If I want'ed to be different; before I bought an E-tec I would put a 300 Yamaha on the back of one. Only 25 pounds more and 75 extra horses to boot. 590 pound motor though, better get two wally balls.
I’ll stick with the 2.5 Merc… you can run a large assortment of gearcases: Torquemaster, Sportmaster, CLE, 200.. And all with different nosecones and in a 15” or 20”… Yeah Merc has “IT” going on.
I’m happy with my Merc, but havin a HO too would be fun to play with. :lol: