Mercury vs. Zodiac

HavnFunYet?

HavnFunYet?

Member
Mar 16, 2008
176
Michigan
Boat Info
1998 Sea Ray 370 DA
310 Mercury Hypalon w 9.9 Merc
Engines
454 Mercruiser 7.4 MPI's
Sorry if this has been talked about, I am sure it has, just can't seem to get the search function to work properly.

Looking at a Mercury Airdeck 310 and it seems to be a pretty good price at $1,580...no freight since it is from the marina where i keep my boat. Just looking to see if a) the pricing is good and b) if this is what I need for my wife, 2 young boys, and I.

Pluses and minuses if any. Kind of new to this whole idea and want to make sure I do the right thing.

What about used? I can't seem to find many used in my area, so it makes me think that people buy these and use them until they are toast. Looked at one used one today and the boat was junk but the 9.9 Mercury outboard (2001) seemed to be in good shape. The $1500 he was asking for the package seemed quite high since the boat would need to be replaced.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
The materials and craftsmanship of the Mercury don't compare to the Zodiac. I bought a Mercury 10ft with wood floor and after one season the wood in the floor was delaminating. Someone on here told me not to buy the Merc but I liked the colors as it matched the boat. Think of it as comparing a Cadillac to a Mercedes.
 
We had terrible luck with Quicksilver inflatables. Mine required 4-5 tubes of glue a year to reattach the stuff that fell off of it, including the transom. They are about all gone out of our marina, but for a while every time you passed the dumpster, there was a Quicksilver inflatable in it. They were so bad that our Sea Ray dealer stopped selling them and replaced the line with Zodiac.

I wouldn't entrust my family's safety to a Quicksilver inflatable if it were given to me. There are times when free is too expensive and this is one of them.
 
Zodiac is a great name and product but you definitely pay a lot for that name. I did a lot of research as I was torn between paying $1550 for a Zodiac 285 Acti-V air floor vs a "no-name" Aakron 9'6" at around $900.00.. Both are PVC..Both with a 5yr warranty. If I was going to keep it on the swim platform full time, I probably would have gone with an Achillies which is all Hypalon including the air floor, but I will only use mine on occasion so I went with the Aakron and used the $650.00 towards an almost brand new Mercury 4stroke 6hp that I found on Craigs list for $850.00. I'll be testing it all out this weeknd and hopefully can also attach the Nautley roll on HD+ Davits I purchased.

So, if you want the best PVC, and don't mind paying for it, I'd say Zodiac. If you want Hypalon, I'd say the Achillies LSI series. If you want to save a dime, try either the Aakronboats.com, or a lot of people here have also bought Baltic from Ebay.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.
Barry
 
Thanks for the feedback...I have been contemplating the PVC vs. the Hypalon as well. I know the Hypalon is more expensive, but here in Michigan we are not subjected to some of the same environmental issues as those in other parts of the world, so maybe the PVC is the way to go. I just don't know!

Skuza...As for the wood floors, I am looking at the airdeck instead, so hopefully the experience you had with the wood floors will not be an issue.

I never thought this would be such a difficult thing to research! Even though it is tough to make the decision, I am having a blast doing the research!

As for the engine to run it, I am leaning heavily toward the Mercury 9.9 HP 4 stroke...seems to be a decent way to power this vessel.
 
Look at the Tohatsu vs Mercury for the motor. Tohatsu makes Nissan and Mercury and can be bought a little cheaper than both. I only went with the Mercury because I got such a good deal on it.
 
I have a 270 Airdeck with an 8hp Merc 4-stroke (Hypalon). She lives on a floating jet ski dock when not hanging from my transom davits, never been deflated, only added air once in two years.
I think I paid around $1,300 for it... far as I'm concerned I've already gotten my money's worth out of it.
 
I have a '99 Quicksilver 270 air deck powered by a 5hp Yamaha. I have never had to do anything to it other then clean it, and once in a while give it a shot of air, pretty much stays inflated on its own all the time.

John
 
I bought my Mercury PVC 270 Airdeck as a 2005 leftover at the Atlantic City Boat show in January 2006 from a brick and mortar guy from LI, NY who also sells on ebay.

