Outboard question
 

I have been looking at reviews for the Yamaha 200 hp. Many have stated problems and shutdowns involving gears. They say the gear is made of a fiber material and subsequently shreds with usage. I don not know what the years were of the engines. Does anyone have knowledge of or experience with the Yahama 200 hp. Seriously I would not think an outboard would not have metal gears. My last outboard was a 200 Mercury on Cape Cod and had that for 20 years until I sold the boat Truly a workhorse, never did anything except put fuel in it. Did replace the impeller once. Come spring. just turned the key and it started immediately. Also any thoughts on the Mercury at this time.

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I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

I don't have any first hand experience with them, but hop on over to "thehulltruth" forum and do a search on it. Lot of fishermen there, both rec and comm. who are very knowledgeable, I'm sure if there are issues with it they have spoken about them there.

I have a 2019 Merc 150 4S on my whaler and it is an absolute beast - quite, smooth and impressively linear in power deliver. After two years of ownership I continue to grin ear to ear each time I lite it up. Not sure about Yamaha but the Merc I have would be tough to beat.

Thank you Juiced.
There was someone who ordered a new boat and it comes with Yamaha outboards. He is thinking of switching to Mercury albeit additional cost. He is wondering if the newer outboards have fiber gears. So he apparently knows of that problem.

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I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

There's no way they used fiber gears in the drive train, those gears need to be as small and rugged as possible to handle the power without adding drag and steel is the only way to go. Yamaha used a badly designed fiber gear in the first generation 4 stroke to drive a counter-balance shaft in their engines, but I hear that problem was addressed at least 15 years ago. I would not hesitate to buy a Yamaha, they make a great product and there's a reason they are, by far, the biggest outboard engine maker in the world.

yamaha
 

the 350 hp yamaha had flywheel and ecu problems. around 2016 at 400 hrs you brought them back and yamaha would repair free. only problem with my 350 mercs was due to lightning strike 1029 hrs now

This is exactly right and the issue applied to the 2012 and prior F150's. The issue has long been resolved. If the OP is looking at an older motor they should ensure this issue has been addressed. With all due respect to Mercury and the other outboard brands, Yamaha has a very well deserved reputation as an incredibly reliable outboard and paying additional money to swap it out for a different brand at an additional cost is a move most boat buyers wouldn't make. There are documented cases of F150's with 10,000 hours on them in commerical use. Yes, the V8 F350 had flywheel issues but give them credit they acknowledged and addressed them.

I have a buddy of mine that has twin 200 Yamaha's on his boat, docked in salt water at the Cape, that are 20 years old and he's had exceptional luck with them. No major repairs just normal maintenance.
He's religious about raising them up out of the water and flushing them out after every use.
He has talked about trading it in before he has to repower it.

Yamaha.
 

The composite harmonic balancer inside the engine was an issue in 2005 to 2008 . If your balancer shattered the pieces made your motor worthless. My 2006 150 4 stroke had one and cost me 1500.00 to have replaced with a Yamaha kit. They knew it was an issue and did nothing except sent out a a notice. I like yamahas but my new boat is a 200 Honda and a 9.9 Honda kicker .