Outboard Advice - 2hp ish looking to buy

[Jimbo]

Hi All,

Mummy is apparently after a little outboard for Christmas, to power her sailing dinghy on those windless days fighting the tide back up the river thames.

Obviously it needs to be as small and light as possible, so we are looking at the sort of 2.2hp - 2.5hp engines (plenty of power for her boat).

Dad has found that Suzuki, Tohatsu, Mariner, and Yamaha are all within about a tenner of each other price wise, so does anybody have any thoughts as to which we should be looking at for the baby engine market (or another manufacturer if appropriate)

We have decided against an electric motor for convenience.

Theoretically Dad is thinking of a new engine, but if anyone had a suitable nearly newish jobby, we would be prepared to consider that.

Mother dearest isn't hugely strong, and isn't even slightly technically minded, so the simpler the better, and the lighter the better.

Any thoughts?

Jimbo

[PeterM]

Hi - having had ( and foolishly sold ! ) a 3.5 2 stroke a year ago - I recently got a 2.5 hp suzuki . Four stroke so no risk of not adding the oil - tiller throttle - air cooled & pretty light. If I had waited a month it would have had a 5 year warranty , but I think most of the big manufacturers offer 5 years now. I dont think there is much to shoose between them - the Yams are being advertised as with a 'free' bag that coudl be worth while to protect it.

Not sure if fwd & rev is needed for you but I think you need to go up to 4 + hp to get that.

Personally I'd go Yam or Suz - you cant beat the Japanese reliability !

[Jimbo]

Cheers blackroady - you are correct in that we do not require forward and reverse.

J.

[Tim M]

Mariner 2.5 2-stroke. Really light, and no worries about mother dearest putting it in the boot of the car the wrong way up and oil going everywhere. I had one (only paid £100 brand new though!) and it seemed like a reasonable engine:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Mariner-2-...1%7C240%3A1318

[Poly]

jimbo - have you considered the honda 2.3? i used to have one. advantage is its air cooled - so potentially fewer headaches? that said if you could still find a 2 stroke i would go that way as no worries about lying on its side.

[ashbypower]

Jimbo the 2.5 Hp yam and Tohat both hace F-N-R i'll price them tomoz and get back to You'

[Locozodiac]

If buying a Tohatsu 4 strokes, buy the 3.5 instead of the 2.5, same weight same CC with extra 1 HP punch, both models forward-neutral only. Or 2 strokes 3.5 instead of 2.5, same weight same CC., both forward only. That relation could be applied to any manufacturer, just look under tech specs for each next model and compare.

Find useless to save small money buying a minimum engine that will only be used to suit that particular use, won't be able to grow to use it on a larger boat when time demands for next larger boat. Better to have the extra power and not need it, than in need and don't have it.

Happy Boating

[BruceB]

I will second the vote for the Honda 2.3hp. Air cooled so no flushing and its a robust little unit.

[hobnob]

Originally Posted by BruceB

I will second the vote for the Honda 2.3hp. Air cooled so no flushing and its a robust little unit.

Have just dismantled one of these, bought off e-bay by a friend. It is a 1997 with an air-cooled engine but water cooled exhaust.

It had only seen fresh water use on the Broads. Corrosion was obvious on many parts, and the carb. bowl was nearly perforated. It needed £100 of parts (incl new cable, carb, and service bits) to make it run right.

We were both disappointed by the choice/quality of the materials on this engine. My Mariner 2.2 (2T) had very few ferrous metals in it by comparison.

[Chris]

ebay yamaha 2hp

I love these very light too

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Chris

ebay yamaha 2hp

I love these very light too

So do I-but don't buy one that 'needs an impeller'...it's quite possible it's so clogged up in the water jacket that it can't pump water.Those engines were very very popular with yachties on tenders and a lot got very little maintenance. Ask yourself this. If it's 7.99 for an impeller and a 10 minute job, why hasn't he done it...

[Pete7]

Jimbo, Aladins Cave have a 3.5 hp Mariner 2 stroke in for £395. Saves the problem of wondering which side you have to lay them down on. Otherwise I would pop in and see Lee Fairweather, he always has a stock of 20 little engines.

We have the Johnson version of the 3.5 but apart from the cowling and clips I think it is identical to the mariner and Tohatsu. It is light enough and even Suzi can pull start it, so ideal.

Pete

[Dirk Diggler]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Jimbo, Aladins Cave have a 3.5 hp Mariner 2 stroke in for £395.

You could buy a brand new Mercury 4 stoke 3.5hp for about the same money, and it'll come with a 5 year warranty!

[Jimbo]

Hi all,

thanks for all the pearls of wisdom, very helpful.

We're reluctant to go bigger than a 2.5hp, as Mums dinghy is very small, and we can't really see a need for a bigger one.

After consideration, I think we're going to go with a Yamaha 2.5hp 4smoke supplied through APS Marine (Cheers Brian!), now all we have to do is consider how we disguise it under the tree!

Cheers,

Jimbo

[PeterM]

Is that the deal that has the free cover ? I'd love to get hold of one of the covers , but cant justify the daft amount of cash to buy just the cover. Hopefully a good deal & with the 5 year warranty you cant go far wrong on the modern Yams