Out Board motors for Dinghy

[Larry Calfee]

I just got a new dinghy and am now looking for an outboard.  I would appreciate comments from the group as to which motors may be best in terms of weight, price, reliability and performance.  I feel I will be wanting to get a new 4 stroke even though they are more expensive and heavier.

[kemosabe]

Larry,

I have a five horse power Nissan that I bought used. It has been a great motor. Cranks first or second pull. A friend bought a new Mercury five horse power motor and it is identical to my Nissan.

Chap Hodges
Kemosabe #344

[Hull#753]

Always starts on the first pull.
Dropped it 20 ft into the Pacific where it stayed for 20 mins until a diver retrieved it.  Took it home, hosed it out, ran it clean in a garbage can, mounted it back to the inflatable & it started 1st time & continues to do so now, 2+ years later.

Did my own tune up & mini "overhaul" (the annual thing, plus some) with the aid of the "manual" which was purchased through West Marine. ($40?)  The manual is poorly written & covers about 7 other types of engines (Tohatsu, I think, is the generic name) but was enough to walk me (an engine novice except for C34 diesel work) through this mini overhauling.

I'm always looking for equipment & machinery that can be fixed down & dirty with nothing more than rubber bands & pages torn from a Gideon's bible.  For me, this Nissan has and continues to do the trick.

Advise calculating how many people engine is expected to push and in what type of dink, then OVER compensate when making horsepower choice.  Otherwise you'll slug & slop along to your boat at a crawl just when you need to get there in a hurry.

John

[rdavison]

You didn't say what size or type of dinghy.  For our 10 foot Aquapro RIB, I chose the Tohatsu 9.8.  Tohatsu makes the engines for many other brands.  The reason I chose it is that we needed about 10 HP to plane with the family on board and there is a version that only weighs 60 pounds or so.  The key is to get the one that represents the top horespower for the block.  Many of the 9.9s are built on the same block as the 15 and so weigh 90 pounds plus.  Four cycles weigh even more.

The other consideration was that the Tohatsu is engine 101 in simplicity - see other post.  Very little to break and easy to fix, low tech engine.

Starts first pull and is very quiet.  I'll live with 2 cycle and possibiltity of pollution regulations to get low weight.

Randy Davison
#1268

Randy Davison  #1268 k7voe