Our Walker Bay RIB, came with our boat and had a 9.9hp 4 stroke, around 100 lbs of engine, we replaced it with a 35 lb 2hp honda, we don't plane but it gets us to shore and back, sips fuel, easy to store, recommend it highly. Noticed that a lot of dinks on the dinghy dock have same engine, new ones are now 2.2 hp, woo, woo!am in process of buying new o/b for my dink. Advice?
1. Yes, no way to answer unless we know this.1. How big is dink and how fast do you want to go? Inflatable or hard dink?
2. In the US, Mercury, Nissan, and Evinrude small engines are all re-badged Tohatsu engines.
Go on ebay and get a 2 stroke engineTo me its all about the weight. Most of the motors are reputable. When I am in your situation I would think about....
I have a 3.5 Tohatsu 2 stroke that my wife can hand me on the swim bridge. It weighs 23 pounds. Its not for long distance, but it has a short shaft for my 9 foot inflatable keel. Ideal for what we use it for. We are not getting any younger and when you are hopping around anchorages. Getting the motor on and off the dingie is critical to me.
Do I have davits or am I going to tow the dingie? Davits... well then the sky or your checkbook is the limit. Something that would plane the dingie is always envious.
Am I going to tow? Well motors that wont tilt out of the water create a tremendous amount of drag and even stowed can create some interesting problems in rough seas.
So back too... if it is for putting into shore get something that wont hurt anyone trying to mount. Alot of people have a mini boom mounted but that is added expense.
As far as durability, the above comments should be heeded well. Get some customer reviews on your choices.
Good luck
Edit: The electric motors are getting way better but I have no words because I havent seen one up close. Course putting a car battery in and out of the dingie brings me right back to the weight problem.
Remove the side covers on your motor. Unscrew the carburetor bowl. In the middle of it you will find one jet that will unscrew. Do it. Now clean it thuroughly. Replace it. Now see if your problem, no starting, is fixed.Thanks to everyone who's responded so far. A couple of pieces of info missing from my posting...
1. current o/b is 3.5 hp Nissan 2 stroke. I been sweating 5 summers with this engine. Every year it won't start. When it finally does work I make sure to turn off fuel valve, run it til it stops before getting out of the boat. Last weekend was the last straw. Bought a carb rebuild kit 3 wks ago, installed it, used avgas (no ethanol), worked fine. Then last weekend it refused to start.
2. Current dink is WM RU260. Small. We may upgrade to bigger. Problems that I didn't have w/previous hypalon bigger inflatable include PVC had two slits in it...repaired them and the 260 is too small. Considering everything including rib, hypalon, rigid.
More advice now that you know that?
Rich
Change the spark plug.Remove the side covers on your motor. Unscrew the carburetor bowl. In the middle of it you will find one jet that will unscrew. Do it. Now clean it thuroughly. Replace it. Now see if your problem, no starting, is fixed.
The rest is up to your checkbook.
If you've got a 65 lb golden retriever with a full bladder, no patience and a distant shore, you really needa get there fast :dance:Oars have several advantages and only a few disadvantage
light weight
don't require gas storage tank
can propel the boat faster than you can walk
can be used a an anti boarding device in a pinch
can be stored on a wall
unlimited range
don't get stolen much at the dingy dock
start instantly no maintenance hassles even if they need a coat of varnish
you can build and repair your own set
The disadvantages are:
they can't drive the dingy at skiing speeds
they take a while to get the hang of
they don't work on inflatables
the question is how much bigger....considerationsChange the spark plug.
This is your likely culprit.
Having said that, 3.5 is a little small.
There are 3 things you should consider when buying an outboard for your dinghy
Weight
Weight
Weight
There is nothing cheaper than a second hand 20 HP outboard.
People think they're getting a great deal, cause its so cheap
Then they try & lift it.
Then they find out why it was so cheap.
The day you sell a 20hp dinghy outboard is life the day your visiting in laws pack their suitcases. Sense of relief
If you can pick up a 9.9hp 2 Stroke on ebay, that will be a wise choice.
Surprisingly, they aren't cheap. The 4 stroke equivalent are about 40% heavier.