What Outboard

[morpheus]

We are looking to purchase a new outboard motor for our Caribe C10 and due to weight issues on the rail we are looking at a two stroke 9.8 Tohatsu.
We do not have any experience with this brand and would appreciate your views be they good, bad or indifferent.

Richard

[sy_gilana]

Indifferent. All brands pale into insignificance in the presence of the ubiquitous Yamaha 15. (2 stroke)
We have just bought a brand new one. The old one had a long and reliable life, consuming over 1400 tankfulls of gas!!!! Thats a lot of hours. We sold the old one for 500 Euro. Its not for nothing that they are the de-facto standard equipment behind thousands of dinks all over the world, and many more indigenous canoes. Its not for nothing that they are the most stolen motor anywhere.

If you cant buy one in the US, row down to Mexico or Saint Martin. They are in short supply since the Tsunami. You cannot get a better motor.

[bczful]

Just bought a new 9.9 Tohatsu 4 stroke. Only had it a couple of weeks on our Catalina 25. So far so good. For what that's worth. Good luck

[Vasco]

Just bought a new 15hp Yamaha 2 stroke in Georgetown to replace the 11 year old Yamaha 15hp 2 stroke that I sold. The old one had never been in the shop, just replaced the plugs every two years or so.

[Katiusha]

We are very happy with our Tohastu 2 stroke (18hp), more so than our friends who find their motors, including Yamahas, become finicky once in a while. But maybe that's due to [lack of] maintenance. I also heard that dinghy racers prefer Tohatsu because they are the only motors that will continue working withour a problem after multiple full submersions in salt water. We haven't tested this ourselves though...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by morpheus

We are looking to purchase a new outboard motor for our Caribe C10 and due to weight issues on the rail we are looking at a two stroke 9.8 Tohatsu.
We do not have any experience with this brand and would appreciate your views be they good, bad or indifferent.

Richard

I've owned Tohatsu, Johnson, Honda, and Yamaha. All good motors, but a big factor to consider is where do you plan to sail.

For example, here in the NW Carib the Yamaha Enduro series dominates (this is a Central American build). Parts and service are readily available. Nothing available for Tohatsu or Johnson here -- you must ship in parts.

Owned the Tohatsu 9.8 you are considering. Good little motor, but I had major corrosion issues with mine as did a few other friends. This does not seem to be consistent across all of them -- may just a series that were built with a different alloy.

[Jbaffoh]

Love my 2000 Tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke! I'd like a Yamaha 15 2 stroke, but they're 20 lbs heavier.

[morpheus]

OK as we will be going down island starting from St Thomas and bearing in mind that spares for other brands might be a problem we would like to purchase a Yamaha 2 stroke

Have been scouring the internet for suppliers in that area but not having much luck has anyone got some contacts that I could try

Thanks in advance

Richard

[RabidRabbit]

Don't listen to anyone who"loves their new outboard" all new outboards run. It's 12 years later that matters. And everyone loves the Tohatsu because its the cheapest and easy to get, You just go buy one. It's that easy. Now getting a new yamaha 2 stk requires, leg work, time, and money. I'd go with the extra hassle, weeks of waiting, and the extra $1000 to have yamaha. But if thats to much get anything jap and 2 stroke. Everyone has a Tohatsu, who wants to join that club? Oh wait I'm in it. In 2010 I bought a new Merc 3.5 4 stk and a new NIssan 20 4 stk. All Merc, Nissans, and Tohatsus under 40 hp come from the same china factory. Just different stickers. I have now seen the light, and have a yamy 2 stk. Just a minor $4000 slip up.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Just bought a new 15hp Yamaha 2 stroke in Georgetown to replace the 11 year old Yamaha 15hp 2 stroke that I sold. The old one had never been in the shop, just replaced the plugs every two years or so.

If not too presumptuous, may I ask what you paid for the Yamaha?

[ohdrinkboy]

I hear lots of raves about the Yammy 2-strokes. However, not much conversation on the 4-strokes. What's your experience on the 4-strokes?

Personally, I have a Yammy 115hp 4-stroke and it has run perfectly for 7 years (knock wood). My mechanic said it will outlive my boat, but did suggest I tilt it up when not in use. Something about oil can drip through rings??? I did notice that if I don't tilt it while stored it will give a puff of blue when starting. Tilted it does not puff blue smoke at start up.

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

I hear lots of raves about the Yammy 2-strokes. However, not much conversation on the 4-strokes. What's your experience on the 4-strokes?

Personally, I have a Yammy 115hp 4-stroke and it has run perfectly for 7 years (knock wood). My mechanic said it will outlive my boat, but did suggest I tilt it up when not in use. Something about oil can drip through rings??? I did notice that if I don't tilt it while stored it will give a puff of blue when starting. Tilted it does not puff blue smoke at start up.

4 stroke is fine for the back of a fishkiller that lives on a trailer and goes out from a covered car port and back.

A dingy motor gets rained on, and must work hard all the time without complaint. You want something that is going to take some abuse.

Yamaha does that well, and without complaint. The little puff of blue smoke reminds you that it is working.... and it will continue to do so.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

I hear lots of raves about the Yammy 2-strokes. However, not much conversation on the 4-strokes. What's your experience on the 4-strokes?

Personally, I have a Yammy 115hp 4-stroke and it has run perfectly for 7 years (knock wood). My mechanic said it will outlive my boat, but did suggest I tilt it up when not in use. Something about oil can drip through rings??? I did notice that if I don't tilt it while stored it will give a puff of blue when starting. Tilted it does not puff blue smoke at start up.

Both are great motors but there are two reasons I prefer the two stroke to the four stroke.

First the 2-stroke has more low rpm power so gets you on plane and going faster.

The main reason for me is the weight. The 2-stroke is about 85 lbs. The 4-stroke starts at about 115 lbs and goes up if you add the electric start or power tilt.

[Tingum]

Yamahas tend to be cheaper in the Bahamas than the US.

[DeborahLee]

Because of weight or is it age not sure I took my outboard off the rail and installed one of those spring aided outboard mounts on the transom. Now I can lower it to put it on the dingy without having to lift it very far or raise it to get it out of the water. I now also have an aux,aux motor which I hope I never use or need.