Im looking for a 2hp outboard to be used on a small rubber tender and occaisonally a small pram dinghy. Any recommendations? Im based in Cornwall if anyone kmows a good place with reasonable prices.
I think you should go for one of the really light weight ones, that make it almost not a chore to cart them around. I bought a 2hp Evinrude, but it's not as lightweight as I hoped - 13.5kg. I believe you can get outboards which weigh as little as 7kg. This one is very quiet and reliable, so I suppose I'm quite pleased with it. All I can recommend is not to buy outboards in Salcombe, but I expect you could have guessed that.
I have a Johnson 2 stroke I`ve had it for about 6 years I got it with me first Sonata its reliable starts first time every time, all it needs to be fed is a bit of oil which isn`t too bad. Its fairly quiet and I send it for a service every year. Having just bought a RIB I put a Johnson outboard on that and its sweet as a nut.....
Just to be different, i bought a yamaha malta, only because its got twist grip throttle and forward and neutral, dont buy a honda, far to many bad reports about bits rusting, not starting, and just generally bad news
and have heard bad reports about their smaller engines especially the smallest 4 stroke. Avoid OMC, as no-one knows what's happening to the company. I have just bought a 4hp Yamaha, to act as auxiliary on my fishing boat, as well as to push a Tinker Tramp tender (very fast!) They have the most solid record of all manufacturers, their four strokes are lighter than Suzukis, and almost everyone keeps parts.
...as their standard tender outboard, a 2hp. Few other o/bs can be as badly treated or as heavily used as these, so I guess they measure up in terms of performance, reliability and spares. No fwd and reverse, tho.
They have had a lot of problems. My one has been replaced even after the upgrade was done and the bolts used for that were rusting by then (a few weeks).
Other users have told me they also had all the problems and were still not managing to get the upgrade done
