Dinghy Outboard Motor Recommendation ?

[Wmiii]

I am replacing my 15hp Suzuki 2cycle outboard for my heavy 10' Caribe dink.
I like the 4cycle Yamahas, Hondas, etc, but do not like the weight. I take the motor off the dink and keep it on our aft rail when we lift our dinghy. I do have a Garhauer lift that helps.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
IP 37-30

[Jimbo485]

Do you want planing speed?

[estarzinger]

Just to follow on that . . . we also are probably replacing our 4hp 2 stroke mercury and would be interested in any suggestions for the best one around that size (say 4 - 6 hp)?

[Jimbo485]

We are happy after a year with a 3.3 HP 4-stroke Merc. I can lift it with 1 arm, reliable, etc. Dinghy will plane with 1 person and Fortress kedge. Displacement speed with 2 or more people. No complaints.

[Minggat]

Since you are asking for recommendations, I'd say unless you're 2 stroke is being difficult or your are being forced to comply, hold onto it. There are reasons that they have been so popular for so long. "Upgrading" to a 4 stroke is not all positives.

[easterly38]

We have a heavy 10ft. fiberglass dinghy and recently purchase a used, very low hours Suzuki 5 horse 2-stroke for it. It weighs in at about 48 lbs., if I am not mistaken. It appears that most new four strokes of the same size weigh in about 10 lbs. heavier.

My thinking is that a good, used smaller 2-cycle may be the ticket for you. The 5 hp. pushes our dinghy just fine for us and frankly, I think we probably could have gone a little smaller and been happy.

Brands??? Hmmm. My initial response is to stay away from the new Mercury motors. I have a 9.9 hp. four stroke Merc that stays in the shop more than it does on the water. I may be alone in that experience, but I can't personally recommend them given my experience.

In a perfect world, I would have a 2-cycle, 4 hp. Suzuki or Johnson, with Johnson being my first choice. The 2-cycles are more reliable and lighter.

[Wmiii]

Thanks for the thoughts.
Yes we do want it to be able to plane. Although, when we are in Marathon, we rarely get to 'open her up'. In the Bahamas, speed is welcome.
I would like to get something new, but not sure of good options.
Wm

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

Just to follow on that . . . we also are probably replacing our 4hp 2 stroke mercury and would be interested in any suggestions for the best one around that size (say 4 - 6 hp)?

I have the 4-stroke 6 hp Tohatsu and it is extremely reliable. You can attach a hose at the bottom of the housing to make running the engine every couple of weeks easy. it also makes it very easy to flush the engine after it's been in salt water. As for the weight, I haven't got a solution. I can lift the engine in and out of my trunk, but I'm not strong enough to mount it on my rail, and certainly not strong enough to mount it safely on my dinghy. I could sell it and get a smaller motor, but it's only 2 years old (it pushed my old 25' Irwin around extremely well), and I might want that power against, say, a strong current.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Wmiii

Thanks for the thoughts.
Yes we do want it to be able to plane. Although, when we are in Marathon, we rarely get to 'open her up'. In the Bahamas, speed is welcome.
I would like to get something new, but not sure of good options.
Wm

Wait until you get to Nassau and then get a 15hp 2 stroke Yamaha. Bulletproof and an excellent price.

[carlosbravo]

Tohatsu 3.5 hp 2 stroke. 13.5 Kg.
You can lift it with one hand and it's very reliable. Once I didn't notice that it fell completely to the water (sea, salt), I recovered it (it was attached to a rope) and it started OK, no even one problem since.
If it can move my J/24 at 4-5 kn, a dinghy is a piece of cake.

[Seahunter]

We had the same setup; 15hp 2 stroke on a 10' Avon RIB. We liked the 15 Suzuki because it was light for it's HP (and we could use it to move our boat in a pinch with a kicka$$ 30+ knots with 2 people and a dog). Replaced it with a Merc FourStroke 15 (not ProKicker as it weighs 135lbs). The 15 Merc, albeit 5lbs (negligible) more in weight it runs cleaner (quieter) yet a bit more sluggish off the mark but with the same 30+ knot top end. I've used the smaller engines 3.5 - 5 and I wouldn't waste my time again with them unless you just wanted to putt from here to there sort of thing. The 9.9 Merc is a good choice if you don't have davits that can pick the dink and engine together (our davits are designed for 4000lbs an we pick both out of the water). We looked at Tohatsu (as they come out of the same factory and for the price break) but got a better deal on the Merc.

[Celestialsailor]

I have a Tohatsu 6hp on my 7.5' Livingston. Weight is 49 lbs. It planes scarey fast. I am going to cut the dink in half and make a nester. I've done this before with other dinks and it works out well for stowage on smaller cruisers.

[DeborahLee]

I replaced my 35lb outboarb with a 60lb. I didn't want that much weight on the rail so I installed one of those spring loaded outboard mounts on the transome. I can lower it so I don't have to lift it that far and push it up to store out of the water. I also now have an aux aux engine.

[Dustymc]

Small 4-stroke outboard engines are, except for things like trolling all day, horrendous little things - they're heavy, they take WAY too long to get all that internal weight moving, they're expensive, and they tend to leak oil if you move them around much. If you're concerned about the environmental impacts, do the math on how much extra oil and fuel you're going to burn over the life of the engine, then compare that to just about anything. Don't but some cheap plastic hunk of crap that's been shipped to your local Wal-Mart from China and you'll have more than atoned.

There are new 2-stroke outboards available for sale in the US, it just takes some looking. I was recently able to find a new-with-factory-warranty 25hp Yamaha 2-stroke, shipped, for less money than the locally-available 25hp 4-stroke, which just happens to weigh almost twice as much. If you're going to be in the Caribbean anyway, find something off Craigslist to get you there....

[Celestialsailor]

It always amazes me that in a few anchorages I have been in, someone sails in after a few days of 5-6 knots of speed, only to unroll their 12 ft. inflatable, drop a huge heavy screaming engine on it, then go rip-roaring though the anchorage at 20 knots. I think minimalist thinking could be applied here.