Best Outboard motor

[Chuck Turner15902]

I know I will get a lot of personal opinions with this question, but I am going to ask it anyway. When I bought my C22 sport, the dealer did not have a 6hp mercury in stock, so he offered me an 8hp for the same price. Good deal, right? Not really. The 8hp weighs 85 pounds and is really more motor than I need for the boat and awkward to remove when I trailer. The 6hp weighs about 57 pounds and is easier to handle and is more than adequate for the few times that I use it. I want to sell the eight and get either a 5 or 6 hp. My question is:Johnson/Evinrude, Honda, Mercury, Nissan, Tohatsu. Opinions, please.Chuck Turner

 

[Peter18012]

Where's service where you are?

Most important thing, in my opinion, is the source for parts & service locally. If you need a new waterpump impeller or pair of sparkplugs, you want to take a 2 min. walk to the dealer at your harbor, not wait 2 weeks to get something shipped to you. Consider the warranty in what you buy, and getting warranty service as well. That said, among 4-strokes (the only thing available here in CA), Honda has the best reputation and longest time building smaller 4-strk OBs. Hondas also tend to be a bit more pricey than the competition, but in dollars/hours of use, maybe that's OK. I have a buddy who retired his Honda 7.5 after about 25 years of auxiliary use. It was still runnning, but he'd only trust it getting in and out of the harbor.Personally, on my Cat27, I use 2-strk Johnson/Evinrude. A 4-strk won't fit in the OB well of a 27. Over the last 30 years, I seem to get about 10-12 years out of a 9.9 or 15hp 2-strk motor, using it about 100-150 hours/year. That would say the current 1996 is due for replacement. But it's running fine, and there are no more 2-strks available here, so I hope to keep her for awhile longer.

 

[NautiDuck]

tohatsu

I had a Catalina 22 and sold the Honda 8hp that came with it because it was so heavy. Got the Tohatsu 6hp and loved it. Get it here for a great price:www.onlineoutboards.comGreat price and fast shipping.