Yamaha or Mercury for pontoon boat?

Both engines will work well and give good service. The big foot mercs are very good at grunt, and that is exactly what you want. The gearboxes are unburstable as they are built to handle much more power.

The Yamaha has a deserved reputation as the best commercial engine, and gets the best s/hand value when looked after.

Claiming to be number one is a standard advertising blurb, and can mean anything from numbers of a model sold, to number of local races won - or anything else really. Mercury are not the No. 1 in my country, Yamaha is, and by a large margin.

I've owned both, brands, and used the Mercs for many years. I would buy the Yammie myself, but the Merc will give excellent service too. The F series Yammie will idle smoother and be a little more refined in use - they seem a little quieter too in the early-mid 2000 models at least. Fuel usage will be pretty much the same - frugal.

You should see what the dealers are like, getting good service is at least half the equation with any engine brand.

My vote is the 2 stroke Yamaha. Mercury made it's reputation by underrating outboard motors, so their brand would always win the races (their engine rated at 35 would pull around 40 - 42), and while they seem better than OMC engines these days, the Yamaha is well engineered, built to tight specs, and it just goes and goes without maintenance. Look at the fishing shows on TV, and note how many professional tournament fishermen use Yamaha. I'm not a fan of their because while it gets incredible economy and is years ahead of the curve on emissions, it requires much more intense maintenance to operate at top performance, unless you use it every week.

Both motors are nice but I'd go with the Yamaha for your application.

I believe the Yamaha has a better/longer warranty, though you may never need the warranty

only one brand claims to be number 1 on the water.....

mercury, very reliable, very well warranteed. and they will go above and beyond the warranty to keep customers happy so they can keep that #1 rating.

its not a bigfoot, but i just got a 2011 merc 60hp on my boat. i am so in LOVE with that motor. fires right up, idles smooth and GOES. very economical on gas useage, a 6 gallon tank lasts longer with that new 60hp merc then my old 35hp johnson.