Mercury Verado vs. Mercury Pro xs

I haven't used the 175hp, but do run a 250 pro xs & the Old Man has a 225 V-rod. My opti uses less fuel than his motor, but I have to add oil. After seeing his bill for winterizing/oil change the oil comes out as a wash. The opti screams and I love the sound, but if I were to get a tiller it would definitely be a Verado.

I personally run an 05' 225 opti and have absolutely no complaints about it. It's great on fuel, doesn't brun much oil, runs flawlessly, doesn't smoke or smell, and has great power from the time the throttle is put in gear all the way to the 5750 rpm redline. I literally have no complaints other than the noise which is subjective, I like the opti growl but at times a whisper quite engine would be nice.

There are some trades off's from one to the other. the Opti will likely get slightly better fuel mileage and will definately be the better performer, however if you have to sit by it all day and plan to troll with it the noise should be a factor. The complexity of both engines is at the point where the backyard mechanic isn't going to do much on either one and the trade off of filling the opti oil tank with $30+ a gallon oil is a wash with what you'll be paying for an oil change on the Vrod. Both have proven to be very dependable engines. Often times price comes into the picture and typically the opti is the cheaper option by a grand or two on similar sized engines, but remember to compare apples to apples! Keep in mind the verado will come with digital throttle, digital shift, and smart craft gauges as standard feature, With the Opti, these are optional features that often drive the price to be equal or slightly higher than the Verado. Also, if you plan to use the rig at higher elevation the performance gap will be closed the higher you go due to the verado being a forced induction engine.

Personally if I was buying that rig and the prices were a wash I would likely go with the verado primarly for the reason of noise while trolling and sacrifice that extra 3 mph that Opti will give you. To each his own, but the only reall disadvantage to the verado is the performance which isn't all that far behind the Opti and actually is very even or better than many of the other manufacturers. The slight fuel disadvatage isn't enough to worry about when you'r spending this kind of money up front. Personally I'd still outfit it wih a 9.9 pro kicker on one side, a vantage on the other, a terrova w/ ipilot up front and a couple of networked HDS 8s or 10s w/ side imaging, boy is it fun to spend someone elses money, lol! In all seriousness, a pro kicker will save it's weight in gold if used often in leu of the main engine for trolling considering the engines you're looking at are in the $12k-$14k range.

Have fun, and remember what BOAT stands for "Break Out Another Thousand".

I would not base a decision on which one trolls better...that's what a kicker is for.

The XS's are a high performance, screaming engine.  Their durability as with all the Opti's are legendary.  They are much less weight, and although you have to add oil, they are still very clean and even more fuel efficient.

All 4 strokes take a lot more work for maintenance.

I would go with the XS in a heartbeat!!!

I have an 07 Verado 150. I run it hard from April through Sept, change the oil once in October and have had 0 issues and no maintenance.
It screams for a 4 stroke. Very quick holeshot. Love it...

If it's going to be a tiller, Verado is the only way.  I'd be more inclined to go with the Opti if I had a kicker, but even still you'll do some backtrolling with the big motor and then I'd prefer the VRod.

A lot of good points have been made, and it is really a wash if the price and size are the same.  I would guess you would get more value out of the 4-stroke if you trade it in or resell it.  It comes down to personal preference, if you like to hammer down and run with the big dogs, and make a little noise or the silent but deadly type. 

Personally, if price and size are the same on identical boats, I would go with the 4-stroke.  I think the demand for 4-strokes will get stronger in the used market for resale value and it is nice and quiet when BS'ing on the boat -which is a big part of fishing.  The rest becomes a nickel and dime discussion.

Well I had something all typed up then went to submit it and my internet was down and i lost it all...so i'll try again

I have a 2010 Predator(basically the same as the pro guide, the predator just has a bigger deck and more storage) with a 175 Opti(not the Pro XS)...The fastest I've got out of it was 50.8mph, with 2 guys its usually 47-48 top end.  At those speeds/rpms it uses about 16 gallons per hour according to the smartguages, which is 3mpg.  If you back it off to about 40 mph its goes to about 5mpg(if i remember correctly, its been too long since i've been in it...is winter over yet?)

As for oil is uses very little compared to older 2 strokes, it doesn't really smoke either.  As for noise it's fine for me, but i grew up with and had always fished with an old noisy 2 stroke, so this seems quiet.

As for fishing...trolling @ 550 rpms it gets down to about 2.7mph on a calm day.  I use my vantage in reverse to slow it down more if needed.  Backtrolling it works great in the wind(i really love the power steering), i don't use it backtrolling  on calm days since i have a vantage.  I am contemplating getting a kicker, just to keep hours down since i troll alot and to allow me to go slower, but dont really want the extra weight back there.

From what i've heard and read most 4 strokes are heavier than the 2 strokes.  They also don't idle as low, so trolling speeds would be higher.  I haven't fished with a big 4 stroke so i don't really know just going of what i've researched before.  If you look at  the guys who run tillers on the FLW or AIM circuit, most are running 2 strokes.  Not that they are the gods but they do fish alot.  Check walleye central and see what they have to say.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.