Pro XS Vs. SHO
 

I am looking at a new oat I am am between two motors. The Merc. Pro XS 225 or the Yamaha SHO 225. I will be fishing primarily in Big Lake, I have seen plenty of the Merc out there but have yet to see a SHO on the Lake. I have only seen them on bass boats and wonder how they will hold up to the salt water. I am curious if anyone has pros or cons between the two I know the SHO will cost more. Does anyone know what their maintenance schedule is like, and has anyone seen their performance first hand. Thanks in advance for the help.:help:

I've fished a boat that has a 250 SHO and it's sweeeeet! If going on a bay boat u need to mount it on a jackplate bcuz of the 20" shaft . I have heard those merc xs and proxs can be temperamental . If it was me I'd get the sho

I was looking at adding a 10" hydraulic jackplate to whichever one I choose. It will probably be a 21' or 22' center console.

Pm member waterbowl on here he has one on his boat

I'd get the four stoke reliability for SHO

I heard the XS was faster than the pro xs. Is that right?

Get the SHO

That's good to hear Casey. Now all I have to do when I order my boat is decide whether I want the 250 SHO or the Zuk 250SS.

Sent from my EVO

Ok......I have been doing some work on the Sho....because I'm thinking about getting one on my next Haynie..
He is what I have found
Fuel mileage is better on Opi max vs Sho on same boat...
Sho is heavier vs Opti Max

A guy ran a Sho 250 on a Trition for one month and ran the Opi 250 on same boat

He burned almost double the fuel with the sho...said fuel mileage is horrible

This is a guide who had the Sho to demo...

stick to the sho paul. I wouldn't go the zuk route

And he said the 250 Opt was about 4mph faster on top speed

Man i had the suzuki ss peice of crap,it did not run as good as my 225 yamaha 4 stroke does.And to top it off it did not even last me a year.But to each his own.

Those are the first bad words I've heard about a Suzuki.

Sent from my EVO

And here we go again.
Yammie for SHO.

Who are you referring to, pilgrim?

The 2 guys I know with em both have nothing but good things to say about the sho fuel consumption, speed, reliability

I do not know anyone with a SHO that has not been happy with it. The Zukes always seem slower than both the Yam and the Merc.

I know someone in Houston with a Haynie 24HO and a 250SHO, it ran 65mph loaded which is exactly what the 250PRO XS typically runs. 4mph would put an HO at almost 70 tournament loaded with a 250 PRO, sorry but I don't see it since a 300 2 stroke racing motor only runs around 70 or slightly above on that boat.

Just relying what I was told.....now a trition is a lead sled also.....

He is doing a test right now on the fuel milage @ 4000 rpm vs both motors....to see if the sho gets better milage at that rate....because at 48-52 is was like 2.2 miles to the Gal

The susukis are slower but you never have to worry about them leaving you out there either

I had a lower unit go out in my 300 Zuke last year but I had heard the 250 and below are very solid motors. I was near my camp and used my trolling motor to get home, I was lucky THAT time.

They will all leave you eventually !

we got Nick's 24ft with a 250Opt up to 67mph last week

250 Opti is a strong motor, I'm not a 2 stroke guy so it wasn't something I considered. My last 2 stroke was 4 boats ago. I ran my Verado today for a test run on Lake Houston. I now have the larger gear case, the power was much better. 67 was the best I had done with the old smaller lower unit and 1.75 gear ratio, based upon what I saw today i should exceed that.

According to both manufacturers the weight on both engines is 505 lbs.

That is dry weight. The SHO should take around 6 quarts of oil. The Zuks are having way to many corrosion problems for me to consider. There is no way the SHO will perform as well as a properly setup XS. That being said it's close enough that not having to buy oil would be worth it. I had a Merc racing XS on my 22' Triton lts that would do 62mph. In my Haynie LS I can hit 70 with the same motor. I promise a SHO would not touch those numbers on the same boats. What it boils down to is this. Mercury = cost less, faster but uses oil. SHO = cost more, slower than a mec, uses more gas(i have hear this from more than one person) but change oil once a year. Do your research and make you choice.

Compare the two at WOT and the sho does burn more. Compare at mid range the sho burns 2-3 less GPH.

I agree on the weight but were are you facts on fuel burn? I do not have a Mercmointor but when I'm doing 45mph at 3500rpm that has to be pretty good.

Get a 350 yam v8...seen one at cal point on a shearwater and saw it again in a slip at heberts.

fixed it!!!

All I can tell you is yamaha tested alot comparing the sho to a opti before they released it. I have no literature on a EXACT same boat setup comparing a opti to a sho. To each his own,yamaha stands behind there product 100%.
I much rather have a jap made engine than a mexico and china made engine. For example,Mercury has been having ignition coil and lower unit problems for years on the opti. They have too many of the older non updated product and are getting dealers to install them instead of fixing the problem with a updated product.

