"I struggle to stuff five gallons of gas into the tank after a day of fishing"

I know what I would do. The more I read about the little Suzuki the more I want one.

I repowered this summer with a Yamaha 115 4 stroke @377#.
It lowered the transom about 4-5 inches from where it was with the Merc. @349#. I was surprised but the new motor was worth it.

I have since gone from 2 batteries in the back to 3 in the front of the console.
It picked it up about 3-4inches. I haven't really had a chance to run it much because the batteries were moved in December and the weather has been iffy on the coast.

The pic. is before I moved the batteries.

Oh, plus I have a 84# thrust Minn Kota mounted on the cavitation plate and it's pretty heavy.

Good luck