Hey Bass - Great advice above.....Suzuki, Etec or Yamaha would be my choice....Here's a link for a guy selling twin 300 Suzuki's with low hours... Maybe he'd just sell you one?
http://www.njfishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95030 looks like he includes the controls but they for twins so you'd need to check into that.
As far as installation and rigging, if you buy brand new many will include it in with the price of the engines...
Early spring is also the time that Suzuki usually has there extended warranty promotion but I think that ended 4/29
My suggestion is to stick with one of these 3 brands, shop your best deal and purchase the one that has the better deal combined with the local dealer you feel most comfortable with.
Best of luck in your search and I think you'll be very pleased by swapping out the Mercury two stroke especially if you upgrade to a newer technology 250 or 300.
