Want To Buy: Two Stroke 4-6 hp, older twin cylinder or Used Yamaha?

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Jammer

1966 Johnson. It replaced a 1955 Evinrude I had that worked fine and was almost identical but had babbit bearings and therefore needed 24:1 mix.


I've had 1950s/1960s/1970s Johnson and Evinrude motors from 3hp to 18 hp and they were all twins. My 8 hp Yamaha 4 stroke and 9.9 hp Nissan 2 stroke and 9.9 Honda 4 stroke were/are all twins.


My brother has the 2.5 Suzuki 4 stroke one-banger and I am quite frankly not sure what they were thinking though I suspect that cost and parts count had something to do with it.

Many of the Johnson Evin. motors were 2 cylinder that I've owned/worked on (4, 6, 8hp). Did have a '91 Johnson (2.3/3.3hp) that was a single cylinder and suspect it was a relabeled Tohatsu motor after looking at the parts diagram.

I wasn't too fond of working on the older J/E motors that had the tower type recoil for the pull cord. It was a pain to pull the carb w/o removing the tower. When you pulled the recoil tower, you needed to be careful not to lose the spring tension or your fingers.

The J/E motors were very common in the Midwest/Canada where I grew up and you can still find them in those areas in relatively good condition. For areas outside the US (Mex. and Carib.), would stick with 2 stroke Tohatsu or Yamaha obs that are common in these areas for easier availability of parts or people to work on them (if one isn't mechanically inclined).

[MVDarlin]

I doubt you will get on step with 6 hp. I have a 15 hp Honda on my Whaler skiff that has given good service for 22 years, and I bought it used. I have a 6 hp 4 stroke Suzuki on my Alaska sail boat attached to a RIB. Good combination. Recomnend you consider a RIB over folding boat.
4 stroke over 2 stroke. .

[BBill]

Someone saying Yamaha is the gold standard for parts must be smoking something. They are famous here in Florida for long wait times between mfg parts batches. Otherwise you probably won't need serious parts on their small 2 strokes anyway.

I think you will plane the porta boat with a 6hp if lightly loaded and propped right but an 8 hp would be better. Older OMC 2 strokes are about as reliable as it gets. There are still loads of NOS parts available quickly without breaking the bank. OMC also wins with the best corrosion resistance. If memory is right the latest 6 & 8 share the same block so weight is the same too...around 60lbs.

For what it's worth I currently run (2) OMCs & (1) Merc 2 strokes, (1) Nissan, (1) Tothatsu & (1) Suzuki 4 strokes. All but the Suzuki 60hp are small dink engines. I don't do Yamaha so am biased.

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I have made a side-by-side comparison between a 3 hp 2 cylinder 2 stroke and a new Suzuki DF2.5 one cylinder 4 stroke. There is considerably more vibration with the 4 stroke. The 4 stroke uses roughly half the fuel at WOT, and less than half the fuel at reduced throttle.

Tohatsu reports the fuel consumption for its outboards, both 2 and 4 stroke. The difference with their engines is in the table below.

https://www.tohatsu.us/index.php?main_page=page&id=19

[Boatwright]

We have had the Suzuki 2.5 HP 4 stroke for several years now.

Great little engine, with one easily solved problem: Poor idle, esp. when cold. There are dozens of unsatisfied folks who have struggled with this problem, replacing carbs, fooling around with fuel, etc..

The CARB (California) specs require a super lean idle mixture, and the idle bleed screw is hidden behind a small aluminum plug. Solution: Carefully drill a small hole in the plug and pry it out with the tip of an awl. Back the screw out 1/4 to 1/2 turn and the the little guy starts on the first pull, and idles fine.

A one gallon gas can lasts for most of the season's dingy dock to mooring trips. We've been running the same spark plug since we bought the engine 4 or 5 years ago. Suzuki did a great job in keeping the weight down compared to other 4 cycles. Brand new with shipping the price was under $400.

[BBill]

Originally Posted by wsmurdoch

Tohatsu reports the fuel consumption for its outboards, both 2 and 4 stroke. The difference with their engines is in the table below.

https://www.tohatsu.us/index.php?main_page=page&id=19

The 4 stroke gph for the 4 & 5 hp are spot on. I have the nissan 5 (Tohatsu) on a 15' Gheenoe and it burns exactly .5 gph. It also planes my 200lbs when using a 30" tiller extension. Great engine but saying it vibrates is an understatement. My left arm gets numb holding the tiller after 10-15 mins at full throttle. Not a problem with the small twin cyl 2 stroke OMCS.