Buying a secondhand outboard .. what to look out for

[Homer J]

Given your mechanical confession I would suggest you look at a second hand torqeedo electric. It is rated to about 3 HP but has great ‘shove’, is really light and breaks apart. No smell no effort to start.

Range anxiety is most people’s concern but in reality for most not aproblem. The big drawback is the cost although you’ll get most of your outlay back if you ever sell.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi
Looking at the pics. You’ll only need a short shaft with the bracket that’s fitted. A long shaft will likely drag in the water when not in use.
with such a light and streamline hull, you’ll only ever need a tiny light weight engine. With the above in mind, I’d definitely be after one of a few engines. All are 2 stroke and exceptional.

2.2hp Suzuki
Mariner/merc/tohatsu 2.5-3.3hp.

Someone mentioned the Yamaha Malta. What an engine they are...but perhaps even these are a little heavy for your set up. They are 3hp but heavier than the others above.
with regards to the argument around fuel consumption between a 2 and 4 stroke. This isn’t even worthy of consideration at engines this size. Apart from that, anyone who has owned a small 4 stroke 2-4hp engine will no doubt tell you of their ears ringing with the bloody noise of them. Horrible noise at that.

 

[Jemima Puddleduck]

Given your mechanical confession I would suggest you look at a second hand torqeedo electric. It is rated to about 3 HP but has great ‘shove’, is really light and breaks apart. No smell no effort to start.

Range anxiety is most people’s concern but in reality for most not aproblem. The big drawback is the cost although you’ll get most of your outlay back if you ever sell.

Hi Homer,
i have used a torqeedo on a tender on a 10 day sailing holiday I went on 3 years ago, and as you say they are neat and do give a kick, but the real problem is the weight, not the weight of the motor, but of the weight of the truck size battery you need to power it. hopefully I’m going to be mainly sailing my 250kg dinghy not motoring, so I think a 2stroke 3.3hp mariner/mercury/tohatsu to get me out of trouble or in and out of the tidal harbours around the English channel is the way to go.
thanks

 

[Nimrod18]

One potentially useful piece of advice.

I serviced a mate's Yamaha 2B 2 stroke recently, mostly for my own experience (I'm not 'trade'). Seemingly a nice little compact 2 stroke lightweight engine (caveat: I've never used it in anger and others have suggested it might be a bit small for your needs).

Very quickly it became apparent that the stainless tube that surrounds the driveshaft in the leg has a propensity to seize into the water pump housing and upper leg metalwork, making it very difficult to get the leg off (for those about to comment, this is a separate issue from the location of the c clip in the gearbox and is widely reported on www forums including this). It took me about 3 days of "persuading" to get the leg off.

Some online commentary indicated that 'trade' servicers wouldn't touch a Yam 2B that hadn't had the leg removed within the last "X" years (where X was, from memory, an integer number between 4 and 6). Whilst I can't validate any one else's views, they correlated very strongly with my experience.

So my advice would be:

If you are going for a second hand Yamaha 2B, gain yourself some confidence that the leg will come apart (if it doesn't, the life of your engine is a paired to the life of the impeller). Suggest routes (not exhaustive) are: servicing paperwork; Q and A with the current owner (when did she/he last do an impeller change and can she/he tell you the technique), or; if the seller was very tolerant, have a go before swapping money.

If you do end up with a 2B that has a stuck leg, I've posted elsewhere how I broke and replaced the water lift pipe during my 3 days of "persuading".

 

[Refueler]

Apart from that, anyone who has owned a small 4 stroke 2-4hp engine will no doubt tell you of their ears ringing with the bloody noise of them. Horrible noise at that.

Had to smile ..... gone are the days of the Seagull O/Bd ....... you'd be sitting there all peaceful and sipping your 'tipple' ...... then a Seagull would 'purrr' past !! leaving the rainbow on water ...

 

[Jemima Puddleduck]

Looking at the pics. You’ll only need a short shaft with the bracket that’s fitted. A long shaft will likely drag in the water when not in use.

