Choosing new small outboard. Honda 4 stroke or Mariner/ Yamaha/ Suzuki 2 stroke

[Larsen B]

Hi everyone I am new to the forum and a bit of a beginner with outboards so please bear with me.

I am looking for a small outboard to use when travelling round europe on fishing trips (freshwater only). It will only be powering a 3m inflatable (about 45kg weight) with a couple of anglers, but sometimes a lot of gear will be transported. We wont be in any great hurry so speed isn't really an issue, but we may have headwind on some bigger lakes and perhaps a bit of current on the rivers, to contend with at times.

Really I am after advice on the lightest, most reliable and very importantly, maintenance free motor. It is likely to be in storage until we need it a few times a year. I have been looking at a few secondhand options. Options so far have included the Mariner 3.3hp and 2.5Hp 2 strokes, they actually look like the same motor to me and weights are apparently very similar. Is trhere anything to commend one over the other? Other candidates are the Suzuki 2.2Hp and the Honda 2hp 4 stroke BF2D(This is the lightest of the 4 strokes I can find). Not sure if the 4 stroke would be more or less reliable or better than the others mentioned? Feel free to suggest any other recommendations! I assume I will need a short shaft version on our boat, which has a fixed 15 inch transom.

Thanks

 

[webcraft]

.
Most reliable outboard in the known universe has to be a 2HP 2-stroke Yamaha.

Friends with small 4-stroke outboards curse them regularly.

- W

 

[colston]

2.2 Suzuki 2 stroke, I use it on my tender in a strong tidal area (Bristol channel) and even used it as my main engine on a 19ft yacht for some time.

It has not let me down, and being a 50:1 oil burner surprisingly clean, (in relation to the Seagull it replaced)

 

[Jcorstorphine]

I have a suzi 4 stoke 2.5HP and it is heavy and it is one of the lightest. One day I will breath life back into my old Yamaha 2hp

 

[V1701]

If you're looking at 4 stroke might be worth considering a Selva - here:

http://www.selvamarine.co.uk/product_lines.php?line=mot_4t

Otherwise a wee 2 stroke 2nd hand, mine's an old Mariner 2hp, same as Yamaha...

 

[sailorman]

any re-badged Tohatsu 2 stroke

Hi everyone I am new to the forum and a bit of a beginner with outboards so please bear with me.

I am looking for a small outboard to use when travelling round europe on fishing trips (freshwater only). It will only be powering a 3m inflatable (about 45kg weight) with a couple of anglers, but sometimes a lot of gear will be transported. We wont be in any great hurry so speed isn't really an issue, but we may have headwind on some bigger lakes and perhaps a bit of current on the rivers, to contend with at times.

Really I am after advice on the lightest, most reliable and very importantly, maintenance free motor. It is likely to be in storage until we need it a few times a year. I have been looking at a few secondhand options. Options so far have included the Mariner 3.3hp and 2.5Hp 2 strokes, they actually look like the same motor to me and weights are apparently very similar. Is trhere anything to commend one over the other? Other candidates are the Suzuki 2.2Hp and the Honda 2hp 4 stroke BF2D(This is the lightest of the 4 strokes I can find). Not sure if the 4 stroke would be more or less reliable or better than the others mentioned? Feel free to suggest any other recommendations! I assume I will need a short shaft version on our boat, which has a fixed 15 inch transom.

Thanks

 

[TQA]

You may ned to be creative in sourcing it but my choice would be a Tohatsu 3.5hp 2 stroke. A Nissan version is the same engine but rebadged.

 

[nigelmercier]

2.2 Suzuki 2 stroke

I must be doing something wrong then, mine is a bitch.

 

[VicMallows]

I must be doing something wrong then, mine is a bitch.

Yes, you must be! Mine is around 6 years old now (just before 2 strokes were banned ... when was that?) and has been faultless, starting first pull every time .... even with last seasons fuel . No maintenance whatsoever in that time other than flushing after every use and changing gearbox oil.

Prior to the Suzuki I had a Yamaha 2 which was equally reliable, but seemed to have very much less useful power .... though that probably prop related. (Sadly that engine vanished one night, though whether it was stolen, or fell off into the Emsworth mud I will never know.!).

 

[lustyd]

.
Most reliable outboard in the known universe has to be a 2HP 2-stroke Yamaha.

