The F350 was a game changer in some ways, but people talked about the weight.
Now the 425. Same deal.
But lets not forget what it's primary use will be. Offsore style rigs that would normally be powered by a pair of 175's or a pair of 200's. A pair of "normal" outboards will be a LOT more than a single 425, and the 425 will use a lot less fuel too. In some cases, where a 425 would repower a boat that had a pair of 200's or 225's, it's likely to be cheaper initially, cheaper in fuel, lighter weight and depending on which 200's came off, have a lot better features such as SDS, Command Link, etc. SDS is nice. Now that said I don't have a lot of experience with the bigger outboards. About a month or so back I got a chance to go fishing offshore. Some of you will laugh, but for those of us who aren't blessed with the time, money, and ability to go fish the salt, you'll understand. Anyway..... Boat was powered by a F300 Yamaha. Idling, it was silent. We couldn't hear it. Even at full tilt, about 26 kt, it wasn't that loud-and I was sitting right next to it. In the front of the boat it barely audible. I was impressed with it. Now compare that with what "could" have been put on that boat, a pair of 150's. The F150's aren't too terribly noisy but a pair of them is going to be heavy, use quite a bit of fuel, more complexity, twice as much maintenance, twice as much to fix, etc. That's where the single 300 shines in comparison. For a guy like Capt. Joseph (who owned/operated the boat), it makes a big difference especially if you're using it commercially.
