Tohatsu v yamaha 8hp decision

[Loggo]

Does anyone have any experience of both these outboards ? I quite like the one that sounds like a vegan meat substitute ( ok it's the price that swayed me ) but my wife really fancies the tiller mounted gear lever of the Yamaha

Buying new by the way.

Any thoughts anyone ?

 

[snowbird30ds]

I thought tohatsu/yamaha/mariner were fairly closely related so quality wise all should be good, my tohatsu 4hp looks very similar to my old 70's yamaha 8hp, I'm talking two stroke of course.

 

[IDAMAY]

I have had the Mercury 9.9hp which I believe is actually the Tohatsu engine with a different badge. This gave a lot of trouble as had my previous 8hp from the same stable. have recently changed to Yamaha on the advice of several professional engineers on the grounds that it is as reliable as anything on the market. Too soon to say if my experience matches expectations but I hope the additional cost will be money well spent.

 

[tetleys]

I bought a Yammie 9.9 last year, fantastic bit of kit .
Barnet Marine had the best price

Cheers
tetleys

 

[TQA]

Not much to choose between them in terms of reliability although in my neck of the woods people prefer 2 strokes.

I have had a 2st 8hp Yam for several years and it was utterly reliable.

Currently I am running a Tohatsu 18 hp 2 st. [ Well it is actually a Nissan but just a different badge.] Starts second pull every time when cold and first pull after that. More Tohatsus in use in the Eastern Caribbean cruisers than Yams. This may be because the 2 big chandlers sell Tohatsu/Nissan.

 

[Promarine11]

Yes Lawrence at Barnet Marine for Yamaha and Ricky Holland Ski Marine for the Tohatsu. Yamaha would be my choice.

 

[Phildorset]

I'm another Yamaha outboard fan, great & reliable small engines.

 

[Somerset Jim]

I have both the Yamaha 8hp and Tohatsu 9.8hp 2st engines and my preference is the 9.8 simply because the power to weight ratio is better than the 8 and they are both a similar size and weight. I use snap Davits and have to lift the engine in and out of the lazerette each time we use the tender so the weight saving of the 2st works best for us.

 

[Loggo]

Thanks for all the replies guys - Yamaha seems to get the vote so I have ordered one this afternoon.

I'll update in a month or so when I have got to grips with it.

Thanks again

 

[rafiki_]

Thanks for all the replies guys - Yamaha seems to get the vote so I have ordered one this afternoon.

I'll update in a month or so when I have got to grips with it.

Thanks again

Good luck with this. I'm also a Yammy fan, although mine is a little 6hp version.

 

[C08]

I helped a friend repair his 9.9 4T Yamaha and was not at all impressed. The studs joining the gear housing to the leg had rusted so badly that they had burst the 4 corners of the leg so that a new bottom leg section was required as well as the difficult job of getting it all apart. I have had 3 Tohatsu 2&4T engines and all have been excellent. The only repair I have needed over 20 years being a new fuel switch on a 3.5HP and a new Power Tilt switch on a 20HP.

 

[Bigplumbs]

I loved my old Yam 3.5 hp Malta until I spent most of yesterday trying to fix it. Fuel leak at the float bowl junction I think. Have ordered the seal so lets hope this fixes it

Dennis