Outboard weight.

Our biggest outboard is 23kg and I don’t find it too bad to manhandle. Tho it is definitely more of a struggle pulling the tender up (on a trolly) at low tide than with our little 10kg outboard.
 
There is more to it than just weight. I found my 4/s Suzuki 2.5 much easier to handle than my previous 2/s Suzuki 2.2 which was slightly lighter because it had a proper carrying handle on the body and a more rounded shape.
 
johnalison said:
There is more to it than just weight. I found my 4/s Suzuki 2.5 much easier to handle than my previous 2/s Suzuki 2.2 which was slightly lighter because it had a proper carrying handle on the body and a more rounded shape.
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Ok. Thanks for your reply.
How did you find the 2.5 HP 4 stroke compared to the 2.2 , was the 2.2, 2 stroke more powerful ?
 
My outboard is only 13kg, but my dinghy is an Avon Red crest with a round tail. To make life easier, I made a simple davit for lifting the outboard on and off. Oh, I wish I'd done this years ago, - what a difference. (A separate issue: why don't the makers design a lifting eye on their outboards?).
 
NormanS said:
(A separate issue: why don't the makers design a lifting eye on their outboards?).
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Th plastic / grp cover of most small outboards ar b strong enough to lift the engine

OR

the extra structure would cost too much

I fitted eye bolts to the forward handle and on to the aft lid catch to lift my outboard with 2 / 3-legged rope lifting rig and a handy Billy from my aft Taga
 
munster1967 said:
Is an 18kg/40 lbs outboard comfortable to lift on and off an inflatable sib regularly? To and from car boot etc.
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When I bought a boat with a four-stroke 5hp Mariner, I wasn't surprised to learn it was 27kg. It felt like a real sweat to carry from boat to car...

...I didn't have to do it often, but I dreaded it and it never got easier. Definitely a discouraging downside in the pursuit of small-boat fun...

...then I discovered it wasn't a four-stroke, it was the much lighter 20kg two stroke! Depressing, but true. Even at 20kg, it was really arduous to carry.

People will endure anything to keep using an engine rather than oars, so you will be told that 18 kilos isn't that difficult to handle. Don't believe it.

My Tohatsu 3.5hp two stroke weighs a shade over 13kg. That, I can live with.

Considering the equivalent four stroke Tohatsu 3.5hp is 18.4kg, I am obliged (despite good health and reasonable strength) to reject modernity.
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Mine is 26kg and it's a bit of a handful getting it on the dinghy single handed from the cockpit / bathing platform, but manageable. Would probably be fine with 2 people, and I'm sure it's much easier from a pontoon.

I would quite like a smaller one - 3HP or 5HP 2-stroke - but it's not urgent.
 
I was struck by how ably a 9kg two-stroke 2hp pushed my friend's XOD (1,300kg plus three crew) while towing another laden XOD.

This summer I looked at how I might get the best speed and fun out of my (currently boatless) 3.5hp two stroke. I concluded it wasn't likely to be very exciting, whatever I attach it to. But it remains a tough, efficient, handy little engine which can serve equally as an effective auxiliary aboard a small yacht, and as ample propulsion for her tender, while being transferrable between them without effort. That blend of lightness and power can't be beaten.

If you try to top it with more power for better speed, you take a huge hit in physical handiness. A mini-RIB with a 10hp four stroke looks like a slick little outfit if it lives on davits and assuming the engine rarely needs handling. But if any engine, even as lightweight (or as heavy) as 18kg needs frequent carrying or transfer, you've bought into a world of exertion which discourages getting the fun or ease you hoped it would provide. Less really is more.
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I regularly move outboards around and can manhandle up to about 60kg in short bursts. When it comes to the one I have to put on and off my dinghy regularly I went as light as I possible could and have stuck to using a 2 stroke 3.3 mercury which I think comes in at around 12kg. Personaly I would be happy to go up to about 25kg, as long as it wasn't every day, but it all depends on the individuals strength and fitness.
 
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