Ding Engine

Very close to purchasing the 11.5 Bull Frog.

They use Tohatsu, which are apparently fuel injected.

In our area, the most common Ding engines are Yamaha and Honda. We had a Yamaha on a past ding, and it was a work horse.

Bull Frog will also put a Honda on, so I am asking for the 30HP.

I realize all of these modern engines are all good these days and there is not much difference, but wondering if anyone has any experience with the newer Honda 30?

I would opt for the Yamaha. Service is plentiful in most areas and is the gold standard these days. We use them on our work boats at the marina and they work flawlessly.

... and its Dink...

You say Dink, I say Ding. I also call it the little boat. When my kids were small, it was “Lil Will”. Did you have anything related to my question to add?

HaHa Fletcher I had no idea what you were talking about.

Honda’s are great but BullFrogs are heavy.

Given a choice between Tohatsu and Honda I would opt for Honda.

Fletcher500 said:

You say Dink, I say Ding. I also call it the little boat. When my kids were small, it was “Lil Will”. Did you have anything related to my question to add?

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You say "ding" and everyone else says dink!!!! I had to look to see if English was not your native language....

menzies said:

... and its Dink...

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Thanks for this... I was going to say something but you beat me to it!
HOLLYWOOD

Fletcher500 said:

You say Dink, I say Ding. I also call it the little boat. When my kids were small, it was “Lil Will”. Did you have anything related to my question to add?

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Yamaha.. Yamaha.. Yamaha


HW

I thought the thread was about a new Chinese built engine,but it`s not.

BruceK said:

I thought the thread was about a new Chinese built engine,but it`s not.

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I was right there with you!!!

Yamaha would be my first choice too. And I would reject any engine that doesn't have fuel injection. It makes the engine MUCH more immune to fuel degradation because it's not exposed to air throughout the engine. Plus they start and run much better. I had a Yamaha 40 on our last tender (see, there's another name for ) and it was awesome.

In a choice between anything and something else...

I'd want fuel injection.

-Chris

I didn’t realize my Ding description would cause such a ruckus with Dink Police.

Good feedback on the engine. I was also wondering about the Carb vs. injection aspects.

My vote is for fuel injection. Cleaning carbs SUCKS. And on a 30hp I would favor a three cyl vs two cylinder.

And 30hp is a lot of power for 11.5ft, but about the smallest that you can get three cylinders.

Fletcher500 said:

You say Dink, I say Ding. I also call it the little boat. When my kids were small, it was “Lil Will”. Did you have anything related to my question to add?

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Did I just get dinged?

menzies said:

Did I just get dinged?

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Dinked

So, is it a dinghy or a dinkhy? Does size matter?

Ski in NC said:

My vote is for fuel injection. Cleaning carbs SUCKS. And on a 30hp I would favor a three cyl vs two cylinder.

And 30hp is a lot of power for 11.5ft, but about the smallest that you can get three cylinders.

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^^^^This^^^ And Yamaha FTW. If you have to choose between Tohatsu and Honda, I would go Honda. But that is personal preference as they are both good. Isn't Tohatsu Suzuki anyway?

A Suzuki is a Suzuki. A Mercury is a Tohatsu. Isn't the 30 HP Honda carbureted?

I looked into this somewhat thinking I was going to buy a 20 hp for my Bullfrog, the internet consensus seemed to be Suzuki over Tohatsu. Both are fuel injected. But I've decided to go electric instead.

And Nissan was Tohatsu, too. I think only the small "portable" Mercury and Nissan outboards, though.

-Chris

Ford, Chevy, Dodge,Toyota... whatever.

I'd go for the Honda, if given a choice vs Yamaha myself, it being the usual choice of the CG and a lot of work boats. An opinion worth what you paid for it.

The main reason you see a lot of Yamahas is their OEM deals with boat makers. Decent engines for sure. I certainly wouldn't go changing out motors if I came across a boat with newer Honda, Mercury, Yamaha, Tohatsu, Evinrude or Suzuki on them. Plenty of happy users of each around here.

