New Outboard motor - what brand?

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HenryD said:
Hi,

I have a Mercury 2001 4 stroke 25hp Bigfoot on an 11' Caribe dinghy. I have had several Mercury mechanics work on it and now am getting to the point of paying bad money after good. The dink and motor ride mostly on the roof of our trawler but when we want to use it, it needs to run.

So - what brand replacement motor should I be looking at? Particular model or features?

Any that I should stay away from?

Thanks
Click to expand...



Check out the new propane engines. Love it. No fuel. No gas fuel tank. Lehr I believe it is.
 
A. No matter what brand of outboard you buy, you will need good support.
B. Check around the marina, don't be afraid to talk to 'owners'.

You read about running it until the carburetor is empty, good advice. Don't forget to run it until the hose from the tank is empty too.
 
I wouldn't pay any attention to brands. They are all good or better.

I bought a Suzuki for my 19' OB boat mostly because they had a lower gear ratio and a bigger prop. I was looking for good performance at lower planing speeds like 15 knots.

So I would look for what engine has the features most aligned w your needs .. or wants. This is pleasure boating.
 
I've got nothing but good things to say about the yammi 40hp 4-strk on my 4.4m aluminium side console (except that I wish I'd gone for the 50hp). I regularly went 50nm out from Bundaberg in it (picking my weather obviously) and it never let me down and had/has excellent fuel economy.

I've also recently (18mnths - 2yrs ago) purchased a 2strk 9.8 Tohatsu for our tender which has been fantastic. Not the most refined of motors - but starts first pull each time and was lightest in the hp range (i lift it by hand from duckboard to tender at anchor so weight was a consideration). A vast improvement (and same weight as) the old yammi 6hp that came with the boat.
 
I bought a 15hp Suzuki this spring and so far it has been a total sweetheart. It is the quickest, easiest manual start motor I have ever tried by a long shot, I have never once had to go for a third pull.(The first pull engages the compression release and never starts.) Due to the fuel injection, it runs perfect at idle, forever. I have also had good luck in the past with Honda motors.
 
There are many sites for folks that love old outboards.

A 1960- 1980 era Evinrude or Johnson 4-25 hp is hardly expensive in superb condition , light and easy to operate .

Mandated ethanol poisoned car gasoline is easier to live with as the carb can be run out, by disconnecting the fuel tank,then the motor tipped to drain the rest..
 
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HenryD said:
Hi,
I have a Mercury 2001 4 stroke 25hp Bigfoot on an 11' Caribe dinghy. I have had several Mercury mechanics work on it and now am getting to the point of paying bad money after good. The dink and motor ride mostly on the roof of our trawler but when we want to use it, it needs to run.
So - what brand replacement motor should I be looking at? Particular model or features?
Any that I should stay away from?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Our club runs a fleet of chase boats for our racing program. They are small boats from a 13' Whaler, a bunch of 14' & 16' Maritime skiffs, a center console RIB and an 18' Maritime Skiff.

During the season they are in use about 7+/- hours per day. Reliability has been followed and over the years and we've run all brands of motors until just recently.

From worst to best reliability on this fleet over last 20+/- years:

Suzuki (far too many issues to even list)
Mercury (same as above)
Tohatsu (older two strokes pretty decent but lots of nickel & dime stuff)
Honda (mostly corrosion issues great motor otherwise)
Evinrude/Johnson (older two stroke models were very reliable)
Yamaha (older two strokes were bullet proof)

Over the last 5 years the best reliability has been the Evinrude ETEC motors. Light weight, reasonably priced, quiet and they can idle all day long, if needed, without stalling or loading up..

They have been so good we are slowly replacing all the motors in the fleet with the new ETEC's. Before the ETEC motors our waterfront mechanic spent all day everyday fixing something OB motor related. Now days we have him doing house & grounds work because the ETEC's have been so reliable.

Having said that, if you are not going to be US based, then I would probably look at Yamaha. I am not personally satisfied with Honda's corrosion reliability as of yet, otherwise they are very reliable.. Then motors themselves are great but they don't have their corrosion/paint issues figured out yet..

FWIW, the motor on my work boat is a 1996 Johnson two stroke, you'll need to pry that puppy from my cold dead fingers.;) That antique Johnson replaced a 10 year newer horribly corroded Honda 4 stroke.

