Choice of new outboard - 10hp

[Seagul]

I've got a lightweight inflatable boat and now wanting an engine for it. I seem to have come down to going for the cleanliness of the four-stroke, which I guess, if I am looking for reliability I am going for a new engine.
So looking at 10hp four-strokes, Mariner, a name I see well associated with the RNLI seems a good engine. But how does that fair against the slightly cheaper Tohatsu?
I am sure like everything we all have our favourite food, our own idea of a holiday and in this case what makes a good engine - but really, is any engine notably better than any other?
Parson make an engine but in my mind they havn't even got off the starting block - I can't ever imagine the RNLI with a Parson on the back!
So please guys and gals, your thoughts on brands of four strokes in the 10hp bracket. Thanks.

 

[[2068]]

I'd go with a Merc 9.9, mainly because the black paint job looks better.
But, either Merc or Mariner would be fine, so long as there is a dealer nearby.

 

[Spi D]

Since Tohatsu makes the small Merc and Mariner for Brunswick, the quality is similar.

More important is access to quality service. If equally available I'd go for a Suzuki, but that's just build on experience after owning major brands over time.

Ofcourse that means experience with various generations as my first was a Merc 35 in the 60's, then Evinrude/Johnson, Yamaha, Merc again in 1990, Honda and the Suzuki (last two were the only 4 strokes). All in the range 35-140 hp.
In the world of trolling 4-strokes stand strong (many Suzukis incl. the ones rebadged to JohnnyRude's).

 

[Seagul]

Thats good thanks. What thoughts have you got on having the gear change as a twist grip like the throttle on the tiller, as against a seperate gear change lever?

 

[whisper]

I've got a lightweight inflatable boat and now wanting an engine for it. I seem to have come down to going for the cleanliness of the four-stroke, which I guess, if I am looking for reliability I am going for a new engine.
So looking at 10hp four-strokes, Mariner, a name I see well associated with the RNLI seems a good engine. But how does that fair against the slightly cheaper Tohatsu?
I am sure like everything we all have our favourite food, our own idea of a holiday and in this case what makes a good engine - but really, is any engine notably better than any other?
Parson make an engine but in my mind they havn't even got off the starting block - I can't ever imagine the RNLI with a Parson on the back!
So please guys and gals, your thoughts on brands of four strokes in the 10hp bracket. Thanks.

I'd go for the lightest you can find from the major mfrs. Otherwise your lightweight boat will become heavyweight. 10hp 4strs are pretty heavy to cart about.

 

[Jim@sea]

I had a 9.9 Evinrude 2 stroke which was a really good engine. I found out that the engine of the 9.9 Engine was also the engine of the 15hp Evinrude with improved carburettor. So as a 15hp weighs the same as a 9.9 then why not get the larger one.

 

[dash300]

I had a 9.9 Evinrude 2 stroke which was a really good engine. I found out that the engine of the 9.9 Engine was also the engine of the 15hp Evinrude with improved carburettor. So as a 15hp weighs the same as a 9.9 then why not get the larger one.

Good point re. upping hp for no weight gain. Many manufacturers use the same engine block etc. for several power ranges and re-map chip to change the power output. There is a gain in price though! Note however that new 2 strokes are no longer available due to emission regs.(large expensive specialist Johnsons excepted)

 

[Chrusty 1]

I've got a lightweight inflatable boat and now wanting an engine for it. I seem to have come down to going for the cleanliness of the four-stroke, which I guess, if I am looking for reliability I am going for a new engine.
So looking at 10hp four-strokes, Mariner, a name I see well associated with the RNLI seems a good engine. But how does that fair against the slightly cheaper Tohatsu?
I am sure like everything we all have our favourite food, our own idea of a holiday and in this case what makes a good engine - but really, is any engine notably better than any other?
Parson make an engine but in my mind they havn't even got off the starting block - I can't ever imagine the RNLI with a Parson on the back!
So please guys and gals, your thoughts on brands of four strokes in the 10hp bracket. Thanks.

You will get a lot of varied opinions on this subject I guess, but with reference to Parsun, there will always be prejudice by some about Chinese products, these prejudices usually stem from bad experiences of customers early on in a products life. I have used a couple of Parsun outboards, and they seemed ok to me, to get a proper Parsun and not a copy, or a copy of a copy You just need to buy from a reputable dealer, such as Bill Higham, speaking of which, Bill Higham placed a post on here a while back about Parsun outboards which I have copied for you below.

As far as I know Aussie fishermen like them a lot, but then the Aussies aren't noted for badge snobbery, they just like a good deal

Hello to all,

We are the importer and distributor of Parsun outboards in the UK & ireland. The official parsun website in the UK is

www.parsunoutboard.co.uk

I saw this thread and just thought i would pen a few words. Here is an honest opinion on the product from my experiences with Parsun Outboards over the past 4 years (note i refrained from using the words "un-biased" as that would probably be untrue).

