Outboard Boat Motors

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Chuckie

Chuckie

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What is the best outboard boat motor that you have owned, and why? I am wanting to buy a boat, and I am hearing a lot of strange things about what to buy and what not to buy. Some people say that just because a motor works up North, it doesn't mean that it does well down here in the South.
If someone could make sense out of that statement, I would like to learn why. I don't think they are referring to a motor that has made it's way from New York to Tennessee. But that the motors don't respond the same in different locations. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I found a really nice 50 HP Mercury that ran well. Went back to get it two days later and it was gone. It hurt my feelings, but I am recovering.
 
Yamaha 140hp without doubt the best I have owned, oil injected 2 stroke. Start up at boat ramp beside other boats and I wouldn't know it was running very smooth and reliable and economical. 2 stroke outboards can do incredible number of hours they are all very well engineered but they operate in a hostile environment especially salt water and ingest a lot of water mist so if used regularly all parts are regularly lubricated. I think the biggest lemons are those with few hours on them that have been allowed to sit and not used regularly. The water pump impellors in these harden up as well. In the days I was boating Mercury was my least favourite as I don't feel they coped with the salt environment as well but that was in the 1980's /90's . I think all the major brands are very good and now most have switched to 4 stroke if one grand develops new technology the others are quick to follow suit.

Suzanne, you are looking to use in fresh water so I would stick with one that has spent its life there as well. Make sure the sacrificial anode still has plenty of meat on it, a bit of pitting is OK means it is doing its job, it is usually in the form of the trim tab just under the anti cavitation plate.

Ken
 
A 6hp Evinrude, because my grandpa bought it for me 51 years ago last July. And reason number two is, it'll start on the first or second pull even after all these years, guaranteed.
 
Ken, There isn't much salt water around these parts. I will just have to ask and make sure that it isn't a boat from Florida or along the east coast.

I purchased a compression gauge to test the motors; and I am going to make sure that we can put it in a body of water to see how she goes.

I am going to have to look up the sacrificial anode and the anticaviation plate under the trim tab. I know what the trim is, but I still have a lot to learn.

I bet that 140 HP Yamaha was bad to the bone. One of the duck hunting guides said that it was the only kind of engine that he would buy. I can't say that there are that many for sale here. I see a lot of Mercury's. The one I missed was a 3 cylinder and it ran so nice.
 
Ran Evinrude for years in salt water son is running a Suzuki I have been impressed so far. Suzuki and Yamaha have taken over the bays over the last few years.
I run a 4 stroke Mercury and have been pleased I don't run it in salt water like I used too if I did I would have a four stroke Suzuki.
Suzuki is chain drive versus belt on the Mercury
 
My uncle has a 4 stroke Yamaha, 50hp I believe. So smooth and quiet you can hardly hear it running.

Maintenance plays a bigger role than brand in my opinion. Any of the big brands that have been cared for should serve you well.

Evinrude and Johnson were the same motor for a long time. Not sure when, or if, they parted ways. They were always really good units.

My dad had a Mercury 35hp for a long time. It was a little shaky at idle, but always ran great, and pushed a 16' Lund fast enough to ski with.

Motors of age, especially those that have been sitting, will usually need the rubber water pump impeller replaced. On some you just need to drop the lower, others require complete disassembly.

As for the regional thing, I don't see any reasoning behind it. I could see a motor from Texas being used a lot more frequently than one from Minnesota, making it a little less susceptible to failures that stem from sitting.
 
I've got a Yamaha 90 4 stroke. It's been a dandy. Cold starts in the winter no problem. When the boat is froze to the trailer, just back it in and fire it up, sit in the truck til the water thaws the boat loose.
 
I don't know if you have the same situation there but over here some big dams for cities don't allow 2 stroke engines on them so you need 4 stroke.

Ken
 
Only boat I ever owned was a Skeeter with a 150 Mariner on it. Never had a minutes problem and was very fast on that boat.
 
I am wanting it for Crappie and Bream fishing on local lakes. The new ones are as expensive as buying a new car, so I am trying to find a used one. I know there are some good ones out there, but trying to find the right one. Just a good reliable motor to get me out on the water and get me back to the shore. Will mostly be on waters off the Tennessee river on Kentucky Lake. I am not sure if I would put my own boat on Reelfoot or not, as there are so many underlying stumps to get hung up on and busting up a prop would not be good. A 50 HP would be as big as I need to go, but if someone had a 70 and it was a good motor and boat, then I would take a look at it. It is just such a long slow process as everyone is still in the middle of duck hunting, and I hope that there will be more come up for sale after January 29th.
 
I have been in the boat business for over 30 years, I own a marina here in Alabama. The new four strokes are all good if properly maintained, the folks that maintain em right get good service out of all of em. If I were buying a new motor it would be a Yamaha without a doubt. If I were to have to make a living by only repairing late model, four stroke Yamaha's, I wouldn't have enough work to stay in business. Case closed, class is over.
 
Ol' 243":3i4n9jxf said:
I have been in the boat business for over 30 years, I own a marina here in Alabama. The new four strokes are all good if properly maintained, the folks that maintain em right get good service out of all of em. If I were buying a new motor it would be a Yamaha without a doubt. If I were to have to make a living by only repairing late model, four stroke Yamaha's, I wouldn't have enough work to stay in business. Case closed, class is over.
Click to expand...
Sure don't see many up this way in the fresh water lakes on bass boats. Mostly Mercury, Evinrude and Mariner with some Johnsons, Suzuki's and Yamaha's occasionally.
 

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