Cheap used outboard experiences

JohnVTX · Oct 31, 2015

2003 Tohatsu 6hp 4 stroke still working like a charm

Sailm8 · Oct 31, 2015

I have a 5hp Tohatsu bought off Craigslist. Few problems as long as I use non ethanol gas. That being said, from what I have read Yamaha makes the most dependable small outboards. I see an awful lot of them in SW Florida. If you google the model and and hp and year you can get the specs that show weight.

JohnVTX · Oct 31, 2015

Sailm8 said:
I have a 5hp Tohatsu bought off Craigslist. Few problems as long as I use non ethanol gas. That being said, from what I have read Yamaha makes the most dependable small outboards. I see an awful lot of them in SW Florida. If you google the model and and hp and year you can get the specs that show weight.

Ditto on the non ethanol gas. Use only marine gas.

shemandr · Oct 31, 2015

My Tohatsu 3.5 weighs 27lbs., I think.
If you are interested in a particular engine its weight should be easily found online.

SOCAL C50 · Oct 31, 2015

Yammi 6 hp. 2 stroke. 1997 uses ethanol gas with an additive. it can sit for 3 weeks and will fire up on the first pull if I remember to pump fuel to the carb. I paid $250 but had to rebuild the carb., impeller, and plugs.

Daveinet · Oct 31, 2015

I keep saying it over and over. If you are in the market for a 3-4 HP outboard, purchasing an gas engine makes no sense. This year I purchased an 86lb thrust trolling motor on Ebay. The price is now down to $135 bucks, which is about 20 bucks less than what I paid. I previously used a 4HP Suzuki. Comparing the two, the trolling motor has a slightly less top speed, but has more forward thrust. In other words, if the boat is coasting backward, and I kick it forward, the boat will change direction sooner than with the gas engine. I purchased two 172 minute reserve capacity deep cycle batteries from NAPA, two 4 amp charger/maintainer from Menards. Total is around 400 bucks.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-86lbs-F...or-36-Shaft-/271488313008?hash=item3f35f6e6b0

I just can't say enough about how much I love using the trolling motor. It always "starts". It is light weight, very easy for my wife or kids to put it in the water, and anyone can operate it. My wife feels much more secure, knowing if I were to go overboard or become incapacitated, that she could handle dropping the sails and motoring. (to rescue me, not to get away) We took a week long sailing vacation down at Carlyle Lake. We had two days that were miserably hot with no wind. (water temp was 89 degrees). We ended up doing a lot of motoring. It was nice to just cruise along with NO NOISE. We could generate our own breeze to cool off. In many ways, it had the same affect as sailing, because you can ghost along quietly and peacefully, the same as you would with the sails up. Battery life was very good. At the end of those two days plus a day sailing, the battery indicator was still at full charge. I did end up charging the batteries overnight on the 4 day just because.

Benny17441 · Oct 31, 2015

For sailboat use I would look for a long shaft (20") as opposed to a short shaft (15") ; this will help keep the prop in the water should your lake be able to produce waves or you have to contend with powerboat wakes. Another primary consideration for outboards is weight, a 3-5 HP two stroke engine will weigh around 30 lbs while its four stroke counterpart will be North of 50 lbs. This plays a big difference on how you plan to store the engine, if you can leave it attached to the motor mount on the boat then it is not that important but if you are planning to install and remove every time then it becomes a huge concern. Two strokes usually produce more power (better acceleration) for size but the downside is more noise and lesser fuel economy. Having to mix gasoline and oil is an added task. In some outboards the throttle mechanism is a twist handle on the tiller but in others it is a lever the side of the powerhead. I do prefer the twist handle as it places the control closer to the boat's transom. Transmission; some have F,N,R while others have just F,N and the powerhead needs to be turned around to get reverse. Lastly I like to be able to lock the powerhead in position to steer the boat with its rudder and I like also to be able to tilt the prop out of the water when sailing so I would look for both a lock and tilt mechanism besides having a motor mount that could be vertically adjusted. As far as power, 3-4 HP for light boat, 5-6HP for medium weight and 8-10 HP for a heavy boat. Weather conditions in one area may require Larger HP than in other areas. Pick the engine that will do the job you want; now when buying used you have to consider the engine condition over its features and you may not get what you want but you need to get something reliable. There is nothing more frustrating than a problematic outboard.

Stu Jackson · Oct 31, 2015

Dave, I think we hear you about electric trolling motors. However, the OP did say:

dobrosailor said:
but want to explore in the thousand islands

Because of that, and because of the realistic limits of how far any particular electric motor can really go without a substantial solar support system or daily shorepower charging, one must always be aware of the intended USE before making a decision on appropriate propulsion systems.

Meriachee · Oct 31, 2015

I wouldn't want to get caught out in the thousand islands with no juice. A gas engine could die, but an electric will die. After listening to a Westerbeke rattle for a few years now, I like the idea of quiet power. It's just not possible to provide enough power without a shore cord.

Leeward Rail · Oct 31, 2015

Other than fuel+oil mixing...
Once consideration with 2 strokes, is that some places are banning them, due to the pollution.

Daveinet: FWIW You should spend time with your wife teaching her to competently pick you up from the water while under sail.
It goes a long way to increase confidence. Even trolling motors are not 100% reliable. (the sure as heck wouldn't be useful in the thousand islands with a simple battery bank.) Once of the first things my wife and I do when chartering an unfamiliar boat, is do some sail only MOB practice. You life could depend on it.