Hi QHoy, thanks for the advice. yes, I’m pretty much set on a 3.3hp 2stroke mariner/merc/tohatsu to power my 250kg Laser 16 sailing dinghy out of trouble. i’m still not sure about the shaft length, but thinking more along the lines of a long shaft. Problem is they are so kuch hard to come by. I’ve found 4 long shaft (2 Mariner, 1 tohatsu and 1 Yamaha malta) at dealer. They come serviced £375 each. I like the sound/reputation of the Malta, but they are apparently heavier. But looking online i could pick up a shortshaft for £250 from a private, unserviced... Ikve asked a number of people to measure the o/b from the inside of the mounting bracket to the av plate above the prop but noones seems to do that... looking at the photos the short shafts of the 3.3hp don’t seem that short.. perhaps I could use a retractable spring loaded mounting board with a short shaft? the Malta seem shorter but perhaps it’s just the propositions in the photos that are deceptive.

 

[Homer J]

Hi Homer,
i have used a torqeedo on a tender on a 10 day sailing holiday I went on 3 years ago, and as you say they are neat and do give a kick, but the real problem is the weight, not the weight of the motor, but of the weight of the truck size battery you need to power it. hopefully I’m going to be mainly sailing my 250kg dinghy not motoring, so I think a 2stroke 3.3hp mariner/mercury/tohatsu to get me out of trouble or in and out of the tidal harbours around the English channel is the way to go.
thanks

Truck size battery???? I don’t understand unless you were using something else other than torqeedo. The whole thing battery and engine is around 13kg and splits into 3 components. The battery is about 4kg

 

[duncan99210]

Hi Homer,
i have used a torqeedo on a tender on a 10 day sailing holiday I went on 3 years ago, and as you say they are neat and do give a kick, but the real problem is the weight, not the weight of the motor, but of the weight of the truck size battery you need to power it. hopefully I’m going to be mainly sailing my 250kg dinghy not motoring, so I think a 2stroke 3.3hp mariner/mercury/tohatsu to get me out of trouble or in and out of the tidal harbours around the English channel is the way to go.
thanks

I think you may be confused about the Torqueedo battery: it’s integrated into the motor itself not a separate battery. The trolling motors beloved of American lake anglers uses a separate battery which can be one nicked off a passing truck.

 

[Jemima Puddleduck]

So the measurement from the top of the mounting board to the deepest point of the hull where the o/b will bit sitting is 15.5” , but the waterline appears to be 3” above this point. given swell and heeling is there a risk the prop may repeatable pop out ? The bracket sits 9” out from transom.

 

[Refueler]

So the measurement from the top of the mounting board to the deepest point of the hull where the o/b will bit sitting is 15.5” , but the waterline appears to be 3” above this point. given swell and heeling is there a risk the prop may repeatable pop out ? The bracket sits 9” out from transom.

Is there no other similar boat you can look at locally ... talk to owner etc. ??

 

[CJU]

I’m pretty sure you can still by new 2 strokes from Mainbrace marine on Alderney, not sure whether they would send them to UK though.

 

[Jemima Puddleduck]

Is there no other similar boat you can look at locally ... talk to owner etc. ??

Not that I know of, but good idea. Just posted to Facebook dinghy cruising association page

 

[Refueler]

Not that I know of, but good idea. Just posted to Facebook dinghy cruising association page

I always used to wander round clubs and slipways to see what others were using ...

 

[Jemima Puddleduck]

well according to most people of the Laser16 and DCA Facebook pages a short shaft leg will do. So that opens up a lot more choices. Thanks to everyone that has posted. Go to look at some in Emsworth and Pevensey

 

[QBhoy]

Hi QHoy, thanks for the advice. yes, I’m pretty much set on a 3.3hp 2stroke mariner/merc/tohatsu to power my 250kg Laser 16 sailing dinghy out of trouble. i’m still not sure about the shaft length, but thinking more along the lines of a long shaft. Problem is they are so kuch hard to come by. I’ve found 4 long shaft (2 Mariner, 1 tohatsu and 1 Yamaha malta) at dealer. They come serviced £375 each. I like the sound/reputation of the Malta, but they are apparently heavier. But looking online i could pick up a shortshaft for £250 from a private, unserviced... Ikve asked a number of people to measure the o/b from the inside of the mounting bracket to the av plate above the prop but noones seems to do that... looking at the photos the short shafts of the 3.3hp don’t seem that short.. perhaps I could use a retractable spring loaded mounting board with a short shaft? the Malta seem shorter but perhaps it’s just the propositions in the photos that are deceptive.

hi
Not sure where you are in the U.K., but there is a mint looking 3.3 mariner long shaft for sale near Edinburgh. Cheap too.