Yamaha SHO - the shortage is real

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finbully

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
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Location
Hixson, TN
Contrary to what I believed earlier, there is a Yamaha SHO engine shortage. It seems a couple of factors are driving this; increased demand due to many boats getting wiped out from 2017’s hurricanes and increased demand on new boat orders not related to hurricane (insurance) replacements.

I was told by my dealer that production of the Ranger Z 521 L I’ve ordered is on hold due to this engine shortage. It was to have gone into production to where I would be getting the boat by early March. But who knows now. From searching the web, I read from a couple of weeks to six months delay in getting the engines. My dealer has not received any official information from the manufacturer, but he is trying to get something he and I can plan with.

So now I’m back to considering a Verado or seeing if Mercury announces a new 4-stroke in the 250 hp version. It seems very odd to me that Mercury has let Yamaha hold the lightweight, high horsepower, high performing 4-stroke market by themselves for so many years but I have to consider all of the R&D money they have put into the Verado that has not gained wide acceptance in several boating niches.

Ranger does not offer the Verado on the build pages of their web site and I’ve heard (rumor) that they are not offering Verados on the boat I’ve ordered. I’ll just have to wait and see what my dealer finds out about that.

In the meantime, I am seriously considering deferring any engine decision until Mercury announces what they may at the Miami Boat Show that is coming up Feb 15-19. This is the traditional event Mercury announces new products and the show is less than 4 weeks away. Rumor has it they will announce a 4-stroke line that will compete with SHOs and they will be released by April. If that is the case, I will wait for a lightweight Mercury 4-stroke and say hasta la vista to Yamaha. I am hesitant to buy a Verado without demo’ing due primarily to its weight penalty.

Any thoughts or news is appreciated.
 
yeah, unless youre buying a skeeter youre not getting a sho until august is what ive seen/read. while i appreciate the benefits of a 4stroke its hard for me to go away from the proven performance of the Optimax. i personally NEVER buy the first model year of ANYTHING! so even if Mercury is coming out with a new 4stroke i would be reluctant to jump on that, give it a year to let them workout any bugs that may be present. sucks to have to wait on a boat when spring is coming....
 
Have you looked at Suzuki? I have a friend that fishes on the elite series and has ran a Suzuki for 4/5 years now, very reliable outboard. Check out the 250ss
 
Rumor has it, from a pretty reliable source, that mercury will be announcing a new 250hp 4 stroke at the Bassmaster Classic in March. They have supposedly been testing it somewhere down in Florida for some time now and claim that it is comparable weight to the Pro XS and the Sho, however it's supposed to be just as fast as the current 2 Stroke Pro XS.
 
The shortage is a bunch of bull____ Johnny Morris owns Ranger and cannot stand Yamaha and his versa he will do and say anything to get you in a mercury and out of Yamaha I feel sorry for customers of Cabelas who bought Rangers with Yamaha cause they will not be getting them sevicevat cabelas cause dear old Johnny canceled Yamaha this cannot do warranty work
 
Brock - 1/24/2018 7:22 PM

The shortage is a bunch of bull____ Johnny Morris owns Ranger and cannot stand Yamaha and his versa he will do and say anything to get you in a mercury and out of Yamaha I feel sorry for customers of Cabelas who bought Rangers with Yamaha cause they will not be getting them sevicevat cabelas cause dear old Johnny canceled Yamaha this cannot do warranty work

Phoenix can't get them either. Pay attention next time you're on the lake to just how many sho's are on the water this year as compared to last year.
The way I understand it each manufacturer has to order their Yamaha's for the year instead of one at a time because of how long it takes them to get in through customs. Once they sell what they alotted its a long time before they get more. Manufacturers are out and I know Ranger and Phoenix both have boats sitting in the warehouse completed without motors because they don't have one to hang on them.
 
bummer - 1/24/2018 3:00 PM

Have you looked at Suzuki? I have a friend that fishes on the elite series and has ran a Suzuki for 4/5 years now, very reliable outboard. Check out the 250ss

if i wasnt going to run a Mercury i would go with the Suzuki!! its a beast (LOTS of torque which would be good on a big Ranger) and ive not heard of any big issues with it.

but since there are Mercurys everywhere i dont have to worry about that...LOL!!!
 
So it was only a 2-day shortage for me. My dealer just told me Ranger got Yamahas. My build is on schedule.

I won't need that VMax FloatingPhil. :)
 
Floatingphil - 1/25/2018 8:40 PM

Dang. The guy I got it from ran the dog crap out of it and I'm trying to unload it on some unsuspecting fool.

I'll give you $20K for that whole rig - sight unseen!
 
I couldn't sleep at night if I stole that much money from you. It's got a hole in the bottom covered with duct tape, 3 tires on the trailer and only 2 ears on the prop.
 

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