Daveinet · Oct 31, 2015

I don't know anything about Thousand Islands or surrounding conditions. I assumed others would define what those conditions are. From my experience, for distance, I would say you are good for a very solid 20 miles in moderate conditions, and more like 25. For the days we ran around, we probably put about 8 miles a day on the batteries, so over those 3 days, we probably put 20 miles on without seeing the charge indicator come off full charge. If you need farther distance on only limited occasions, a small portable generator could be used for a backup. On the other hand, if you are pushing straight into a 25 mph headwind, your time will be reduced to about 2 hrs running wide open under full load. I've run it when there were white caps on every wave, and you are pulling about 40 amps. My real point is that if 3-4 HP is all you need, then the trolling motor will be just fine. If you need more HP, then the trolling motor will not work.

Stu Jackson · Oct 31, 2015

Leeward Rail said:
Once consideration with 2 strokes, is that some places are banning them, due to the pollution.

But that is only for buying new ones.

If you have an old one, they can't stop you from using it.

CaptDon01 · Oct 31, 2015

Here's a little real life comparison on a 2 stroke vs a 4 stroke. Years ago on our original C-22,(1980 swing keel), I had a 6 HP Johnson, 2 cylinder, 2-stroke. Nice engine, ran GREAT, never had an issue. I did some fuel consumption tests for a planned trip up the Illinois River from Grafton Ill to Chicago. At hull speed, ~6 MPH, my burn rate was 3/4 gallon per hour. Several years ago we motored up the coast from Mission Bay to Dana Point. The GPS said we logged right at 60 NM under our keel. Filled up in Dana Point and our consumption was 2.8 gallons with our 5 HP Honda, MK-II wing keel version, and again running at hull speed ~ 5.5 Kts. Huge difference in gas useage.

I've had a used 6 HP 4-stroke Nissan,(made by Tohatsu), a 5 HP Honda, and insisted the seller run them for me in a test tank before purchasing, and paid $400 and $500 respectively, and had no problems. If they are filthy, oily, and all scratched up, and the crankcase oil was black and low, I would walk away, probably a good indication they weren't taken care of.

I just don't buy the argument of ethanol gas being the doomsday of outboards. The manufactactures are smart folks, and they want to sell dependable outboards. They know buyers ain't going to search high and low for ethanol free gas. Most will fill the tank when they fill the car, and ethanol has been around for what, 20 years now? I'll buy the argument that there was an issue with older engines, but engines manufactured within the last 10 years or so were built to survive in the 10% ethanol world. Maybe I'm just a lucky guy, but I routinely use Shell or Chevron premium with Stabil and a little Seafoam for maintenance purposes, and I just don't have starting, idling or running issues. And I'm running the stupid over priced California blends. But your experience might be different.....

Don

allen-deckard · Oct 31, 2015

Leeward Rail said:
Daveinet: FWIW You should spend time with your wife teaching her to competently pick you up from the water while under sail.
It goes a long way to increase confidence. Even trolling motors are not 100% reliable. (the sure as heck wouldn't be useful in the thousand islands with a simple battery bank.) Once of the first things my wife and I do when chartering an unfamiliar boat, is do some sail only MOB practice. You life could depend on it.

hehe good luck with that if it were my wife. She is simply along for the ride. She is fine with riding around enjoys that but sail? Not gonna happen. she is about as helpful as the dog besides maybe makin me a sandwich and better conversation.
Figure I'm in no more danger than the 80% of the time I'm solo. She knows how to drop sails and start motor. But sail hehe that's just funny.

Leeward Rail · Oct 31, 2015

Stu Jackson said:
But that is only for buying new ones.

If you have an old one, they can't stop you from using it.

Not sure about other countries, but in Canada they can prevent you from using it on some lakes
Some lakes don't allow motors at all. Some only allow electric motors. Others don't allow 2 strokes.
EDIT: (the first two have to do with "reserving" some lakes for specific types of uses, the latter restriction is all about pollution)
Most notably, traditional 2 strokes are banned in all Canadian National Parks.

CaptDon01 said:
engines manufactured within the last 10 years or so were built to survive in the 10% ethanol world.

+1

Leeward Rail · Oct 31, 2015

dobrosailor said:
Same boat here so-to-speak, she is into boating not sailing! Big difference, since I single hand a lot, no issues, she can stay out of the way, If I fall over board I'm better off she knows nothing because if she did, she'd probably head for shore ;o)

Then you better be wearing a harness, especially when single handing. More than a few people have died because their crew weren't actual crew.
If you've never practiced MOB recovery you WILL be surprised how hard it is to get someone back on board, never mind not losing sight of them while you maneuver back to the MOB.

BoatUS did some number crunching a few years back, and over 5 years there were 749 Deaths from MOB. 90% of those were in calm weather. 76% were during the daytime, 85% were men, 4% of the boats had 2 engines. 3rd most common reason in accidents overall was inexperience.

Stu Jackson · Oct 31, 2015

Leeward Rail said:
Not sure about other countries, but in Canada they can prevent you from using it on some lakes.
Some lakes don't allow motors at all. Some only allow electric motors. Others don't allow 2 strokes.
Most notably, traditional 2 strokes are banned in all Canadian National Parks.

Good to know, thanks. I knew about relatively "easy to police" lakes, but didn't know about the parks. Wadda I know, I sail in salt water. Even here in California, they haven't gotten that far except for the smaller lakes, as far as I know. Same kind of limitations.