Think im gunna invest in a new 25 or 30 hp outboard and cant decide whether to go with the merc or evinrude.  I've already blown up one of each but it seems like the the johnson handled the cold a little better than the merc.  Whats your opinion?

What year & price range are you going to be looking at?

They've both changed substantially over the decades. My '85 evinrude runs like a champ once it's warm but the cold starts are rough - been through the motor a few times trying to tune it out.

What have you done to blow the other motors up? Do you feel like they quit on you under normal use or did you give em hell (let's be honest here, I don't know any duck hunter that has treated their motor like it calls out in the owners manual lol).

Well the first one was a 84 johnson 25hp i bought off a sketchy ass dude in Iowa for a $1000.  It was a 1981 16ft x wide x deep loweline with a trailer and it came a trolling motor, seats, stereo, all that, and then it had that johnson and you could tell it was in rough shape.  Had a different lower unit.  It had basically been through hell and back.  Had a retired guy from the duck club look at it and got it runnin pretty good for 60 bucks.  Cant complain about that.  That guy has been a huge help and saved me a ton of money.  Great guy.  But then opening day comin back from the blind about half way home the thing stops pumpin water and quits on me.  Pull the top off and the smoke just poured out.  Got a tow and i thought i blew it up for sure so i threw it in the garage and my cousin had a back up that was sittin in the basement he was always wantin to give me so we got that runnin and threw it on.  That was a 84 merc 25hp.  Got it tuned up at a marina cause my buddy only does Johnsons.  300 bucks later it was runnin like a top.  Went out one morning got to the blind, flawless.  Had to go chase a goose block mid morning, started right up, got the decoy, no problem.  Pick up all the decoys at the end of the day and start headin down the lake.  It started shakin like an sob.  Got to the pullovers, checked the prop and did as much as we could.  Nursed it down the river a couple miles and about a mile downriver from the ramp i completely lost power to the prop.  So heres us four hillbillys tryin to paddle upstream, four guys in the boat, ones got mono, and one had popped his shoulder out of place ina ball game the night before.  Finally got back and took it to the marina that monday and the lower unit had completely imploded.  1000+ dollar fix.  So i called up my buddy to see if he could get the johnson goin.  Got it goin but apparantly the thermostat was bad.  Found that out the hard way (involved an overheated motor and some rowing).  Now its gotta new thermostat and all but just tired off messing with it.  Ya know what I mean?  Mu buddy John kept me under 300 bucks for all the work he did on it too.  Real nice guy.  So i think i just wanna either get a new motor or at least a gently used newer one.  But my boats only rated to a 35hp so i cant go big but I definately dont wanna go under a 25hp

There is no doubt Mercury run well, but getting them to run seems to be the problem I hear most. Mercury has a higher idle and has had a history of starting issues (especially manual start). This has especially been an issue in harsh weather conditions. I'm mostly speaking in reference to their smaller motors. Above 50hp there seems to be less of a problem.

Evinrude/ Johnson also has great running motors, but they don't tend to have the idle and start issues the Mercs do. Ever since the '50s, Evinrude/ Johnson has had the best and most reliable small engines in my opinion (aside form maybe Mariner in their prime). That is saying a lot! I have a '69 6hp and a'55 5.5hp that run and start like they are brand new (both Evinrude). I also have an '80 25hp Johnson (manual start) and '89 40 hp Evinrude (elecrtic start). The Johnson is on my duck boat, and the Evinrude is on my small fishing boat. Both are unbreakable! That Johnson goes through a lot of crap including -30 temps and busting up to 1.5" of ice. It needs to be reliable to handle the late duck season in WI.

There is a reason you see just about every small boat or john boat with a 25 or smaller hp Johnson/ Evinrude on it..... They are reliable!

Yea.  My uncle's 84 25hp johnson is unstoppable but i found a guy selling a 2009 mercury four stroke 25hp with low hours and electric start for 2000.  Pretty hard to pass that up