F-Ribs And Sibs - Inflatable Boat Community

Hi all, Some of you may have read my woes with Mariner Marine regards the F20EFi I paid for a month ago and haven't received. If not basically it blew up on PDI and they're now recalling a batch of engines. They have no idea how many are affected, no idea when they'll get me an engine and have basically been useless so far. The dealer, whilst it is ultimately not their fault the engine was faulty,they have been equally poor regards their own service - not communicating in the way they promised multiple times.

So I am pulling my order and considering other options. What really annoys me is that I had shortlisted both Marina and Suzuki at the boat show, and received good 'show prices' for each engine. I am now left needing to re-order after the show and losing what amounts to about £400 difference, all because of Mariner's issue

Back to the point of this post! I am now left with a few options of which a Suzuki DF20AS seems the most suited to me. Its lightweight, fuel injected and allegedly very reliable.

Ive ruled out:
Honda because its carburated and I've read about some reliability issues ( surprising for Honda I know )
Yamaha because of the weight and I think its carburated
Tohatsu & Mariner - Same engine as Mercury

Anything else I should consider and/or any experience with the late Suzuki DF20

Thanks in advance

Sorry just realised my typo, the original engine purchased was a Mercury ( identical to the Mariner bar the colour and stickers )

Chris,

Sorry to hear your woes with the new motor, disappointing.

We ran a Suzi DF20 efi for three years from 2013 when they first came out. Absolute cracker of a motor and arguably still better than the new kids on the block...Tohatsu/Merc/Mariner.

Power and economy wise not much between any of them to be honest. However, compared to the Merc/Mariners then the Suzi is noticeably lighter, much easier to start (less physical pull required to energise the battery less efi system) and it has a lovely growl at full pelt. Another advantage is the large AV plate and lower leg profile seem better at limiting ventilation and splash on hulls susceptible to this. The only slightly negative comment I would make is it has a slightly odd offbeat vibration at tick over...the fancy tillers on the Merc/Mariners do isolate vibration extremely well.

Amazing really, when you think it took the opposition over five years to catch up and bring out an efi model...and arguably still not quite there yet.


PS: The Suzi will be far more tolerant of the T38 hull foibles than the Merc.

I had a suzuzi 20 efi on a honwave t40. Superb piece of kit, never failed to work, It taught me to always buy Suzi, so much so that my 460 has a Suzi 60 !

@harrison said they were good !

Thanks guys just what I needed to hear. There is the below speed comparison of the Merc and Suzi on YouTube, same boat, same lake, various tests and the Suzi just edges it. Its in Russian but has subtitles at the required parts. Seem like quite a balanced fair test. The lower power Tohatsu is there just for comparison but actually fares quite well!


Regarding the Mercury tiller, I agree its great, that was actually the main differentiator that sold it to me, but since I can't even get one now its ruled itself out, and to be honest with Mercury/Barrus have been rubbish after it went wrong. You don't have to look far on the web to find similar tales of woe with Mercury...

Chris if you’re going for the Suzuki, might be worth speccing prop pitch when ordering. The stock prop seems to vary and may come with either 10, 11 or 12” pitch. Personally on a T38 I’d be going slightly under propped with 10” especially if sometimes towing. I reckon, even moderately loaded, a 12” will bog down and the motor will struggle to pull max revs.

Has the dealer, or Barrus, given any explanation what the problem is with these affected motors?

Maybe slightly off topic but 3 years ago I went for the Yamaha 25hp because I thought I could handle the extra 10kg. Two people taking it in or out the car is fine. Worst case I can handle by my own, I don’t have to lift it very high. I put it on a fleece or something and can easely pull the engine further into the trunk. Anyway, if a salesman at Hiswa didn’t mention the new Yamaha and its lower weight back then I would of bought a 20hp. It’s personal and depending on other several things but I know I would of regret it if I didn’t bought the 25hp. I believe, for us, we would notice the 5hp difference whenever we go out fully loaded. Except my wife, she would never notice... I don’t have any experience regarding another prop though, the 25hp came with a standard one.

"What really annoys me is that I had shortlisted both Marina and Suzuki at the boat show, and received good 'show prices' for each engine. I am now left needing to re-order after the show and losing what amounts to about £400 difference, all because of Mariner's issue "

You may have a case for breach of contract under grounds known as "Loss of Bargain" since the original supplier has a duty under contract law to fulfil the contract by providing a remedy that puts the injured party (you) in the position they would have been in if the contract had been performed.

Most suppliers will say they are unaware of this so you will have to fight your corner; they will probably claim that they only need restore the injured party to the pre-contract position e.g. by a full refund of any monies paid) but this is not the case.

If you wish to pursue this then I strongly recommend you do it in writing and keep a record. It will also be helpful if you have written confirmation of the order etc.

With regards to prop size, apparently the stock size now is 12” and they (the manufacturer) don’t offer a choice when buying.
The 12” is too much for the honwave - I have a 12” and want to change it for the 10”.

However, if you ask then the dealer might do something for you in the way of a prop swap.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, it stinks when stuff like this happens..

On a lighter note, and a personal point of view, the Suzuki rules now and will for a while longer too.. absolutely superb engines and by far the best portable on the market for weight, reliability and economy.
Don’t hesitate, buy one !!!!

Ps @rogerblack cracking bit of info and a to the dealer in return of pi$$ poor service.