Best 6hp saildrive outboard

[warwicksail]

A
Fellow sailer has asked me to get hold of a outboard auxillary for a Westerly centaur, can anybody recomend new engines and is the high thrust prop a must, charging unit not really that important so was thinking of just adding a high thrust prop to longshaft engine.

 

[graham]

The high thrust prop makes a huge improvement for a yacht auxillary. driving a Centaur weighing a couple of tons is a different job completely to driving a rubber dinghy.

I have to commend your mate for buying an auxillary.Too many people have the attitude that the RNLI is there as a free breakdown service .

Not sure which make is best these days,a lot of them use the same components anyway.

 

[warwicksail]

Hear Hear, I allways take a back up even if its only the tender engine will get you out of a pickle if need be, think they will go for the tohatsu 6hp long shaft with a high-thrust ,no charging unit or extreemly over priced saildrive decal on the side lol. Ive checked all the others its light and well priced.

 

[graham]

A guy I know has a Tohatsu 6hp 4stroke with a high thrust prop as the main engine on his Achilles 24.Seems to push it well dont think he has had any real problems with it.

 

[VicS]

I use a long shaft (20") 6hp Evinrude with a "high thrust" prop ( it has a large blade area and a smaller pitch than standard) on a 19 footer.
I think for a transom as high as a Centaur's I would want an extra longshaft (25") at least and for a boat the size and weight of a Centaur a more powerful engine than 6hp. You need to get the prop deep in the water or it keeps coming out in a chop, the engine races and you go nowhere.

When I bought mine Evinrude also did an 8hp version and a 9.9hp version both of which came only with extra long shafts (25") the 9.9 also came with the option of electric starting. From that bunch I would pick the 25" 9.9.

I dont know what engines are available these days. Evinrudes are only large engines and smaller ones are Johnsons.
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You'll notice mine also has the exhaust outlet high above the prop (the standard outlet is blanked off) so that when going astern the gases are not drawn back into the prop giving full thrust astern as well. it also avoids the back pressure that a deeply immersed engine might suffer from.

 

[seumask]

Tohatsu Mariner Mercury 6 hp 4 stroke is the one, comes with a longshaft version as well for use as a Yacht auxilary. Several people I know have one and they seem to work well.
Not sure if you need the High thrust prop opinions on this vary in practise and I know several people who don't think it works and the normal prop is fine.

 

[graham]

Dont forget that its only a back up motor Vic. The 6 will push a Centaur albeit not quickly and anything bigger/heavier will need a crane to lift on and off the bracket.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Dont forget that its only a back up motor

[/ QUOTE ] But what good is a back up if it cannot cope with all conditions ? Even my 6hp is more than I can lift on and off the bracket. (I suppose I could just do it 20 old years ago but it is a lot heavier now than it was) I get someone to help me lift it on before the boat is launched in the spring and off again after it is hauled out in the autumn.

Personally if I had a larger boat with an inboard engine I would rather put money into making sure that engine was in a good reliable state than into an outboard as a back up.

 

[Drascomber]

For a 6hp The choice is between a) Mercury/Mariner/Tohatsu (also sold as Nissan in USA) or b) Suzuki.

Not a lot to choose between but I find the Suzi's longshaft extension ugly.

The above are lightweight single cylinder.

You can get a twin cylinder from say Yamaha but is heavier but then you might as well get the eight which is the same weight. Nice but expensive too.

Sail drive prop essential in this application. Engine will not reach full revs otherwise. It won't do the engine any good and you'll get a lot of "wheelspin" when you try to change the boat's direction between forwards and backwards.