Electric outboards,,,any good for a tender?

Is it EU legislation that forbids the sale of 2 strokes? In which case it could be repealed shortly.
There is a lot of environmental EU law that is inappropriate to the UK.
 
OK, I have just been trawling ebay and curiosity has got the better of me. There appears to be a range of 4 stroke outboards advertised with what looks like air cooled strimmer engines as a power unit.......I doubt anyone here has or would use one, but me, being a member of the peasantry needs to be looking at more bottom end price wise than top, unless I can find a used 4 stroke at about the same money. Anybody know about these?
 
Yes EU legislation. In the states they are governed by an EPA 2006 act. You may see the sticker on some outboards. This act is the reason you cannot adjust the mixture on your 4 stroke carbs . In his manifesto Mr Trump said he was going to scrap the act and has been discussing it lately
 
Capt. Clueless said:
OK, I have just been trawling ebay and curiosity has got the better of me. There appears to be a range of 4 stroke outboards advertised with what looks like air cooled strimmer engines as a power unit.......I doubt anyone here has or would use one, but me, being a member of the peasantry needs to be looking at more bottom end price wise than top, unless I can find a used 4 stroke at about the same money. Anybody know about these?
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Do not buy one!!!. I have had lots of experience with these. I posted in another thread a few weeks ago a friend fitted 10 of these to a fleet of bumper boats
They all lasted approximately 1 hour. He sold them all as spares or repair and made a profit!!!
 
As the Ghostly Moron says ' what were they thinking'?

a marine component using mild steel and steel studs in an alloy motor.

Fortunately we still have access to a whole range of 2 strokes, lots of competition - so reasonable prices - and 2 strokes seem to last forever.

Sadly Clueless - we can offer you little help nor comfort.

Jonathan
 
Capt. Clueless said:
I have to admit, that I am a little bewildered at the support for 2 strokes. They are the very engines I see people swearing/drifting whilst desperately trying to get them started again (I've been there myself). All the nice motors I saw hanging off the back of inflatables as I sat in the Windermere launch area were 4 strokes.
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Perhaps that's more a reflection on the two-strokes being old and the four-strokes being new?
 
I am happy with a torqueedo: yes expensive to purchase but over a period of time less service costs and modern outboards re sensitive to stale of damp fuel and mine old one had expensive carb servicing, battery life fine and less weight, also starts easily, I was the only member of the family able to start the previous petrol OB
 
Outboard servicing must be very expensive in the UK if it would realistically pay, over a period of time, for the increase in cost of a Torqueedo over the cost of the same 2hp O/B.

Jonathan
 
ghostlymoron said:
I believe you can legally buy 2 strokes in the channel islands
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But you cannot legally import them into the EU. If you could, there would be no point in the legislation. Not that I agree with it as the impact of 2 stroke used by little outboards in the UK is minimal.

Doubt there will be any change after we leave the EU - no votes in it and we don't make them here anyway.
 
Neeves said:
What stops you buying one in the CI and bringing it into the UK in/on your yacht - do people check with that amount of detail?
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Very little, but it is a criminal offence and there is a significant increase in customs/immigration activity so there is a chance of getting caught. In theory if coming from the CIs you need to report to customs, but the control is very lax.

The reality is, however that the demand for small dinghy engines in the UK is very small and the latest 4 strokes are perfectly adequate for the task, so it is only a few old salts that get worked up about it.

Very different from 30-40 years ago when I was in charge of sales and marketing at Seagull and most boats were on moorings. We sold thousands of 40 models each year, particularly in the UK and the US. You were not a proper sailor if you did not have an Avon Redcrest and a 40 Seagull even if you just hung it on the pushpit and rolled the dinghy up on the coachroof.
 
This is the setup a mate of mine has to powe his "dingy"

IMGP2522_zpse9789bd9.jpg


Just go the same electric outboard and plan to have a similar setup myself.

Oh forgot not too much sun in the UK to keep the battery charged up !!!!
 
Funny how much disagreement there seems to be on the little Honda 2.3 aircooled outboard. A real 'Marmite' item. I've just bought a 2nd hand one and I absolutely love it. Starts well, no reaching back to knock it in/out of gear, no blocking of coolant passages, no flushing required. Noisier its true, but not excessively so.
 
Tranona said:
Very little, but it is a criminal offence and there is a significant increase in customs/immigration activity so there is a chance of getting caught. In theory if coming from the CIs you need to report to customs, but the control is very lax.
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After how much time - if ever - can you own and they import? For example, would someone who had sailed from the Cook islands to Scilly be in trouble if they had a 2-stroke outboard with them?
 
JumbleDuck said:
After how much time - if ever - can you own and they import? For example, would someone who had sailed from the Cook islands to Scilly be in trouble if they had a 2-stroke outboard with them?
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I have not looked it up but would guess (as in the case of inboard engines that don't meet EU specs) importing a secondhand one would also be illegal unless, perhaps, you could show it was originally in use in the EU before they were banned. Call Trading Standards and ask the same question.

Don't suppose anybody, least of all Customs and Trading Standards are in the least bit bothered. Got plenty of work to do keeping illegal immigrants out and catching real criminals like drug smugglers, people traffickers and importers of fake consumer goods.

Mind you footage of some old salt having his Suzuki 2hp seized by Customs would make good daytime TV.
 
Tranona said:
Don't suppose anybody, least of all Customs and Trading Standards are in the least bit bothered. Got plenty of work to do keeping illegal immigrants out and catching real criminals like drug smugglers, people traffickers and importers of fake consumer goods.
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True. I was thinking that maybe they'd be more concerned about commercial-scale importers, but judging by the number of sellers of dubious new two-strokes dispatched (for Amazon or Ebay buyers) from the UK - Portsmouth, usually - even that is not a great concern.
 
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