sullie, as far as brand i would go with a yamaha, i have had my 115 jet drive and 9.9 4stroke high thrust since 1989(bought it brand new) not one problem, not one, i run the crap outta the 115 and it runs like the day i got it....the 9.9 is getting hard to start in cold wheather, i think its got 1,678,987.03 hours on it though, lol...good luck oh ya when i bought the boat i didnt want a yama i wanted a mercury, the sales guy goes, look around, we dont sale mercs and for a reason, he said i could buy the boat but they wouldnt put a merc on it, he finally got me to buy a yamaha, thank god the guy i bought my boat from is trey clarkston, he is on some fishing show now, he dont poop about fishing but he knows his stuff on outbaords