An alternative to the Lehr 2.5 hp outboard?

I see where Honda has a 2.3 HP 4 stroke gasoline powered outboard with air cooling and a centrifugal clutch. It weighs five pounds less than the Lehr.

Good ............. If weight is your most important criteria.

I've heard these air cooled Honda's run .. quite noisy

They are all a compromise.

ancora said:

I see where Honda has a 2.3 HP 4 stroke gasoline powered outboard with air cooling and a centrifugal clutch. It weighs five pounds less than the Lehr.

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I have one. If the propane outboard had been out at the time I would have considered it just because of the stale gas issues associated with outboards used only occasionally.

The Honda works just fine for me and the light weight means I can easily get it on and off the dinghy.

One thing I don't like is, there's no transmission and turning the throttle high enough to start the motor means it will try to run away once it starts.

I am going to buy a small Honda outboard for my Avon 310 RIB. I’m going to give up planning.

I currently have a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke that will get it up on plane with 3 adults, but I hate that motor. I’ve have 3 hrs on it over 4 years. At just over a hundred lbs it is too heavy for Melissa and I to move around.

I lending it to Bob McLeran (who some of you may know as the listmeister at T&T - Bob is a former neighbor and real life friend for over 10 years) for his loop starting in 10 days or so. I hope I never see it again.

I wish my 9.9 Johnson 2 stroke had not been stolen, in broad daylight, while we were ashore in Annapolis and tied to a city mooring ball. We took the water taxi in. Yeah I know, if wishes had wings, pigs would fly.

The Johnson only weighed 60 pounds. What a great outboard.

Mike

I upgraded from a yammie 6hp 2-stroke to an 8hp 4-stroke and boy the weight difference is notable.

So I added a ATV power winch to my mast/boom with an extended remote pigtail and now loading the boat and lowering the motor is a one handed evolution (the other pushes the up/down button)

The difference of five pounds less than the Lehr is important to me as my wife has to lower the engine from the sundeck to me standing on the swim step. Do not want to put any rigging on the boat it would be esthetically displeasing to me.

ancora said:

The difference of five pounds less than the Lehr is important to me as my wife has to lower the engine from the sundeck to me standing on the swim step. Do not want to put any rigging on the boat it would be esthetically displeasing to me.

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That would be the primary deciding factor if I where in your shoes Ancora. My wife's strength and mobility is something I always consider when deciding compromises.

I also agree that rigging on sun decks is normally rough on the eyes.

I bought a 2 hp Yamaha 2 stroke that's about the same weight as the Honda air cooled 2 1/2 hp (27 lbs I think). It's so simple and I/we can lay it down any old which way including up side down. I shut off the fuel and stuff it in the hold and it's never leaked a drop of fuel.

I bought a 3 1/2 hp 4 stroke Mercury/Tohatsu new as we use it deep into the wilderness on our square stern power canoe. Wanted a new engine for that and it's been perfect but it does weigh 41 lbs,

Have a 70s 6 hp Johnson that runs so sweet my wife really likes to go by herself in the dinghy and it pushes the power canoe about 14 knots. What a ride but we usually run it 7 to 9 knots. Our new (relatively) Yamaha 8 hp 2 stroke twin was supposed to replace the Johnson but we've still got the Johnson. I don't think Chris will let me sell it.

My thoughts are that if you can get an old 2 stroke properly rebuilt why get 4 strokes?????? Running them dry always seems to work for me re the old fuel issue. But sometimes I use synthetic oil.

Cheesh....Eric. I think you ought to change your handle to "Manymotors".

Today, I took a 4 stroke 9.9 Merc/Tohatsu off my buddy's dinghy, and man, was that a heavy engine. He liked my 9.9 Merc two-stroke and tried to trade for it, but he ended up laying out over a grand for a low hour example of his own. Sure glad I didn't do the deal cuz his dinghy is a foot longer than mine is and he still had trouble swamping the boat when slowing down too quickly.

I bought the Lehr 2.5 to replace my Suzuki 2 hp 2 cycle. I don't like the added weight of the four stroke but I sure do like how easy it is to start.

We just got some of the Lehr 9.9's in my store but I haven't had a chance to play with one. I'm planning to put one on a little 14 foot skiff I'm building.

healhustler said:

Cheesh....Eric. I think you ought to change your handle to "Manymotors".
.

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Ha ha, Healhustler, you beat me to it. What with all those anchors and outboards, por old Willy must struggle at times - just kiddin' Eric.
But, yes, I had a 4hp Merc 2 stroke which went well, (when it went), but was a tad heavy for lifting in and out of the dink, and it was just a dog to start and hated stale fuel mix, which mine always was because we don't get out often enough, so when it finally died - (actually I lie, so I gave it away), I got a 4 stroke 2.3hp Honda, and I love it. It is light as, and it will run on any fuel no matter how stale, ( I start with premium, so it keeps its octane up a long time), and being air cooled there's no stuffing round flushing after each use. Perfect for a smaller dink if you are not in a hurry. Just one downside is the noise is louder than a 2 stroke and one must be careful with the centrifugal clutch as Ron mentioned.

A friend of mine has had good success using a large elec trolling motor on his RIB. I love our 70s model 35hp Johnson 2stroke on our 11' Whaler but she is a gas hog. That engine is the size of a modern 10hp 4stroke.