One day I will breath life back into my old Yamaha 2hp

ROFLMAO

 

[Larsen B]

Excellent. Thanks for all the replies. Well the good news is 2 strokes tend to be cheaper

I have heard that a lot of waterways in Spain have banned 2 strokes. I dont think I am likely to be going to Spain much, but I had better do a bit more research and check that other other waters I might wish to visit arent going the same way, otherwise I may have to look at the 4 stroke route again. The Honda 4 strokes in 2.3 and 2 hp seem to get mixed reviews, complaints are that it is noisy (aircooled?) and the clutch is a bit of a pain?

It seems that Yamaha and Suzuki and Tohatsu all seem recommended. It is all a bit confusing from what I can gather, aren't mercury and mariner both made by Tohatsu, or am I right in thinking that some are made by Yamaha also? Either way if I get one of the brands just mentioned I should be doing ok will I? I wont be able to afford a new motor, being new to this, would you say I should stick to one under a certain age, ie were there any major tech advances in the last 5 or 10 years to mean I should not buy older?

Thanks

 

[VicS]

.
Most reliable outboard in the known universe has to be a 2HP 2-stroke Yamaha.

- W

second only to a Seagull

 

[PlankWalker]

For chucking in and out of a car with regular abuse a small 2 stroke cant be beat.There all good, but my preference is for a suzuki 2.2
I have a brand new one been in its box for 3 years and the only reason it has never been used, is that my 14 year old one is still totally reliable.

Plank

 

[lustyd]

For chucking in and out of a car with regular abuse a small 2 stroke cant be beat.There all good, but my preference is for a suzuki 2.2
I have a brand new one been in its box for 3 years and the only reason it has never been used, is that my 14 year old one is still totally reliable.

Plank

I don't know, my 2.5HP Yamaha 4 stroke is pretty good at the boot thing. There's only one way up it's not allowed to go, and the carry bag it comes in has arrows on. Inside the carry bag there is no leaking of petrol or oil and my car doesn't smell of petrol when transporting it.

Very few of these things are true of 2 strokes.

 

[reeac]

My first O/B was a Honda 4-stroke 2 hp. and I had many problems with it failing to start etc. and the agent couldn't find any fault so now have a secondhand Mariner 2-stroke 3.3 which is fine. I can't understand the Honda problem as I have a Honda car, mower and strimmer, all of which are totally reliable.

 

[sailorman]

The Honda o/b is a lawn mower engine on an o/b leg
The Mariner 3.3 is a re-badged Tohatsu

My first O/B was a Honda 4-stroke 2 hp. and I had many problems with it failing to start etc. and the agent couldn't find any fault so now have a secondhand Mariner 2-stroke 3.3 which is fine. I can't understand the Honda problem as I have a Honda car, mower and strimmer, all of which are totally reliable.

 

[Zagato]

Tohatsu 3.5 4 stroke same as Marina but cheaper. No problems with mine, very reliable, just chuckit down on the right side and all is fine same with my Yamaha 6HP 4 stroke, nice and quiet, no mixing, no fumes Each to their own, I don't mind 2 stroke either but prefer to buy new and nothing wrong with 4 strokes of course.

I know a boat builder that stopped selling Hondas a couple of years ago with their boats, they said they were not as good as they used to be and now sell Tohatsu.

 

[dylanwinter]

I am a bit scared about posting anything about outboards anymore for fear of being labelled a pinko tree hugging data bending eco terrorist and being shouted down by the gullists

but....

I gave up on the two strokes when I saw what they were doing to the water

I have been running a small Honda four stroke for six years now - intially the two hp - which I gave to a friend who had dropped his overboard into deep water and now use a 2.3 which shoves my 23 footer along at 4.5 knots. It lives in the stern locker as a back up engine to the big one and I bring it out to fire it up once a month

it always starts, never smells, never leaks, runs dead clean and sips petrol which comes from the same can I use for the mower, the car and the outboard on the big boat

if you are a fisherman and you care about the quality of the water where the fish you eat like to swim then I think that a four stroke is the way to go

However, if you have a bad back, can't remember that the outboard should only be stored on one side and not the other, don't care about fuel efficiency or spraying oil into the environment, like the smell and sound of a two stroke ......

Dylan

 

[toad]

I may be wrong but I think some Euro lakes have banned 2 strokes

 

[Seajet]

I am almost as green as Dylan, but reckon modern - 1980's on - 2 strokes are pretty friendly to the environment compared to very rich mixture Seagulls which I reckon vicious things to man or beast, best kept polished up on pub walls.

My Mariner 2hp 2 stroke is a trusty old friend, relatively much lighter to carry than a 4-Stroke and the survivor of a few immersions, usually when inflatable tenders became saggy or flipped in gales - more lessons learned the hard way.

I do have the cylinder head off every winter to clear out the salt.