Anyway, right from day one, the tubes would lose air. Enough air, to where I would have to pump it up every weekend. I called the store and agreed to keep the dink for the rest of the '06 Summer and bring it in for warranty repair over the winter. I brought the dink back in, in person, around October of '06. They tried a few "repairs" but I wasn't happy and insisted on a factory replacement. I did have to make a "bunch" of phone calls, and I had to keep reminding them around April of '07 that I was getting anxious. In the end, I did get a factory replacement, and the new dink has been trouble free the entire '07 season. Haven't had to air once.

The dink spent the 07/08 winter, fully inflated and covered, on the hard in my yard. I will (hopefully) be putting it in the water this weekend. The tubes 'feel' like they could each use a pump or two of air, but that could just be because of the lower temps from when it was filled last summer.

I ALWAYS keep it covered when not in use....except of course for the pic below...:grin:

P6160230.jpg
 
The 9.9 will move you very well. I pull my 7 yr old on a trainer board, and even pulled my wife on a trainer board with it! Mine has a fold in fiberglass floor, not sure how the HP air floor affects it.

The biggest consideration is how you use it, I keep mine on the inflatable, as they are heavy and a pain to move around. If you plan to move it around alot, you may want to get a lighter motor.
 
My experience with Mercury (when they were branded Quicksilver) was the same as Frank W's - tubes leaked, and started to melt, plywood floor didn't last a season. After a long battle with the dealer we got the tubes replaced, and then immediately sold the dinghy. Despite being essentially a new boat, it sold for basically the value of the Yamaha 20 HP motor.

Since then we have had three Zodiacs; an Alu floor Futura, the mid-sized YachtLine Rib, and now a cadet Fastroller. We also had a warranty issue. Actually it was a stupid owner issue. The first year we had the Futura we stored it folded in the garage over the winter. Bad idea as mice like to burrow into folded things, and amazingly enough they eat PVC. Zodiac covered the replacement of the tubes as full warranty. By the way, both Zodiacs sold almost immediately.

My $ 0.02 is you get what you pay for, and as long as you realize that the trade off is between price and longevity, make your decision based on what best suits your circumstances.

Henry
 
Havin' Fun Yet?,

We bought a Mercury 270 PVC Air-Deck at the Annapolis Boat show this past fall along with a 4HP Merc outboard and so far could not be happier with the package. My wife and two young daughters cruise around in it without any problems. The 270 in PVC weighs in at 74 lbs. (8', 9" L with a 5' beam) and the 4HP at 55 lbs. The Merc 4HP has an integral fuel tank as well as a connection and valve for a remote which we also use (3 gallon plastic). A point to consider: If properlay cared for, A PVC boat will give you a good service life, is less expensive than Hypalon and is far easier to repair if and when the need arrises. Another fellow slip holder just installed a Hurley davit on the back of his older 290 Sea Ray for his 270 Airdeck and it looks and works great.

Good Luck with your decision and remember, we're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time!

Knot Behavin'
2007 280 DA T4.3 Alpha 1 GenII
SkipJack Cove Marina, Sassafras River
 
Thanks again for all of the input...

Just realized that in measuring the width of the 340 at the stern gives me a workable width of about 10' 7"...I have a sneaking suspicion that at 10' 2", the 310 may be too big for that setup.

May need to reevaluate and look at the 270. Anyone know of a decent rule of thumb for figuring the right length dinghy for the width of your boat?


Bryan
 
HavnFunYet? said:
Thanks again for all of the input...

Just realized that in measuring the width of the 340 at the stern gives me a workable width of about 10' 7"...I have a sneaking suspicion that at 10' 2", the 310 may be too big for that setup.

May need to reevaluate and look at the 270. Anyone know of a decent rule of thumb for figuring the right length dinghy for the width of your boat?


Bryan
Click to expand...

You bring up a valid point. My beam is 10'6" and I didn't think it through and got a 9'6" dink. It fits on my transom, but with the engine tilted up, I can really only dock side to one way. It sticks out just a tad.:smt009
 
HavnFunYet? said:
Thanks again for all of the input...

Just realized that in measuring the width of the 340 at the stern gives me a workable width of about 10' 7"...I have a sneaking suspicion that at 10' 2", the 310 may be too big for that setup.

May need to reevaluate and look at the 270. Anyone know of a decent rule of thumb for figuring the right length dinghy for the width of your boat?


Bryan
Click to expand...

Depends on your layout and access needs. I've got about 12' of beam at the transom, but have a transom door that I did not want to block- so I went with the 270. I'd advise against the combined dinghy/motor length being greater than your beam- that's an accident waiting to happen when docking.
 
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