I first heard of parsun outboards in 2006 and immediately ordered one of each model for testing, over the next month we ran these engines for over 400hrs each. none of them missed a beat, so we made another order, this time for 10 of each model, they were all destined for rigorous marine testing by long standing customers of ours.

We did encounter some minor problems with this batch, specifically - the carburettor on the 4 and 5hp letting too much air in at idle, and the cd unit on one of the 9.9/15's failed.
we wrote to Parsun China detailing the faults and we got an email back within a day, explaining that they too had encountered these faults along with some others and were busy re-designing the 4/5hp carb and the 9.9/15 CD unit.

we asked for more stock for testing once they had rectified these faults. the new stock came, and the faults had disappeared.

We now in 2009 have a product that i as a profesional outboard engineer am very happy with, and proud to put my name to. there have been a few minor teething problems, but the way the manufacturers deal with any fault gives me full confidence in the future of the brand.

so would i recommend one to you?

well that would be pointless as i represent them, so i will just give you some facts and figures from 2008 so you can make your own mind up:

Qty sold in 2008 was 549 units

number of warranty claims in 2008 was 12

number of Parsun Dealers now in Uk & Ireland 25 and climbing fast (2 more signed up this week)

Average price difference between Parsun and other brands - 30%

Average Parts price difference between parsun and other brands 50%

warranty period - 2 years (i know the others give 5 years, but Tohatsu built their name on a 2 year warranty and they are now the biggest outboard manufacturer in the world)

in a recent independent test in boatmart, the 2.6hp was found to be the quietest 2.5hp on the market today. And with its 1.2l tank, it also had the longest range of any 2.5hp outboard. It used a little more fuel than the honda and yamaha though - 1 l/h @ Wide Open Throttle!! - read the review at: http://www.boatmart.co.uk/editorial....hannel=test

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Best Regards,

Simon Higham
Marine Imports UK Ltd & Bill Higham Marine
tel 0161 790 7678
email info@parsunoutboard.co.uk
website www.parsunoutboard.co.uk

Just as a footnote, my family and I have run a successful, professional business specialising in the sales and repair of outboard engines for the past 30 years (bill higham marine - manchester), we we have a good name and a very big repeat customer base which spans the lenght and breadth of these isles. What i suppose i am getting at is that we had no need to take on the Parsun distributorship, but i saw an opening for a good quality product, that was well priced, and that turns out to be exactly what Parsun Outboards are.

So i stand by my calim, they are a good piece of kit, and if like most you are trying to cut the cost of your boating in these times of economic turbulence, then they are well worth your consideration.

 

[ontheplane]

Didn't I read in MBM a year or so back though that the static bollard pull test they did, the Chinese engines (Parsun etc) produced a substantially lower pull than the well known brands - so much so that you would have needed at least the next engine up the range (or even 2 or 3 up) to get the same sort of pull... That would somewhat negate the price benefit of the Chinese engine.

 

[Chrusty 1]

Didn't I read in MBM a year or so back though that the static bollard pull test they did, the Chinese engines (Parsun etc) produced a substantially lower pull than the well known brands - so much so that you would have needed at least the next engine up the range (or even 2 or 3 up) to get the same sort of pull... That would somewhat negate the price benefit of the Chinese engine.

I don't think that holds water, I have used the Parsun, and grunt it had in spades. I think one might legitimately level all kinds of criticisms at Chinese outboards, but that isn't one of them.

It's horses for courses innit, somebody that needs occasional motive power for an inflatable tender, could do a lot worse that spend their hard earned on a Parsun. As I said previously Aussie Fishermen, (professionals), seem to like them very much, they are cheap, they are robust, and they get the job done. Still for somebody more worried about what their marina neighbours might think if they bought Chinese, they are probably not so good.

Have a squint at this....

http://www.parsunoutboard.co.uk/pdf/P103_TSF_11_revvedup! copy.indd1.pdf

 

[Jim@sea]

The 15 hp Parsun appears to weigh the same as the 9.9 Parsun so why not buy that.

 

[dk]

Parsun outboards

I know it's a bit late to add to this thread, but I've just been trialling a Parsun F9.8BM and it has performed pretty well, bar being a little noisier than some other more well-known makes. Pull test was equal to the Yamaha actually and it got our 2.5m Zodiac RIB up to 16.2kn on the plane!
BTW - the 9.8 (tender version) weighs just 35kg. The 9.9 is the high-thrust version for sailboats and comes with extra clobber (remotes etc) - thus it weighs a fair bit more.

D

 

[henryf]

Yamaha.

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Henry