Denngeor
New Member
Any opinions on outboards in the 2.3 to 3.5 hp range?
Looking to purchase a 2.3-3.5 hp outboard
- Thread starter Denngeor
- Start date
xyachtdave
Well-Known Member
Late night outboard shopping Denngeor?!
I've had Honda, Yamaha and 2 x Suzukis. There's no best one in my opinion, although some YBW members are evangelical about their choices of marine equipment.
Honda, air cooled so doesn't need flushing but too noisy for my taste. Don't like the lack of gear selection, start it with a bit of throttle and you're moving.
Yamaha, better quality but heaviest, water cooled and has gear selector for forwards. Ironically i had this serviced at a dealer to maintain the warranty but they overfilled it with oil so much i thought it was going to catch fire in the middle of the river.
Suzuki, lightest, water cooled, gear selector for forwards, lightness is reflected in quality.
The first one went pop under warranty, dealer Gillingham Marina were awful in regards to honouring warranty. New one bought last year works fine.
Personally I'd only run whatever you buy on lawnmower fuel, the Aspen long life stuff. Pretty much all the aggro outboards give is from stale petrol.
I've had Honda, Yamaha and 2 x Suzukis. There's no best one in my opinion, although some YBW members are evangelical about their choices of marine equipment.
Honda, air cooled so doesn't need flushing but too noisy for my taste. Don't like the lack of gear selection, start it with a bit of throttle and you're moving.
Yamaha, better quality but heaviest, water cooled and has gear selector for forwards. Ironically i had this serviced at a dealer to maintain the warranty but they overfilled it with oil so much i thought it was going to catch fire in the middle of the river.
Suzuki, lightest, water cooled, gear selector for forwards, lightness is reflected in quality.
The first one went pop under warranty, dealer Gillingham Marina were awful in regards to honouring warranty. New one bought last year works fine.
Personally I'd only run whatever you buy on lawnmower fuel, the Aspen long life stuff. Pretty much all the aggro outboards give is from stale petrol.
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Many of us prefer the old Mariner//Mercury 2 stroke second hand, as light weight and simple.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
Shame about the oil they leave behind. They’re better in every way apart from that. I’d use one if I berthed in Portsmouth, or somewhere like that. My feathered friends near my home berth wouldn’t like it.
Denngeor
New Member
No late night shopping here, mate. The sun hasn’t even set here in Tasmania. What happened to the first Suzuki? Helpful reply. Cheers
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
ePropulsion have announced the new 2kW (2.7hp) Spirit, available soon.
ePropulsion - Spirit 2
No good for stemming Solent tidal streams but otherwise much quieter and avoids the need for petrol on the boat.
ePropulsion - Spirit 2
No good for stemming Solent tidal streams but otherwise much quieter and avoids the need for petrol on the boat.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
If you can find a Tohatsu/Mariner 3.5 2 stroke, grab it. Mine was 15 years old and still going strong when I got careless, and it was stolen. They're a lot lighter than the 4 strokes, and don't care how you put them down.
lustyd
Well-Known Member
I’m sure I read a post here recently that said they still had an impeller for cooling the gearbox or something.
Edit: yes, water cooled exhaust
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I have various and they are all 2str's ...
Johnson 3HP ...... excellent but start and go .... to go astern - you swivel engine 180 deg.
Mariner 2hp ..... same - excellent start and go - same astern swivel 180 deg.
Johnson 5hp .. with FWD / Neutral / Astern .... only fault - the throttle twist grip is faulty on the arm and so I have fitted a stiff wire pull direct to the carb ... I can open to about 50% on the twist grip for general use ... then if needs more - I pull the wire ... One day I may replace the arm and twist grip as its very good engine.
I know others with 4str's ... I have a pals RIB with a Honda 4hp 4str on the back sitting in my garden ... he likes the frugal fuel consumption - but hates lifting it on and off .... he did ask me one time if I would sell one of my small engines !!
Johnson 3HP ...... excellent but start and go .... to go astern - you swivel engine 180 deg.
Mariner 2hp ..... same - excellent start and go - same astern swivel 180 deg.
Johnson 5hp .. with FWD / Neutral / Astern .... only fault - the throttle twist grip is faulty on the arm and so I have fitted a stiff wire pull direct to the carb ... I can open to about 50% on the twist grip for general use ... then if needs more - I pull the wire ... One day I may replace the arm and twist grip as its very good engine.