You hit the nail on the head! :work:

they are not called "pop"-ti-maxes for nothing.lol

http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines...-party/?ID=88&
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/p...-01-04_bay.pdf

Not a exact comparison,but you are limited to performance tests on mercs site.

Don't get me wrong, if buying to fish for fun I would get a SHO or even a Yama 150 on a 21' Frontier. Fishing for money I want the fastest motor I can put on my boat Merc 300XS. And the Merc 250XS is only a few mph behind the 300.

sho is superior in quality. mercs die young. only thing merc has going for them is speed. and they dont have that much over the competition. 250 opti is 4 mph faster than sho?? really what is 4mph? we are talking about bay boats here people. if speed really mattered that much buy a boat thats made for speed. people buy optipops because they are cheap and fast but soon realize the motor is not made to last like our own lil buddy w had his boat less than three years and already looking at the sho. how many offshore boats you see with optipops lined up on the back?

One, my boat has more than 4 mph on a Haynie LS with a SHO. Two, even 4 mph is a big difference when your making 2 hour runs one way for a Tourny. Three, if a bass boat could do what my Haynie can do and go were my Haynie can go I would have a 90mph bass boat. Four, I never keep a truck, boat or outboard over 3 years due to resale value and warranty, no matter the make, model or brand.

Cool. What does that have to do with the original topic?

I appreciate all the info..I am looking more for performance and fuel economy rather than speed. Looks like the SHO is getting more head nods so far.

All this mine is fast then yours don't mean anything under the conditions that most bay boats are built to run in, its great to have a 100mph boat under the right conditions but what's it matter when its rough water. I can take an aluminum and make it do 70MPH but if it beats the crap out of you what good is it. If I have the money when I buy my next boat it will have a motor that gets from point A to point B and back to A, you maybe faster but I will pass you up on my way back in.

I suggest test rides before you buy. Lots of people like to give an opinion when they have owned neither. If your bay boat will not run in rough water you may want another boat.

Has anyone ran a sho on a low side? I do know the sho is every bit as fast on an ho as they both run in the 64 to 66
range, I'm willing to bet there would be similar results on
the low side only at slightly higher speeds.

If bay boat speed were what this was about it would be no contest, as an sbc would win by 10mph or more. It sounds like the OP is looking for reliability based upon his response.

Nice boat by the way, a 300 on a low side is scary fast.

^^^ here we go hahaha....

My opinion they are all gonna break...they are all gonna cost money....

But this ain't the 1990's get the sho yammy makes a much better motor than they did in 1995

And in my opinion merc made a better motor in the 90's

The SHO and the Merc ProXS motors (3.0L) show their weights as 505 lbs.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard...pecifications/

http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines...optimax/proxs/

I agree that IF the SHO was more fuel efficient, then rest assured Yamaha would have that posted on their website. From my experience it is very close.
That said, I have owned the Merc 225 and 250 ProXS motors and now have my 2nd SHO on my 2nd new boat. The SHO is very impressive - quiet, efficient, big time torque & excellent top end - despite being a 'Year' 1 product. There have been a few TSBs on the SHO to modify the thermostats and water pickups, as the early models would not get to desired operating temps in ultra cold water situations. My 2nd SHO had them done at the factory, so all new SHOs should be good to go.

With a motor serial number, the Atlanta Yamaha Outboard folks can tell you if the SHO you have in mind is up to spec. As you try to make your decision call the Yamaha Outboard guys in Atlanta and ask them about the SHO, saltwater use, etc. http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard...ctus/home.aspx

Also a number of boat companies have performance data on bay boats with the SHO from Scout, Maverick, Pathfinder, Skeeter, etc.

The LMC guys sell Mercs and Yams, so maybe go talk to them too before you decide. They do my SHO service work and I have been impressed LMC.

Good luck.

Good post Skeeter77, thanks for the information. I also shop at LMC and they now sponsor our website. I am working with David to adjust their banner before we go live.

One thing you're all over looking is the fact that ANY 4 stroke motor will burn lots of fuel at WOT. They are not designed for that speed. Where they really seperate themselves is at cruising speeds & below. You can run a 4 stoke at cruise all day long.

ETA - I would go with the SHO just for the simple fact that it is a 4 stroke and not a 2 stroke.

my 23LS/250ss is a shade over 68 on the rev limiter in cool weather with 2 people and half a tank of gas. when i re-prop this fall, i am willing to bet that i can get it even closer to 70.

the SHO should be faster than my ss.

Does anyone know the maintenance schedule on the SHO?