We have a Nissan 5 HP long shaft that is for the dinghy and is a backup for the Mac. We bought it used and love it. No complaints. It would get our 9 ft. Zodiac on plane with just one person on board, but not 2. That isn't really a concern for us. I changed to a lower pitch prop since I wanted a better prop on it if it was used on the MacGregor and that didn't hurt performance with 2 in the inflatable and it will push the Mac into a 20+ mph headwind at 5 knots on about 1/2 throttle.
I raised the ....
....transom on the inflatable to make the long shaft work better.
Last spring we bought a 9.8 HP Tohatsu extra-long shaft to replace a Honda 8 HP on the Mac and love it so far. We used it for 70 miles or so on the Florida trip we just took. It always started right up and with a 4 blade high thrust 7 pitch (came with a 4 blade 5 pitch high thrust) pushed the Mac along at 5-6 knots on maybe 1/3 throttle and got good mileage, around 11-12 mpg as far as I could figure.
We bought the extra-long shaft so that.......
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-25.html
.... we could raise it 5 inches and move it back just a little on a new removable bracket I made. This way it is in the water as deep as a long shaft, but it will rotate fully and it is easier to reach the controls as it is higher. Still since Ruth runs the outboard most of the time and has shorter arms than I do I .....
.....modified all of the controls so that she can reach them easier. The best mod was making a bracket that connects the rudder tiller to the outboard tiller in about 15 seconds. Now she can maneuver in tight places and the two work together and no more running the prop into the rudder. Here is a link to all of that, just go down the page a ways.....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-index.html
and links to YouTube showing how the above works.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UYc2ZHehS8&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COMAPYd5WTg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sWbLBGc1Is&feature=channel
One last advantage of the extra-long shaft and removable mount is the mount comes off with 4 nuts and then the outboard could be dropped down 5 inches on the transom if needed at any time depending on water conditions.
Ok, sorry, got off topic as usual. I haven't seen the complaints about the 4-6 HP, but have read some on the 8-9 HP and most relate to the carb. With new emission standards the idle circuits on the carb are one, none adjustable, and two the passages are very small and very easy to clog with debris. I think some have come from the factory in this shape. Removing and cleaning the carb isn't a big deal, but I can see where some people wouldn't feel comfortable with it. I didn't have to do anything to ours so far. Ran great right out of the box.
I did install a 19 gallon tank...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-35.html
.... in the Lazarette and at the same time put on a good ....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-36.html
.....filter with a water separator on it as we might have to put ethanol blended fuel at some point. I would run a filter on yours if at all possible.
Would we buy another Tohatsu (Nissan, Mercury)? Definitely in fact soon we will buy a 3 1/2 HP long shaft to replace the 5 HP on the dinghy. I'm getting older and it will be a lot easier putting the 40 lb. outboard on and off vs. the 60 lb. one and since it is a long shaft I'm confident we could use it on the Mac in an emergency if needed to push it some place.
Good luck,
Sum
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