Doug
Well-Known Member
I recently replace my 2006 Yamaha 250 hp with a new 6 cyl 300 hp Yamaha, both engine were installed on the same vessel (2006 Skagit Orca) and I can offer the following findings.
My 250 hp was in its fourth year of operations and the pinion gear snapped a tooth, usually this is caused by hitting something with your prop but in my case nothing was hit and during inspection Yamaha agreed and replaced the entire leg at no charge.
Both engine come with a 3 year warranty which I up graded to 5 year. With the 250 I still had over a year warranty remaining, thank god or the new gears in the leg would have been at my cost.
Top speed with the 250 hp = 40mph. with the 300 hp 45mph
The 300 hp is approx 40+ lb less weight than the 250 hp.
The 300 is a little louder than the 250 hp was but not by much.
The 300 is a lot faster getting out of the hole (obviously with 50 hp more) and onto plane.
The 300 controls are electronic which makes operating the control much easier and could be compared to a joy stick on your computer. You push the handle forward or backwards an inch and you feel a click in the handle telling you that it is in gear. There is about a 1/2 second delay between the control and the engine. The 250 hp had cable controls which were a little stiff when shifting but nothing that was unacceptable.
The engine ideals at 600 rpms and can be adjusted up by 50 rpms increments up to 1000 rpms, so if you ever have to troll with the main engine you can vary your speed more accurately.
I opted for the new SDS Prop. It was 30% more than the SS regular Prop. When putting the engine into gear with the SDS prop there is a very soft clunk (sometime you don't hear it) and the boat starts moving. As with all my other outboards you could easily hear the clunk in and out of gear. Hopefully with the softer shifting the pinion gear and bearings will have a longer life??
The biggest difference noticed is fuel savings. With the 250 hp @ 30 mph I was getting 1.9-2.1 mile per gallon (us) and now with the new engine I'm getting 2.4-2.5 miles per gallon, that a 20% fuel savings and when you spend $$$$ on fuel a year that's a good $$ savings at the pump.
In conclusion, I have only had the engine running for 10 hours so far and hopefully it will continue to perform as it has??? who knows. But so far I have been impressed with electronic control system, the SDS prop and very very impressed with the 20% savings in fuel.
I'm sure that the other major outboard engine suppliers have comparable engines. So far the new Yamaha 6 cyl 300 hp has been great.
My 250 hp was in its fourth year of operations and the pinion gear snapped a tooth, usually this is caused by hitting something with your prop but in my case nothing was hit and during inspection Yamaha agreed and replaced the entire leg at no charge.
Both engine come with a 3 year warranty which I up graded to 5 year. With the 250 I still had over a year warranty remaining, thank god or the new gears in the leg would have been at my cost.
Top speed with the 250 hp = 40mph. with the 300 hp 45mph
The 300 hp is approx 40+ lb less weight than the 250 hp.
The 300 is a little louder than the 250 hp was but not by much.
The 300 is a lot faster getting out of the hole (obviously with 50 hp more) and onto plane.
The 300 controls are electronic which makes operating the control much easier and could be compared to a joy stick on your computer. You push the handle forward or backwards an inch and you feel a click in the handle telling you that it is in gear. There is about a 1/2 second delay between the control and the engine. The 250 hp had cable controls which were a little stiff when shifting but nothing that was unacceptable.
The engine ideals at 600 rpms and can be adjusted up by 50 rpms increments up to 1000 rpms, so if you ever have to troll with the main engine you can vary your speed more accurately.
I opted for the new SDS Prop. It was 30% more than the SS regular Prop. When putting the engine into gear with the SDS prop there is a very soft clunk (sometime you don't hear it) and the boat starts moving. As with all my other outboards you could easily hear the clunk in and out of gear. Hopefully with the softer shifting the pinion gear and bearings will have a longer life??
The biggest difference noticed is fuel savings. With the 250 hp @ 30 mph I was getting 1.9-2.1 mile per gallon (us) and now with the new engine I'm getting 2.4-2.5 miles per gallon, that a 20% fuel savings and when you spend $$$$ on fuel a year that's a good $$ savings at the pump.
In conclusion, I have only had the engine running for 10 hours so far and hopefully it will continue to perform as it has??? who knows. But so far I have been impressed with electronic control system, the SDS prop and very very impressed with the 20% savings in fuel.
I'm sure that the other major outboard engine suppliers have comparable engines. So far the new Yamaha 6 cyl 300 hp has been great.
I'll be in the boat doing 12 mph with greenies busting over the bow and then dropping into the rear cockpit. I'll have a bag over the camera to keep it dry!! lol
