Mercury 300 on a 23

[aldo]

My brother is running a n newer(2000) 23 Sea Craft with full transom & Hermco bracket designed for twins. He currently has a 4 stroke Honda 225 and is thinking of upgrading to one of the new Mercury 300Hp 4 stroke with electronic controls.
Any feedback from someone running a 300 on a 23 would be appreciated.

[Fr. Frank]

The 300 Mercury Verado has incredible torque. One review I read credited the 2.6L 300hp Verado with just 8 lbs less torque than the 5.3L 350hp Yamaha V8 and 32 lbs more torque than the DF300 Suzuki and 41 lbs more torque than the 300 Yammie.

Of the 300 hp models, Mercury has the lightest and heaviest. The 30" Verado weighs in at 653 lbs, compared to the 30" 300 Optimax 3.2L, at 532 lbs, 578 lbs for the 30" Yamaha 4.6L 300 Offshore, and 619 lbs for the 30" 'zuke DF300, with the Yamaha 30" 5.3L V8 350 weighing in at 822 lbs. The Mercury 350 hp Verado 350SCi weighs in at 637 lbs, less than the 300hp version.

The Mercury I6 Verados all weigh about the same: 630-655 lbs, whether its a 225hp, or a 350 hp version. Currently here in Destin, there sits at BassPro a new SeaCraft 23TE (actually 26') with twin 250 Verado's on it for just over $80K asking price. The saleman says it has about 35 hours of demo time on it, and they'd probably take less to get it off the lot. Top speed is a claimed 62 mph on GPS with a T-Top. (Now imagine that puppy with twin 350SCi motors.)

Now imagine the boat below with just one 350SCi

[aldo]

Thanks Father- guess he should look at the 350!

[bridgeman]

The 350 verado is from merc's racing division, each unit is hand assembled and costs mucho $$$ compared to the 225 - 300 hp versions. Looking at about 30% more for 50 extra ponies. Probably would be real happy with the performance of a 275 or 300 on a bracket.

[2182]

one other thing about the 350s. they dont warranty them the same as the rest of the mercs. they come from the racing side of things and mercury knows anybody crazy enough to run them likes to go really really fast...the warranties are much shorter, sorry i dont know specifics. as far as a 300 on a 23, i think youd be fine, but as a rule i defer to fr. frank (and others much wiser than myself).

[Fr. Frank]

Actually, the 350SCi is warranted for 2 years, and additionally the one-year Mercury Product Protection Plan is available for a 3rd year. Likewise for the 300XS Optimax.

Oh yeah, suggested list price on the 350SCi is $32,000.

[eggsuckindog]

I had a V8 Rude 275 on one, sat just fine and ran like hell

[bridgeman]

I checked for the hay of it last fall and you can pry a 350 vrod from a dealer for a cool 29K, did not ask if the price included the controls.

[Fr. Frank]

I checked for the hay of it last fall and you can pry a 350 vrod from a dealer for a cool 29K, did not ask if the price included the controls.

I believe the 350SCi is "fly by wire" only; i.e., Smartcraft controls and gauges only, which adds at least another $2600 to the cost. The da**ed Smartcraft control, either binnacle or side-mount is $900, (and the Zero Effort single engine digital control is $1400). Then you add $700 for the Speedo, $600 for the sensor reading display, and about about another $400 - $700 for the harnesses.

My 90 Opti is a Smartcraft model, but I opted to go with analog controls to save the huge extra costs.