Mercury 115 or 150 Pro XS

[Whitetail77]

In the market for a boat. 1775 series fishing boat with the option to take family for a cruise and possibly pulling the odd tube. Do i need the 150 or will the 115 be adequate? Anyone with first hand experience or concerns with going to the 115? Price comes imto play, but i dont want to cheap out then regret it if the 115 will make the boat feel underpowered. Thx

[Howard Hutchinson]

I have always heard & know this to be true, buy the max hp your boat can handle or is rated for. What is the difference in price?

[-JR-]

I have a 150 Merc on my 1875 Lund . It would be cool to have a 200 Merc
But I do not even like opening up the 150 anymore on the lake
As it just eats up to much fuel , 1/4 tank to zoom across a very big lake .
Has a 130L tank

The other reason to stay small is the weight . If you have a 150 or bigger you should have a dual axle trailer. It helps out a lot when you travel with a full tank of fuel and carry camping gear in the boat and firewood .

[thenaturalwoodsman]

Go the max horsepower! Pretty rare anyone is happy with small underrated horsepower! If you are worried about fuel economy it doesn't mean you need to be at wide open throttle at all times! Most people do not buy boats or any toy for fuel economy! Pulling tubes and heavy loads can actually be hard on under powered set ups as you can be bogged right down under load! As far as the extra cost difference in horsepower right now you will be happy you did it later when you go to sell that boat as most savvy boat people know what an under powered boat is...….

[Whitetail77]

very good points.

The 115 proxs is on a 3 year old 1775 and the 150 pro xs would be on the exact same boat, but a new 2021 model. This is where the price difference comes in. However, I still need to factor in the value of warranty and buying all of the add on's vs. and already set up boat. I'm not a real handyman when it comes to engines, so I need to keep that in mind as well.

any comments to help my decision making process are welcome.
Thx

[curtz]

My 17.5ft Smokercraft is older 2012 I think, I have a 115 Mercury Optimax. I use it just for fishing, it's great for the wife and I, we get up on plain fast and do 45mph across the lake. With 4 people I wish I had a little more hp, we get there just a bit slower. It is pretty decent on fuel though, 6 one way half dozen the other.

[briangeorge]

I have a 2015 Lund 1775 with the 150 Merc on it. Purchased brand new in 2015. I love it and have had zero issues with it. I have pulled some pretty big loads of kids tubeing and I would say that if you want to do that on occasion then the 150 is the engine you would want. I think like everyone else says go the max hp for your boat. Mine burns considerly more fuel when tubing but when fishing I only need to fuel up every 4 trips to the lake. Enjoy your new outfit.

[honker_clonker]

When I was shopping for my boat a few years ago I saw a lot of 17' boats with 90hp motors as well as boats with 115s. The 90's almost all had stainless props etc etc trying to squeeze as much performance out of the undersized motor as they could. No replacement for displacement. If you have an underpowered boat you aren't going to enjoy using it as much and will likely have that nagging 'should have got the bigger one' in the back of your head when you do use it. Buy once cry once.

[Walleyedude]

Max it out!

You could probably be happy with the 115, but you'll never regret going with the 150, including the day you go to sell the boat.

The power is there when you need it, and just as importantly, when you want it LOL.

The higher HP engine will more often than not actually be MORE fuel efficient. The bigger motor will burn more fuel at wide open for sure, but at cruising speeds, it's not working as hard and doesn't require as much throttle to maintain the same speed as the lower HP motor. So, either you can cruise at the same speed using less fuel, or you can cruise at a higher speed using the same amount of fuel. Either way, the difference between the 115 and the 150 will be minimal.

[Salmo]

While I fully recommend maxing out power,............................ I have a 17' Princecraft with a 115, it pulls a tube (two teens) and skier fine.

I haven't tried a wakeboard but assume it would be fine as well.

[Mountain Guy]

Max it out!

You could probably be happy with the 115, but you'll never regret going with the 150, including the day you go to sell the boat.

The power is there when you need it, and just as importantly, when you want it LOL.

The higher HP engine will more often than not actually be MORE fuel efficient. The bigger motor will burn more fuel at wide open for sure, but at cruising speeds, it's not working as hard and doesn't require as much throttle to maintain the same speed as the lower HP motor. So, either you can cruise at the same speed using less fuel, or you can cruise at a higher speed using the same amount of fuel. Either way, the difference between the 115 and the 150 will be minimal.

There is some truth to this.
I've witnessed this between a 150 merc and a 175 Yamaha on pontoon boats.
The 175 burnt way less fuel.

[old dog]

I would go max horsepower too but if the price is right on a 3 year old boat, I don’t think u can go wrong either.

[Whitetail77]

love the comments and sharing opinions. forgot how helpful this forum can be. I'll continue to monitor for comments, but will certainly keep you posted with my final decision which will hopefully bee soon.