Mercury Marine

Engines cannot be purchased through our online store. If you are interested in one of our engines, please call the marina at 715.924.3318. Thank you!

Mercury Marine was founded in 1939 when engineer Carl Kiekhaefer purchased a small outboard motor company in Cedarburg, WI. Kiekhaefer's original intention for the Kiekhaefer Corporation was to make magnetic separators for the dairy industry. The purchase included 300 defective outboard motors. Kiekhaefer and a small staff of employees rebuilt the motors and sold them to Montgomery Ward, a mail-order company. The motors were much improved so the buyer purchased more. Kiekhaefer designed motors that withstood the elements better than his competition and called the motor Mercury after the Roman god. Kiekhaefer took more than 16,000 orders at the 1940 New York Boat Show.

Over the years, Mercury has provided such innovations as the MerCruiser stern-drive line which later took over 80 percent of the world market, electronic ignition and electronic fuel injection for outboards.  

Carl Kiekhaefer resigned as President of Kiekhaefer Mercury in 1969, and the name was changed to Mercury Marine.

Today they manufacture four stroke outboard engines ranging from 2.5 hp to 350 hp. They provide engines for private, commercial and government sales, primarily for small boats. There are four distinct model offerings including the FourStroke, Opti-Max, Pro-XS and Verado.