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Location: Green Bay, WI | I've been researching this sort of thing for an upcoming boat/motor purchase. On TheHullTruth's forum there are threads talking about various engines. Some of the folks running four-stroke engines like Honda and Yamaha have gotten 5000-8000 hours on these engines. For instance, the Coast Guard guys run their Honda 225hp engines for almost 10000 hours. There was one thread where a Verado guy had several thousand hours on one of those engines--and they've only been out since 2005, so that's 400-500+ hours per year on average. The DI two-strokes seem to have fewer hours, but there are still several reports of those engines with a couple thousand hours as well.
The bottom line, as far as I could tell, was that it was NOT using these engines that hurts them. It's not using them that seems to be the problem. Living in the Midwest, it's doubtful that there is enough available seasonal time to "over-use" the engine. It's just not going to happen when you consider that the people in South Florida, Texas and California can boat all year around. And they are boating in salt water, which is harder on the engines. So I think that unless you are on the water every single day, running for several hours per day, you aren't likely to have a problem with any of the modern engines on the market.
So take care of the engine and do proper maintenance, and it should last as long (or longer) than you do. I would not be afraid to put several hundred hours of time per season on a modern two- or four-stroke marine engine. PM me if you want links to those forum threads I mentioned.
TB
Edited by tcbetka 5/5/2013 1:58 PM
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