i also have a merc 25hp big foot, i recently bought a boat that had this as the powerplant, the boat is a 03' tracker pt165, i have been out on this boat twice since i got it, and i am very pleased, it runs awsome, doesnt stall, starts very easily even in the bitter cold, and it pushes me, a partner and all our gear quite well, the motor runs clean, and is relatively quiet last time, we were sitting idle in the lake last time we were out and my girlfried asked if the motor was running cause she couldnt hear it! i would say its deffinitily a pretty nice motor