Outboard Motors

[cwhiggins]

Hi,

We are just costal cruising at this time with a Hunter 23. Our 9.9 H 25 year old Evenrude stopped working and we are trying to decide if we want to get it fixed or get a new outboard.

Any opinions on a reliable outboards or if it makes sense to get the old one fixed? We are looking at 10 H or less and needs to weigh less than 115 or we have to change the mount too.

We are looking for reliablility and safety. Thanks in advance to anyone who would like to share their opions and experiences with outboards.

Also, thanks for all the great information you share on this forum. We are still wannabes compared to those of you living aboard and ocean cruising.

Chiara and Chris.

[Gallivanters]

I'm certainly no expert, but...

my personal favorite outboard engine?

<font size="4"></font id="size4">YAMAHA

I've worked with countless outboards over the years and Yamaha delivers good value.

Happy hunting,

Kirk

[Auzzee]

On repairing your old Evinrude friend, my advice is fix it...to a mooring block. New outboards (Mine is also a Yamaha) are extremely reliable and with regulation servicing will remain so for many years. New outboards are not particularly expensive, will return a good financial, environmental and satisfaction dividend and will help you to love your partner more because you will have less cause for anger and the inevitable fault finding and sniping which is engendered by an engine which has passed its use-by date. Or as my wee Gorbachev so eloquently remarked..."For god's sake, get rid of that piece of b....y s... hanging off the a...e end of the dinghy, before... etc. And so it came to pass, and relative peace now reigns across my personal landscape.

Now, about my patchwork zodiac!

[David Shipton]

I'm with Auzzee on this one. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to get an old outboard going when it stubbornly refuses to start. Like all machinery when it decides to go wrong its always at the most inconvenient time which causes the air to turn a bright blue!!

All of the most popular makes carry similar guarantees and have good after sales service. The parts are generally available all around the world which is an important consideration if you want to take off.

Give the old engine a float test and buy a new one - but not necessarily in that order!!

Cheers

David

[sailormandave]

I've been using a Nissan 2-stroke long shaft on a 17-footer for 8 years now on a boat I use for sailing instruction and it has started every season on the first pull. I'm very impressed with it. I've also owned a Nissan 2-stroke 9.8 and 4-stroke 9.8.(sold under Tohatsu name) on 26-foot boats and have used both to cross the gulf stream on 26-foot sailboats. I've been impressed with the performance and reliability of both. One reason I chose these engines is they are some of the few that are available in a 25-inch (extra-long) shaft which is not available on most outboards. I found this to make a considerable difference in rough chop. You need to decide if you want a 2 or 4 stroke outboard. In the 9.8, I found the 4-stroke to be much heavier and found it harder on the transom mount and harder to get on and off on my own. The 4-stroke got about 40% better fuel economy and they are more environmentally friendly. For this reason, some states are outlawing 2-stroke outboards and this trend is likely to continue. In addition to being illegal, many if not most manufacturers are eliminating or reducing the sale of 2-strokes which may make getting parts difficut down the road. I should mention, that both my 9.8s had electric starts, but the 2-stroke was much easier to pull start which is nice if you accidently drain your batteries.

I've had great luck with these Nissans, but I've also heard great things about the Yamahas other people here have mentioned.

[Oscar]

Had a Honda 9.9 long shaft with sailboat package on my Catalina 250. Often people would complement me on how quiet it ran.(Four stroke). It had the four bladed prop, optimized for 6-7 knots. It used very little fuel, and no smell. It was electric starting and kept the battery charged. I'd buy it again. The only thing they insist on is CLEAN fuel.

[Bedouin]

I have to agree with all the others, it's a credit it has lasted this long but don't use that as a reason to get it fixed. Fixing it will be more expensive than a new motor. 4 strokes are heavier so considering your comment about you transom mount it may not be a good idea. Against that is todays outboard motors are so much lighter now than just 10 years back. However the modern 4 strokes are really efficient on fuel. Yamaha, Honda and Tohatsu are all good reliable motors but it is exceptionally important to use very clean fuel and to drain the fuel bowl to get rid of moisture(water) and any 'crud' that finds it's way into the fuel. Rest assured that moisture will get into your fuel tank simply because the motor takes petrol out and that is the major cause of engine stoppages.

Regards

Peter bedouin@hotkey.net.au

[Oscar]

I recall that the Honda 9.9 Long shaft weighs in at about 105 lbs.

http://www.defender.com/inflatables/outboa...da/mod8_9hp.htm

[Charlie Jones]

We JUST recently changed from an Evinrude 9.9 on our Meridian 25 (5300 pounds dry disp) to a Yamaha 8 hp 4 stroke.

WOW

The Evinrude would burn throuh 3 gallons of gas ( gas/oil mix) in about 2 hours and 45 minutes at our hull speed. The Yamaha runs between 7.5 and 8 hours on the same tank of straght gas- no oil. And that's running at a high idle. We get hull speed at LESS than the start setting on the throttle. Plus when it's idling the only way you know it's running is by looking at the tiller handle- it vibrates a bit, the boat does not. You can actually hold a conversation in the cockpit with the engine running at cruise.

The engine weighs 86 pounds. Manual start, no alternator. My wife is 5'2", 105 pounds and can easily pull start the engine.

Another thing I really like is the shifter on the tiller handle. All the controls are right there- throttle, gear shift, kill button and throttle tension- with in easy reach. Also for the Yamaha you can get longer cables and move the tiller handle away from the engine should you desire. I've seen them mounted on the boats tiller, or on the side of the cockpit.

I'll never go back to a 2 stroke.

[cwhiggins]

Thanks everyone for your responses. This is very helpful (and humerous in some cases!). We think we are going with the Yamaha 9.9. It's 4 stroke but light enough for our mount. We'll let you know how it works.

Chris and Chiara

[David Shipton]

Brightspell

I would think that a 9.9hp would be far too heavy for your boat. Plus the boat would not need so powerful an engine. Four stroke engines now go down to about 4hp so you could still have a quieter engine but not need one so powerful and fuel hungry

[Bedouin]

I totally agree with David on his points. I would think a 4hp would give you all the power and boat speed you could want and todays motors are incredibly light they are not a problem to lift with one hand without lunging into a tilt!! It would be hard to pick between a Honda, Yamaha or Tohatsu(Nissan) and if there is much difference in the price then I would go for the least expensive as they are all reliable and equally economical(not)!! What I mean is non of the 2 stroke motors are fuel efficient but the 4 stroke motors run on about 25% of the 2 strokes fuel use per NM per HP.

Regards

Peter