I know others with 4str's ... I have a pals RIB with a Honda 4hp 4str on the back sitting in my garden ... he likes the frugal fuel consumption - but hates lifting it on and off .... he did ask me one time if I would sell one of my small engines !!
dunedin
Well-Known Member
I wouldn’t use our two stroke on an inland lake - but never noticed any noticeable trace of oil in general use. Very minor
mrming
Well-Known Member
Depending on your requirements could an electric work? I’ve had the Tohatsu 3.5 2 stroke and the 2.3 air cooled Honda mentioned above. Hated them both as if only used occasionally you need to run them dry or they won’t start next time due to the fuel residue gumming up the carb. A couple of seasons ago we got an ePropulsion eLite instead. It always works, is quiet and my partner and the kids find it far more user friendly. Range is not great but we only use it to get in and out when anchored.
jamie N
Well-Known Member
Honda 2.3 every time. Apart from the internal 'oil pump', there are no other pumps on the engine. The exhaust is fully air cooled, and the engine has no 'out of water running time restriction', unless the prop is spinning, which would be bad practice.
The fuel should always be fully drained from the carburettor at the end of every day that it's been used. This is simply by deploying a 10mm socket through the conveniently placed access hole, draining the small amount of fuel left in the bottom of the carb after it's been 'run dry', then tightening up the drain plug again. I believe that using additives on these engines has been proven a bad thing by those who work on them for a living; Steve 65?
As was pointed out before, there's a zealousness concerning engines in this range, and I'm as bad as anyone.
The fuel should always be fully drained from the carburettor at the end of every day that it's been used. This is simply by deploying a 10mm socket through the conveniently placed access hole, draining the small amount of fuel left in the bottom of the carb after it's been 'run dry', then tightening up the drain plug again. I believe that using additives on these engines has been proven a bad thing by those who work on them for a living; Steve 65?
As was pointed out before, there's a zealousness concerning engines in this range, and I'm as bad as anyone.
xyachtdave
Well-Known Member
Sorry hadn’t noticed that!
First Suzuki dropped a valve, dealer wanted £250 to fix it even though it allegedly had a 7 year warranty. At the time they were about £500 new.
ashtead
Well-Known Member
Can you still buy 2 stroke in Tasmania then? I guess what you buy depends on usage and budget. We started life with a 3.3 mercury which had many advantages when it ran but carb was an issue and now have 6hp Yam 4 stroke plus outboard crane on stern which is more reliable and much smoother (none of this turning it round to reverse) but would also buy a separate fuel can with lead to the OB ideally . The mercury has a simple pin if you hit a rock with prop which doesn’t apply on 4 strokes .
snowbird30ds
Well-Known Member
Did it drop a valve or just a pushrod? I have one that I ran on avgas for a bit (don't ask) and next time it had no compression, exhaust valve had stuck open and pushrod dropped into sump when the cam lobe moved an easy fix with a magnetic probe to fish out pushrod but head needed off to clean deposits off valve stem.
xyachtdave
Well-Known Member
Gillingham Marina Chandlers said it had dropped a valve and claimed it wasn’t covered under warranty as apparently caused by ‘dirty fuel’.
I’m no engineer but that sounded like a load of BS to me.
Denngeor
New Member
Thanks for the suggestion but electric won’t work for me for several reasons.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I had a Garden Machinery Shop refuse a Warranty on a petrol strimmer that had failed about a month after purchase .... the spline had stripped and engine oversped .. stopped.
They claimed I was using a non approved 2T oil in the fuel .... so I asked them - how would that cause spline to strip - which led to engine overspeed ?? Second that the 2T oil was to the same spec as recc'd - and that being in the Oil game - I knew more about 2T oil than they did ...
Was like banging head against brick wall ....
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Baby Honda.
Noisy but..........
4 stroke. No 2 stroke oil to buy ,locate where you stored it and fill.
No impellor.
Neat little expection window to check oil level and condition.
No internal water cooling passages to corrode or fill up with salt.
No working out exactly when to turn off fuel to empty carb when approaching the shore.
Just ensure you lay it the right side up and no car boot reeking of petrol/two stroke mix.
Beware anything more powerful, the weight really will deter use.
Forget the Chinese junk as well , sometimes the paint stays on for whole weeks after purchase before flaking off.
Noisy but..........
4 stroke. No 2 stroke oil to buy ,locate where you stored it and fill.
No impellor.
Neat little expection window to check oil level and condition.
No internal water cooling passages to corrode or fill up with salt.
No working out exactly when to turn off fuel to empty carb when approaching the shore.
Just ensure you lay it the right side up and no car boot reeking of petrol/two stroke mix.
Beware anything more powerful, the weight really will deter use.
Forget the Chinese junk as well , sometimes the paint stays on for whole weeks after purchase before flaking off.
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Sailing steve
Well-Known Member
Another vote for the Honda.
Nobody's yet mentioned the joy of warming your hands alternately on the vented hot air from the 2.3 ob on a long tender ride in the freezing cold.
