suitable outboard

[wattluck]

Hi everyone,
I havern't had my MK111 for very long and need to replace the old outboard motor I have. I am asking if anyone has found the ideal outboard?
ie. 2 stroke Vs 4 stroke. horsepower rating?

Thanks
Steve

[Miker]

Hi Steve,

You'll get a lot of opinions, but it will depend on what kind of travelling you'll be doing. I have a Tohatsu 4 stroke 8hp on a bracket off the stern. It's a little more cumbersom, spoils the lines etc, but it's quieter back there and easier to handly because you can leave it in situ if it's locked up. The reason it's back there is that it didn't fit in the well. Some people would rather have a diesel inboard, but it's horses for courses and personal opinion really.

It uses about 1 to 1.5 litres per hour, much less than a similar 2 stroke, but could do with being a long shaft, instead of a standard shaft. I'm looking at remote control and electric start, might make it less of a hassle over the back.



The way it is in this pic is how it stays, it never comes off the bracket.

Michael

[karl010203]

Hey Steve

Michael is right about varied opinions on this one.

When we first got our Mk 3, it had a four stroke 9.9 hp in the well. It weighed in at 48 kgs and I really struggled to move it safely - and removing at sea was not an option without using lifting harness, pulleys etc... a real pain. After it broke down I did a stack of homework and settled on a 2 stroke Yamaha (I like the simplicity of a stroke also) and it weighed 26 kgs... same block as that for a 6hp.

We got the dual thrust prop and long leg and additional charging loom... and it has proven to be very reliable...

It gets to hull speed pretty easily even in a sea, without a heap of gear in it and with the boat riding high in the water it is possible to get it to cavitate in the wrong conditions... a couple of inches of freeboard does make the difference for me... so would definitely go long shaft...

At least I can lift this one and whilst I would prefer not to have to worry about mixing oil it is a very simple motor.

Hope this helps.

Karl

[tonyb]

Steve

We have a Tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke in our Mk III and as with the others it does what it is suppose to do. It is a bit thirsty (over 2L per hour). We take it out each time and put it down stairs. My only comment is it is noisy in the cockpit and fumey at low speed.

4 stroke would be my choice.

Tony & Karin
White Rabbit
Mk III

[karl010203]

I agree with Tony's comments re smoke and noise in cockpit - we had to motor overnight a while back - after 6 hours we were deaf, and sick in part with the fumes... I wonder if anyone has ever successfully boxed one in... with a bit of sound proofing?

As an aside one of the reasons we went the Yammy was it is a 100:1 oil mix - which I figured would help... but is still a pain.

It is a great discussion, I have always dreamt of a diesel inboard chugging away down below, adn a guy at the marina the other day came over to tell me he owned a tophat some years ago and the first thing he did was remove the diesel and put an outboard on the transom to improve his turning circle and help with docking... personally I would have thought a well used in board and understanding of prop walk would have been preferable to ripping and engine out.

Grass greener and all that... at the end of the day it is all a tradeoff I think.

[admin]

My two bob worth

I have a mercury 8hp longshaft on my mark three and that looks to be as big as will ever fit in the well on my boat, a four stroke would be great to cut down on the fuel consumption/noise/exhaust however id have to mount her off the back.

An 8 moves us along nicely, however i seem to go through ~10lts fuel for a run on approx 15nm, not fantastic but ...

Id go a four stroke, even if it has to be mounted off the back, guess itd pay itself off in the long run with fuel saving over the initial extra outlay

[Miker]

Further to my original post, I may have the Tohatsu shown in the pic for sale some time soon as I've just been offered a 9.x Tohatsu 4 stroke, with remote control and electric start and charging loom for cheap, as it's being replaced on a racing yacht as part of an overall revamp.

The current motor burns about 1.5 lt per hour as far as I've been able to work out.

If anyone is interested, ping me a PM.

Michael

[wattluck]

Thanks everyone for your comments,

Was talking to a salesman from a Yamaha dealership a couple of weeks ago and he did mention some interesting thoughts.

This may be helpful to other people considering outboards. He said that Yamaha was to about to release a (F6C) 4 stroke that came in a 4, 5 , or 6hp. and that it could be stored in any position which is something that may be considered if you were to store it below at some time?
It came with options: alternator, high trust prop. and only weighed in at 28kgs

He said it wouldn't be available until March.

Consider??

[Tales]

A comment on the last post.
I have had the Suzuki version of that unit (6hp 4stroke) on Tales now for a few years.
To get anything like the full hp, I had to go to the prop from the 4hp (finer pitch)
It pulls quite nicely but there is obviously a wind/wave strength that it can't buck - would guess around 20knots and little wave.
The optional alternator was 6amp which at the time was the most powerful available for that size motor and works from idle not like some of the others.
Fuel usage ranges from 1/2 to 1 litre per hour and uses no oil between changes.
Fits in the well ok.
Cheers,
Tom

[Ianb]

Years ago I had a 6hp Johnson in a well. My outboard man fitted a hose from the above waterline exhaust relief port, to just under the waterline. It made the motor a touch more difficult to start, but underway most of the fumes were dissipated in the water. Also minimised the problem of exhaust fumes being sucked back into the motor.