Our RIB has a 9.8 two stroke Tohatsu and a 2.5HP Yamaha 4-stroke.. We use the Tohatsu 95% of the time as the Yamaha won't run on anything but ethanol free gas without developing "issues". My brother also has the Yamaha 2.5 HP four stroke and he uses ethanol free 100LL AVGAS in it.

My .02, if I had to buy a new motor for my work boat, right now, it would be an ETEC..
 
FWIW,I have a 12 year old 'Yammie' two stroke, absolutely bullet proof.It lives on the back of the boat, swims in salt water & gets very little TLC, or servicing. Yet it starts easily,doesn't stop, unless you stop it.

All in all a good light weight engine that so far seems indestructible. The RIB however......
 
Same experience with the Honda 40. Seems like Yamaha is the definitive answer to the PO's question. No chance to "buy American" - even the US brands are manufactured overseas!!
 
Second what CMS said....

Same experience at marina that services a huge number of outboards and personal experience as an assistance tower.

Only disagreement is some assistance towing fleets have outfitted with ETECs and switched to Yamahas after a short while.

Maybe its the way they were being used ....as most pleasure boating friends with them love them
 
tiltrider1 said:
Honda, Yamaha, Mercury, tohatsu, and Suzuki are good manufactures.
Click to expand...

Small Mercury outboards have often been manufactured by somebody else, often Tohatsu. Dunno if that's still the case...


tiltrider1 said:
I have never had an ethnol related issue with a Suzuki.
Click to expand...

I did. It was a 2-stroke DT5Y badged as a Johnson/OMC J5REE. Good motor otherwise, but the ethanol was problematic.


Mystic Blue said:
Check out the new propane engines. Love it. No fuel. No gas fuel tank. Lehr I believe it is.
Click to expand...

I'm reading in some places they're beginning to get a poor rep for service/warranty issues...


CMS said:
Our club runs a fleet of chase boats for our racing program. They are small boats from a 13' Whaler, a bunch of 14' & 16' Maritime skiffs, a center console RIB and an 18' Maritime Skiff.

During the season they are in use about 7+/- hours per day. Reliability has been followed and over the years and we've run all brands of motors until just recently.
Click to expand...

Good post. But back in the "old days" it seemed like almost any outboard you could find would run great if you used it every day.

The Suzuki/Johnson we had worked great when we used it a lot, never had any service issue with it, aside from ethanol. Went downhill from there if E10 gas sat it in for any length of time. I started recycling that gas (into a car) after about 3 weeks... even after draining the carb every time I didn't expect to use the motor on the next day. Mostly stopped using the small onboard tank, too, except for periods where we expected lots of use... 'cause it was too hard to drain...

-Chris
 
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CMS said:
FWIW, the motor on my work boat is a 1996 Johnson two stroke, you'll need to pry that puppy from my cold dead fingers.;) That antique Johnson replaced a 10 year newer horribly corroded Honda 4 stroke.
Click to expand...
My 1999 Johnson two stroke 9.9 hp has more admirers than I can count. Several have made jokes about who gets the outboard if anything happens to me.
 
Marlinmike said:
This! We have the Suzuki 20hp EFI, great motor, you do not need a battery either.
Click to expand...

Good to hear!

The "EFI with no battery" system for these small outboards worried me a bit when I ordered the new Suzuki, but I haven't heard many complaints yet and I think the small EFI outboards have been out about 3 years now?
 
Marlinmike said:
This! We have the Suzuki 20hp EFI, great motor, you do not need a battery either.
Click to expand...

We got the electric-start model, and that part needs a battery. OTOH, my shoulders and arms thank me for that every time I start it! Wifey thanks me for that, too. :)


Bay Pelican said:
My 1999 Johnson two stroke 9.9 hp has more admirers than I can count. Several have made jokes about who gets the outboard if anything happens to me.
Click to expand...

Our 1998 Johnson 5-hp 2-stroke was made by Suzuki. Wouldn't surprise me if yours was too... or at least that it wasn't actually manufactured by Johnson... but those are just guesses.

-Chris
 
Bought a brand new Yamaha 4HP four stroke last year. Worst outboard I've ever been around. Can't trust it with the admiral alone. Kicks like a mule and already had to be disassembled to retrieve the pull cord. I paid a guy to do it. Was afraid I'd end up tossing it overboard if I had to spend any time on it at all.
 
ranger42c said:
Our 1998 Johnson 5-hp 2-stroke was made by Suzuki. Wouldn't surprise me if yours was too... or at least that it wasn't actually manufactured by Johnson... but those are just guesses.

-Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, how can I tell if it was made by Suzuki.
 
Mystic Blue said:
Check out the new propane engines. Love it. No fuel. No gas fuel tank. Lehr I believe it is.
Click to expand...

Our local marine store began selling propane powered Lehrs a number of years ago. They had nothing but problems with them and now are selling their last one at a big discount just to get rid of it.
 
Is the 9.9 on the same block as the 15? I know my df 20 is,. Maybe that's the weight?

I looked at the 15 and the 20, since they weigh the same and my dinghy is rated for a 25, I got the 20. Didn't really see the point in the 15, though it was a tiny bit cheaper.
 
HenryD said:
Hi,
I have a Mercury 2001 4 stroke 25hp Bigfoot on an 11' Caribe dinghy. I have had several Mercury mechanics work on it and now am getting to the point of paying bad money after good. The dink and motor ride mostly on the roof of our trawler but when we want to use it, it needs to run.
So - what brand replacement motor should I be looking at? Particular model or features?
Any that I should stay away from?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Yamaha all the way!
Have had several Mercury hate them, rough idle, smoke, and just bad long term performance.
Tahatsu good motor
Suzuki good motor
Honda good motor
I cruise the Bahamas, the most supported brand is Yamaha, got to tell you something, plus parts availability is the best there.
Depends on where you cruise and service availability. Look at what the locals are using.
I love American products but when it comes to outboards Yamaha every time!
 
The real advice is not from one person thst has owned a couple outboards....go to a bunch of shops where you know the quality and truthfulness of the techs and ask your questions.

Every brand has plusses and minuses throughout their range...and if buying new, what 5 year old outfboards were like may gave little to do with this years models.
 
Been a Johnson outboard fellow all my life. Once had an 8 hp. Nissan on 11' Quicksilver inflatable... real nice motor, basically OK dink.

For years have had 1975 50 hp. Johnson on 14'8" 1975 Crestliner runabout. Sweet motor and simply great tow behind tender!

39 + mph with just me... per gps at slack tide. Cruising at 25 knots with Linda and me I calculate about 21 +/- mph. Fun boat and motor!

Happy Outboard Daze! - Art :speed boat:
 

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Thought I posted this last night. Oh well, cranial cramp again.

I have a '94 8HP Yamaha which will go to my grave with me if i can.

That said though I have had some learning experiences. My experience.

-1 Run the fuel out of the carb. every time i don't use it, even overnight, even the same day. As I come back to the dock I pull the fuel hose off the inlet at the engine. Not a big deal to reconnect and reprime.
-2 use only 92 or 94 octane, no ethanol fuel. If I have to refill and cannot get that then at least marine, mid grade non ethanol fuel is still available at marinas where I live .
-3 use a fuel stabilizer in the fuel

I realize this may not be practical in all situations especially with larger engines but maybe some can benefit.

The ethanol loaded gas often causes trouble with these small, older engines especially if left for any length of time in the carb. They are not designed for it and the emphasis has been on making the larger engines compliant forgetting about the smaller units.

The stabilizer will help with gumming problems. I use Startron and/or Seafoam.

The only time I have had to do a carb. job was before I figured some of this out. Since then no more.
 
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C lectric, may I suggest you disconnect the hose from the tank and burn up the gasoline in the hose too.
 
Thank you all for you input.

I spent today at the Annapolis Boat Show. I learned a lot about the current outboard market.

Lehr are a no go for me - have seen too many that have had problems. Even one of the Lehr dealers/mechanics on the West Coast of Florida recommended not getting one. Too hard to get parts and the cold in-rush of compressed gas causes problems with the rubber parts.

Honda does not have an EFI 25hp yet.

Narrowed down to the Suzuki and the Yamaha.

If I go Suzuki, I will probably go 30hp since it is the same block as the 25hp and not a huge price difference. Would have probably bought one today except the local dealer gave me one price at the opening of the show and when I went back at 4:30pm to ask a question about moving from the 25hp up to the 30hp, he changed the prices.

The Yamaha is hard to find - many local dealers but nobody seems to have the model I need.

Talking with the Yamaha factory reps, they advised - 1) do not need to run the fuel out with EFI since the fuel system is pressurized and very little in the engine, plus better for the fuel pump if you do not run it empty 2) use a fuel stabilizer and a Ring-Free additive with every load of fuel even if ethanol free
 
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