I did a little sniffing on the websites. At 25hp, the Yamaha is two cyl, off the list in my mind. At 30hp the Yam is 3 cyl, but 207lb, heavy!! The Honda is three cyl, but carbureted, off the list in my mind.

Suzuki, Merc and Tohatsu are all three cyl and EFI, weight about 160-175 for 25-30hp. Those look viable.

One thing to look at is transom height. I can't remember the specs but at 30hp some may only be available in 20" and the boat might need 15". But could be 20, check on that.

Some have both pull and electric start, some just electric. On a 30, I would want electric, but on a dink having a pull start is a nice backup. Probably a bitch to pull, but nice to have anyhow when batt goes flat.

On these rather heavy motors, power trim is super nice too.

Happy shopping!!

Tohatsu makes the blocks for every 4 stroke outboard 10 hp and under to my knowledge.

Incidentally, we call the dinghy a lot of things, including "Dingus Maximus", but we hold to 'dinghy' or 'dink' with anyone but ourselves, to ensure everyone knows what we're talking about. We even avoid calling it a Tender in the US because that is commonly reserved for the public boat that shuttles people around for a small fee.

You can call it "Ding" but I was also confused and wasn't clear what thought or idea was being conveyed.

Language is nothing more than audible code where the key must be shared by both the speaker and the listener. Making up one's own key leads to confusion. (For example, try talking to a teenager. Even if you remove the copious amounts of "like" from the sentence, and manage to avoid hanging yourself to avoid all the 'up-speaking' 'vocal fry tones', it's still hard to tell sometimes) LOL!!!

Ski in NC said:

Suzuki, Merc and Tohatsu are all three cyl and EFI, weight about 160-175 for 25-30hp. Those look viable.

Some have both pull and electric start, some just electric. On a 30, I would want electric, but on a dink having a pull start is a nice backup. Probably a bitch to pull, but nice to have anyhow when batt goes flat.

On these rather heavy motors, power trim is super nice too.

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We have electric start on our next-size-down Suzuki (their 9.9/15/20-hp platform), 15-hp, 2-cylinder, fuel injected outboard. Manual pull-start back-up is included, and relatively easy. The third cylinder on the larger motors probably means additional effort, though.

Yes, heavy; the manual trim on our smaller motor is do-able, but electric trim would be better.

I'm sorta surprised OP's target 11.5' Bullfrog would be rated for as high as 30-hp...

-Chris

Well at least I didn't post an Ad and leave out the price or enough pictures. Owe Vey.

For the people who posted technical responses, thanks for the feedback. Ski, appreciate the google search data.

Our last Ding was a Caribe 12 with a 40 Yamaha, and it hauled a$#. Definitely stern heavy. Sold it awhile back.

I have a smaller Ding with an electric motor that I will hoist up for traveling. The Bull Frog will be 90% bay cruising, and I plan to tow it for local trips to the Island (200 miles round trip), weather permitting.

Question- I realize its subjective, but what would be the smallest size engine (HP) that could plane a few people in the 11.5 Bull Frog which is about 75 LB heavier than a similar sized Ding?

Without looking at the boat, with three I would guess a minimum of 15hp. Might be wide open then. Probably good with a 20 or 25hp.

Can you post a pic of the dink? A pic of the bottom? What is hull weight?

Fletcher500 said:

Well at least I didn't post an Ad and leave out the price or enough pictures. Owe Vey.

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Actually it is "Oy Vey". Sorry. Bad day at work. I had the need to try to make myself feel superior by piling on another person at their expense.

Oh, agree with the comment above, wouldn't a 30HP ANYTHING be quite large/heavy for an 11.5" ding(k)y? We have a 9.5' with 20hp and have to carry weights in the bow to keep from turning a cartwheel. Don't look at me though. It was a PO purchase.

firstbase said:

I had the need to try to make myself feel superior by piling on another person at their expense.

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Still embarrassed and butt sore eh?

menzies said:

Still embarrassed and butt sore eh?

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Yep! My motto is when I feel bad about myself then I try to push others down to raise myself up. This could explain my lack of friends but...that's another thread.