Outboard reviews....

[tdyson]

I am looking to buy a new 2-3.5 hp outboard for my tender and am struggling to make a decision. I have trawled the net for any reviews for small outboards but have so far drawn a blank /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif... any advice would be greatly appreciated...

 

[graham]

i have been sailing lately with a friend who has a new tohatsu 3.5. very impressed with it .Its lightweight starts easy and surprisingly powerfull. We have been using it as an auxillary motor on a 25 foot yacht.It has forward and neutral and the motor can be rotated to go astern.

 

[tdyson]

Thanks... the Tohatsu was one of the favourites actually... between that and the Yamaha 2hp four stroke.. thats the other thing... 2 stroke or 4 stroke???

 

[graham]

for a motor for a tender which gets carried around a lot slung in and out of car boots etc I would go with a 2 stroke. They are smaller and lighter and more tolerant of abuse.Usually 2 strokes are louder but the Tohatsu isnt too bad in this respect.

 

[whisper]

July edition of Sailing Today has a comparative test on 4-5hp motors, if that's any help.
I'm sure that MBM or Sailing Today have done a similar test on the 2.3-3.5hp range in the last couple of years.
I'd also go for a 2stroke if only for the reason of storage.
Similarly I'd go for one that has a Neutral gear as well as Forward.

 

[Talbot]

another vote for the tohatsu 3.5. far more grunt than the 2/2.5 (more CC). very light - even swmbo can lift it. Mine gets bounced all over the place, thrown around and then clamped onto dinghy and away it goes.

 

[RMA]

Has anyone tried the new Suzuki 2.5 4 stroke? It seems to be significantly lighter than the equivalent Honda.

 

[Stemar]

And another vote for the Tohatsu.

Tohatsu make engines. Some of the other makes around including Mariner and Johnson, from memory, badge engineer Tohatsus. This being an expensive process, they also price engineer them.

Also from memory, the 3.5 is mechanically the same as the 2/2.5, so has the same weight and fuel consumption until you use the extra umph. The 4HP is a different beast altogether and twice the weight.

Two strokes are simpler and, as a result are generally lighter and have less to go wrong. They also don't have a sump full of oil to leak into places you don't want it. They are also usually cheaper. The downsides are noise - though IMHO, aircooled 4 strokes are just as bad, the need to add oil to the fuel and extra thirst.

At cruising speed pushing my dinghy a tankful lasts me well over an hour. Flat out, I can empty it in 20 minutes, but I never use flat out in the dinghy.

 

[Talbot]

some tech detail:

Tohatsu 2.5 / 75cc / 12.5 kg / 2 stroke
Tohatsu 3.5 / 75cc / 13 kg / 2 stroke
Honda 2.3 / nk / 12.7 kg (dry) / 4 stroke
Yamaha 2.5 / nk / 17 kg / 4 stroke.

However sometime this year there will be new 4 strokes from Tohatsu:

Tohatsu 2.5 or 3.5 / 85 cc/ 18.4 Kg / 4 stroke.

 

[shanwick]

Also have a 3.5hp 2 stroke Tohatsu. Plenty of power and not too heavy.

Generally fine and only sips fuel. When you order the engine, also order a spare fuel cock as I've broken 2 in 2 years.

They're £28.50 in the UK but only 15 EUR in France.

 

[Topcat47]

The only difference between the power heads of the 2.5 & 3.3 Tohatsu is the bore of the carb. The 3.3 has the gearbox/clutch which makes it a little heavier.

 

[dulcibella]

The Yamaha 2 two-stroke scored top marks in a survey of small outboards a few years back. I'm certainly very happy with mine, which pushes a Tinker Tramp around very nicely. Very simple - no reverse or neutral - just spin the motor 180 for reverse - very light and easily put on board from the dinghy with one hand.

 

[Skyva_2]

There is a review of 4 strokes in this month's PBO. Recommends a Suzuki 2.5. If you want a 2 stroke better move quickly....

For comparison the Tohatsu 3.5 2 stroke comes out very well.

 

[pappaecho]

PBO review this month makes the point that 4 strokes are heavier, more likely to leak oil from the sump when chucked in the boot of a car, produce less power, and have a heavier "pull" when starting as they have much higher compression.
EU is banning 2 stroke from the end of the year because of "pollution" Given that the average tender outboard probably uses about 2 gallons of 2 stroke mix a year, this is a bit far fetched. 2 stroke grass cutters, strimmers and similar(professional) are exempt, and which may use 20 times the amount of fuel in a season as the average 2 stroke outboard.
The moral is this is that the boating fraternity did not make enough fuss when the ban was proposed.
If I was you buy now, and avoid the 2 stroke Suzuki, as it is very temperamental with fuel which is more than a few weeks old, resulting in clogging of the carburettor.
P.S. Fuel injected 2 strokes are allowed as they do not "pollute" Anybody heard of a 2 stroke fuel injected outboard?

 

[Tisme]

[ QUOTE ]
Anybody heard of a 2 stroke fuel injected outboard?


[/ QUOTE ]
Some of the big outboards are. Little'uns, No.