Merc forums as well as the Yamaha forums and see plenty of problems with both. They are two different technologies.

Remember that these forums mostly talk about problems of only a small percentage of total engines sold so don't get psyched about it.

Go with the technology you are comfortable with.

For me it was a four stroke and the reason I bought a new rig in the first place. I don't like $30+ gal of oil consumed with each tank of gas. I personally think that over time two strokes will be history (it already is for high hp Yamahas). Merc and Yamaha both have heavy four stroke investments in the salt water market with the Merc Verado and the Yamaha regular four strokes.

The bass boat world still likes it's 2 strokes though so there you go.

It's your decision to make and live with so get what you want and enjoy life!

[clm6741]

Im an E-tec fan but if I had to choose one of those it would be the Pro XS. The number of SHO failures is greater than what gets posted on bbc, but that is not what concerns me. Every brand has some failures, what scares me about the SHO is all the ones that are making oil and dont even know it. That is very unhealthy for a motor. that being said, I think the yamaha will work out the problems and the SHO will be great. If not idling around is the cure then give me a motor that I can drive however I want and the manufacturer will stand behind it quickly with no hoops to jump thru. This is exactly why I stick with BRP, their warranty department take care of business very fast.

[flippinout]

I'll chime in here being one that began having trouble with "oil production" in my 719. First, I want to say that the guys who have not seen the oil production until in the 50-60 hour range probably didn't check their oil until they heard about the issue. Then it was too late. Now, with that said, I check my oil after every day on the water and when I noticed elevated levels on my dipstick, I immediately changed the oil. I then spoke with a couple of guys who didn't have problems. One said to run the balls off the motor. I didn't really care for that answer. Another gave me a precise formula for breaking the motor in. I tried the method he gave me and I saw immediate reponse. The so called oil making was reduced significantly then after another oil change it stopped completely. I'll have my SHO in for it's 20 hour service this week and will report on the motor's diagnostics when I get it back.

Please don't be afraid of the SHO. I does need to be properly broken in with little idling until then and it's not a hard process. Keep a load on the motor and run it at varying rpm levels with periodic full throttle runs. If you do this during the first 10-15 hours, the motor wil be fine. Just keep an eye on your oil level while doing it and change it if levels begin to rise.

[scboatservice]

415 Hours on a 225 SHO that we sold, running strong with not one issue.