Outboard Weight / HP

[andreavanduyn]

We lift our dinghy out with davids after removing the outboard by hand normally.

We now have a lighter dinghy and need a lighter outboard QUESTION IS

what weight is still ok and what is the maximum hp one can buy?

Till now we are at around 45 pounds for an 8 hp engine / 4 stroke Daihatsu (not sure about brand as it was new to me)

Who knows more ?

[Ram]

i think your off on your weight of that engine , i have a yamaha 4 stroke 2.5 hp it weighs around 45 lbs also not really sure of what your qustion is

[FSMike]

The dinghy manufacturer should have rated the dink for maximum horsepower. All other things being equal, two strokes are usually lighter than four strokes.

[MarkJ]

We have 'Lil Dink and she is rated 4hp and is a roll up. We have a 9.9hp 2 stroke and the weight bends her ply timber transom and her tubes are bent at the transom. Then I start her! Of course they all bend a bit more. I have never had her flat out - only about half speed and the begins to do all sorts of weird stuff with the instability of the wave under her soft bottom. Oh, and the bending tubes and transom too.

Then back at the boat we don't have davits yet so its a pain to lift the 9.9hp!


So we have reverted back to the 3.3hp and I motor everywhere slowly looking like some old crusier from the 1960's with a Seagull engine.



So double the manufacturers recommended HP, but not more


Mark

[andreavanduyn]

The question is ; what is the max hp for a still liftable outboard?
The weight you indicate is great as I had same outboard in former boat but now we / my son wants to go faster and likes 10 hp or more but we noticed that for some brands the weight goes up almost double over 6 hp.

That means than more than 45 pounds which is becoming too much for my old backbones.....

[Ram]

ok well for me , 45 pounds is enough to lift on a regular basis thats a 2.5 hp 4 stroke yahamas, I did just buy a new dink and engine its a 15 hp yamaha 2 stroke it weighs only 79 lbs but thats a 2 stroke and im not planing on lifting it by hand often same weight as a 9.9 engine 2 stroke- a 4 stroke is about 30 pounds more (i think)

[andreavanduyn]

[IMG]file:///C:/DOKUME%7E1/Admin/LOKALE%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/IMG] 9.9hp 15hp 390/15.4 390/15.4 520/22 520/22 2 cylinders, 2 stroke 2 cylinders, 2 stroke 259 259 58×49 58×49 9.98/7.34 15/11 4500～5500 4500～5500 6.5 6.5 Loop Loop CDI CDI 13/25 13/25 Tiller Handle Tiller Handle PREMIX PREMIX MANUAL MANUAL MANUAL MANUAL √ √ √ √ √ √ 8½"×9½" 8½"×10¼" 12 12 √ √ √ √ √ √ 30 30.5= WEIGHT
31 31.5

[cabo_sailor]

My 2.5 HP Honda 4-stroke is about 28 lb. Works fine and I can lift it off the side deck to mount on a 8 ft Walker Bay quite easily. Not the fastest thing on the water but it gets us around.

Rich

[Solitude]

I have an older Merc 4hp on my inflatable. I tow the inflatable but lift the Merc onto the pushpit by hand. Its not too bad for 1 person. At 9ft its hard to plane but makes it with one adult.

[Benjamaphone]

There are a few relatively inexpensive motor lifts on the market. They all usually will lift at least 100 lbs safely. The good ones have a high purchase ratio of 6:1 for easy lifting and are easily removable. They can mount on any size boat and have a very small footprint. They double as cargo lifts as well!

Of course, my professional recommendation would be to not tow the dinghy at all. Rather, find a set davits that works for your boat that can handle both the motor and the dinghy. The weight that we're talking about is probably less that 200-250lbs for an entire setup. A quality set of davits would be more than able to lift and stow that kind of weight. They are also removable and rotating so that when the weather turns bad, the motor can still be taken off, lifted with one davit arm and rotated into the boat.

[feelsgood]

We have a Honda 2.5 four stroke the lightest on the market Sally can lift it in one hand no probs and it pushes our Lodestar 2.3 around 4 knots

[barnakiel]

Well, much depends on how strong you are. To me a 2 /3.5 hp (old design two-stroke = lighter) is max. By hand. In a rolling dink. Of the four-strokes I think Honda makes a light thing.

A dream to handle were the older Yamaha 2 and Tohatsu 2, but they are no longer around. The Yamaha was about 24 lbs and very reliable.

With davits/crane I think there is no limit.

b.

[forsailbyowner]

Merc 3.5 four stroke 37 lbs

[aboutgone]

In most catalogs ...like defender/ west marine or .com...etc.....list the weight of all their outboards..............Ed

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by Xpets

We lift our dinghy out with davids after removing the outboard by hand normally.

I don't understand this. When we had davits, we hoisted the whole rig without removing the motor. It's one of the reasons that I consider davits to be among the most desireable cruising upgrades.