Choosing a outboard motor

[blared]

I'm thinking about getting a either 15 or 25 hp or even maybe 30 hp outboard motor since my 9.9 Evinrude was stolen in July. But can't decide between Toihatsu, Johnson, Evinrude, Mercury or Yamaha.. I heard Toihatsu's are light weight and reliable and most efficent on gas. In other had they say the same things about Yamaha outboards.. I like the Johnson and Evinrude too .. anybody own any of these motors or can you all tell me which ones the most reliable, better in performance and most officent on gas. Thanks

[rageplayermp1]

from what I have heard I think your best bet for the longrun is a mercury outboard.

[antonfourie]

Yamaha all the way !

[timgoz]

Though mine was the same size you had stolen, I had good service from a Nissan 2-stroke. I lived for 3 months alone camped on prince of Wales Is. SE Alaska. From my shore camp (as well as getting there in the first place) I used a 15' skiff.

The only breakdown I had was my doing. When I was picking up my motor in Nakati (sp?) we cut the fuel line to insert an in-line filter. Cut it with a serrated LeatherMan blade. A small piece of line curled off the cut and found it's way into the motor side of the line. It took weeks but eventually gummed up and stopped the carb dead. A fellow in Point Baker had it up again in know time, but had I broke down somewhere else, it could have been problamatic.

Enough babling.

TGoz

[marshmat]

I'm running a '94 Johnson J30 right now... great engine, although a little finicky at idle. A '79 Johnson 9.9 that I also use frequently has proven to be a very good, reliable motor overall. I had a '94 Suzuki DT15 blow up on me a few years back; it would have been a doable repair except that it had cylinder sleeves of some strange alloy that couldn't be honed back to spec without breaking. There's something to be said for good old simplicity, make sure whatever you pick could be easily repaired by any small-engine guy if it does go down.

[Ike]

First let me say that asking this is like asking whic car is better? Chevy, Ford or Chrysler? Or asking whic is better a MAc or PC? Your going to get a lotof opinions based on peoples experience with a particular brand. However you will not get any real comparisons. It's my opinion they are good all and will serve your needs. Frankly, I would be more concerned about service. Is there a dealer in your area that has a good reputation? Then buy his product, because if something does go wrong then you know it will get taken care of. The other thing I would think about more than brand is 2 cycle or 4 cycle? Each has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Me. I have a 26 year old Johnson 2 hp that runs like a swiss watch, But I could say the same about evinrude because they made exactly the same engine with the Evinrude brand on it. Some people swear by Mercury, others swear at them. It's too subjective.

[marshmat]

Originally Posted by Ike

Frankly, I would be more concerned about service. Is there a dealer in your area that has a good reputation? Then buy his product, because if something does go wrong then you know it will get taken care of.

Bingo. There's a lot of good motors, the key is to find one that you can easily get fixed by a mechanic you trust.

[blared]

To tell you the truth guys.. I do not trust any mechanic.. I have used my 9.9 Evinrude without a problem for almost ten years but I think I know how to take care of the engine. Maybe thats why it's never given me any problems or maybe Im a lucky guy. I have had several outboards before, 50 hp Johnson, 5 hp Mercury, 8 hp Evinrude but I hve not taken care of them too much actually they were on the water or hanging behind my boat every season. I'm not saying any of these brands are good I just wanna find out the owners responses on their outboards and try to decide the one that's right for me. Please tell everything about your outboards, negatives and the positives.

[Joe6]

I have an older Evenrude 2 stroke, reliable motor. As far as new motors go, the word around the docks in my neck of the woods is Honda. (Personally I find hondas almost unacceptably ugly, too much silver)but I love their 2hp 4stroke, air cooled, kinda loud though.

[Joe6]

Ha! Ha! Ha! I just looked over the posts! 8 posts & 7 different motors!
There could'nt be too many more manufacturers! I can think of three more off hand, so 3 more posts and you can flip a coin! I think most modern outboards give pretty good service.

Have fun!

[tom28571]

I think Tohatsu makes the small hp engines for several of the Japanese brands, including Nissan and Yamaha. I have had Yamaha, Honda, Mercury, Johnson, Evinrude, Wizard and Gale. All worked well although some took a bit more figeting than others. The Yamaha gave the most trouble because it had a habit of freezing up when I forgot to use Ring-free often enough. My problem, not the engine which was reliable otherwise. I do like four strokes although the new Evinrude E-tec two strokes might be the first choice if they get around to building low hp models. I think 40hp is their lowest now.

[stonebreaker]

Have to agree with Ike & Marshmat - check out the service after the sale. Also, if you do most of your own maintenance, find out which brand(s) are the easiest to get parts for.

[Ike]

My point was that outboard motors, made today are so good, so reliable, that saying which is better is like choosing chocolate. WHich chocolate is better. SOme like dark, some like milk chocolate, some like dutch and so on. But they are all good.

In todays marine industry the biggest issue and the biggest problem is service! There are dealers who a really good and there are ones who all they care about is selling you the product. Once you have it they figure it's not their problem. You want the other kind that will take good care of you and your engine. Buy from that dealer.

[blared]

Thanks for the replys guys... But it's still gonna be hard for me to chose .. I think I will get the one that I get the best deal from Thanks

[oinkjackson]

i bought a 2007 4hp 4 stroke for my inflatible. i was totally following the break in procedure (10 hours) as prescribed in manual.. at about 5 hours motor seazed for no apparent reason? to make a long story short the ppl at tohatsu have pretty much said F you to me..i have spent counteless hours on phone.. its been a total nightmare and im still in process of this ordeal........just be carfull if you go tohatsu