Why Evinrude and Johnson?

After being without a boat for a few years and recently retired I thought I would buy a good used boat. I have been checking Craig's list Wisconsin. By far most of the boats have either an Evinrude or Johnson motor. I know they are both made by Evinrude. I am sure Mercury,Yamaha,Honda,Mariner and others are good units as well and have been around for a long time especially Mercury. Does anyone have a reason why they are more popular?

I changed my post nihsif. I meant to say they're the only company that only makes two strokes. Yamaha and Merc do indeed sell 2 strokes, but they sell a lot of four strokes as well. In my mind this puts Evinrude at a competitive disadvantage because they can't serve both markets.

Mercury Optimax is a 2 stroke... Yamaha makes a 2 stroke, see the VMax HPDI I'm sure there are plenty of 2 strokes currently being made...and in some cases quieter and more fuel efficient and lower emissions than a 4 stroke...

Part of the reason why so many is because the low range 9-25hp evinrude/johnson motors were so reliable. There's plenty of them from the mid 70s on & still going strong. Still easy to get parts for them for a reason - used to have a '73 15hp until I upgraded boats. Very reliable motors.

The new 2 stokes are pretty neat from my perspective. I'm not knocking any brand or type. I think we are all a bit biased in our outboard selection. That said, the OP wanted to know why Evinrude, well here are my reasons: 5 year warranty (that is great peace of mind), no maintenance for 3 years, it just sips gas - just like the new 4 strokes, weighs considerably less than a 4 stroke of the same hp, runs at 100:1, no break in period, no oil to change, very quiet operation, ultra low emissions- burns cleaner than a 4 stroke, lots of torque with a great hole shot. The other really neat feature, is all you have to do is activate the winterization feature, and it fogs itself down. I purchased my Etec in 2010 and put about 150 hours per year on her. Right now I'm at around 600 hours, and with the exception of a new starter out of the box in 2010, the motor has been flawless. When I start it up after her Winter rest, she starts up like she had been running 5 minutes ago. Again, I'm not knocking any other brand or type of motor. I know lots of folks who like their Honda, Yami's, Suzukis, and Mercs as much as I like my Etec. I've said it before, I don't think you can buy a bad outboard anymore - they are all solid motors. I do love my Etec though... Also plum, I googled "Evinrude Bankruptcy" here is what came up "Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) was a maker of Evinrude and Johnson boat motors ... OMC filed for bankruptcy 22 December 2000 and laid off 7,000 employees"

Evinrude is in an interesting position in that they're the only company making only two strokes in a world that has largely gone four stroke. I spent the last 6 years with a Yamaha 150 VMAX HPDI, so I have a pretty good idea what their motors are about. (HPDI is same tech as ETEC) It was a nice motor, ran well, fast, didn't pollute much, no oil changes. Nonetheless, went 4 stroke on new boat because that's the way the market has largely gone, and you have to sell someday. In spite of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-7I00cZUE0 I think issues with the early generation FICHT and Optimax powerheads created a stigma around the ETEC/Opti/VMAXs that they're trying to shake to this day, even though the tech is better in some ways.

I don't think it was that long ago. Shortly after they went under, Bombardier bought them. I think 7-8 years.

Actually didn't know that plum... That was around 14 years ago correct....

It was a joke however, if you remember, Evinrude did go bankrupt a few years ago and left more than a few folks with a worthless warrantee.

Almost forgot... Plumwerm, you are being a goof.... For every Merc owner who swears by their motor, you will find an Evinrude owner who swears by theirs, and a Honda owner who swears by thiers. Kind of a Ford / Chevy thing. I don't think you can buy a bad motor today. Suzuki, Honda, Yami's, Mercs, Evinrudes, all make excellent motors.