Trolling outboards

[beaverheart]

For the last seven years I have had a 8hp Honda trolling motor on my 20ft. Riverrunner Hewes jet boat. This motor has been nothing but trouble. From the day it was new it has been terribly unreliable. It started out fouling plugs on a regular basis. The thermostat has been changed to the hottest available and I run the hottest plug I can. Also, an adjustable jet has been installed in the carb. This motor has been in the shop many times. I can't remember how many times I have had to go home after going fishing because the motor won't run (the last three times). Every mechanic thinks he can fix it but it still won't run right. It runs fine in neutral at the shop but when it is under a load it stalls out. I would like to buy a new motor with electric start and remote steering and for sure it won't be a Honda. I have heard that Yamaha and Mercury make a great motors but I don't know about trolling with them. It would make sense that a fuel injected motor would work better but I think all small motors still have carbs. Does anyone have some stories of success with their outboards that are used exclusively for trolling.

[cmb1998]

For the last seven years I have had a 8hp Honda trolling motor on my 20ft. Riverrunner Hewes jet boat. This motor has been nothing but trouble. From the day it was new it has been terribly unreliable. It started out fouling plugs on a regular basis. The thermostat has been changed to the hottest available and I run the hottest plug I can. Also, an adjustable jet has been installed in the carb. This motor has been in the shop many times. I can't remember how many times I have had to go home after going fishing because the motor won't run (the last three times). Every mechanic thinks he can fix it but it still won't run right. It runs fine in neutral at the shop but when it is under a load it stalls out. I would like to buy a new motor with electric start and remote steering and for sure it won't be a Honda. I have heard that Yamaha and Mercury make a great motors but I don't know about trolling with them. It would make sense that a fuel injected motor would work better but I think all small motors still have carbs. Does anyone have some stories of success with their outboards that are used exclusively for trolling.

I had the same problem with my merc two stroke. Bought it used, suposidly had "10 hrs" on it. Ran great at the person's house I bought it from in the test tank. Got it on the river and it would never idle in gear to troll. I had to use at least 1/4 throttle to keep it running. I screwed with it and screwed with. Had the carb rebuilt. Adjusted. Same Problem. last trip out the shifting got all messed up.

So i fixed it, I bought a new Suzuki. I found it here in the classifieds. Its about 2 months old. It's the 9.9 High Trust. Electic Start / Tilt. I got it moutned on the boat last friday night. Took it out on saturday morning. It was amazing!!! I pushed the litle green button and the motor started. It just ran and ran. Never died!!! I ran it for a few hrs just to make sure everything worked, and no problems. Sure is nice having a kicker you don't have to screw with.

My observations about the suzuki:

1) When you start it with the starter it sounds like the starter works very hard to start the engine. A little different from the Merc. Guessing its normal.

2) It's much heavier. My merc 15hp was around 97lbs, the new one is around 121.

3) I don't think it actually runs on gas. Ran it for 3 hrs. Looked in the gas tank and I couldn't see a change in the gas level.

4) This has the shift lever and then a throttle on the tiller. I MUCH perfer this over my merc that had everything in the tiller (turn backwards for reverse) although it takes a little getting used to as everything is now backwards.

Just for reference. Singlers has the 08's on clearance. Manual Start 9.9HT was around 1500 (NEW) and the electric start / trim was around 1900. Guessing a 8hp would be a little less.

One other thing. In all my research, I did a lot of research. If I hadn't bought this one slightly used I would have gone with a Tohatsu. Much lighter, exact same internals as a Merc/Nissan. Good warranty. Commecement Bay Marina in Olympia was selling 8hp for around 1600 new.

Good luck.

Chris

[OB1]

I have a 96 Honda 8HP, other than being cold blooded, it runs forever.
I did have to idle it down a bit but it runs and runs.
If you bought brand new I'd talk to the dealer.
If you bought used and the carb got varished, then it may need a rebuild.

[Willie Ketchum]

Could be a vacuum leak too.

The Yamaha T8 is the king trolling motor, with electric start and tilt, but kinda spendy. Maybe you can find a dealer that has one on flooring he has to get rid of.

It's kinda scary though, that there is no ropestart backup.

[cmb1998]

Could be a vacuum leak too.

The Yamaha T8 is the king trolling motor, with electric start and tilt, but kinda spendy. Maybe you can find a dealer that has one on flooring he has to get rid of.

It's kinda scary though, that there is no ropestart backup.

Suzuk has both. Electric start and Pull Start.

-Chris

[12pulls]

I ran a mid-80's Evinrude for years. Other than being a pig to start, it never gave me any problems. In 2002 I bought a Honda 8hp for a kicker. It was a pig in every way. Hard starting, fouled plugs, puked oil on occasion when tipped up to run the main motor, mechanics did the same things as what you had done with the same results. I kicked it to the curb. I know of several other same era Honda's that suffered from the same issues. The earlier Honda's were much more reliable from what I have seen. I ended up picking up an old 1990 6hp Merc for cheap (2-stroke) several years ago for a temporary fix, man is it a good kicker. It is an easy starting motor and never quits, I just don't care much for the 2 stroke part. The Yami's and Suzuki's that my buddies have seem to be great motors without the problems I encountered.

[Road Rage]

four-stroke kickers are the way to go, if you can handle the extra weight. You'd be happy with any of the above recommended brands. Merc, Yamaha, Suzuki, all of which I have experience with. I've no experience with Tohatsu.

[beaverheart]

I have a 96 Honda 8HP, other than being cold blooded, it runs forever.
I did have to idle it down a bit but it runs and runs.
If you bought brand new I'd talk to the dealer.
If you bought used and the carb got varished, then it may need a rebuild.
Actually I bought the motor brand new. I just had the carb boiled out for the last trip by a guy that does mechanics for a living. The motor ran like a kitten in the guy's driveway and I couldn't wait to give him the $75. The motor worked under power for about three minutes trolling before it failed and wouldn't start.

[beaverheart]

I had the same problem with my merc two stroke. Bought it used, suposidly had "10 hrs" on it. Ran great at the person's house I bought it from in the test tank. Got it on the river and it would never idle in gear to troll. I had to use at least 1/4 throttle to keep it running. I screwed with it and screwed with. Had the carb rebuilt. Adjusted. Same Problem. last trip out the shifting got all messed up.

So i fixed it, I bought a new Suzuki. I found it here in the classifieds. Its about 2 months old. It's the 9.9 High Trust. Electic Start / Tilt. I got it moutned on the boat last friday night. Took it out on saturday morning. It was amazing!!! I pushed the litle green button and the motor started. It just ran and ran. Never died!!! I ran it for a few hrs just to make sure everything worked, and no problems. Sure is nice having a kicker you don't have to screw with.

My observations about the suzuki:

1) When you start it with the starter it sounds like the starter works very hard to start the engine. A little different from the Merc. Guessing its normal.

2) It's much heavier. My merc 15hp was around 97lbs, the new one is around 121.

3) I don't think it actually runs on gas. Ran it for 3 hrs. Looked in the gas tank and I couldn't see a change in the gas level.

4) This has the shift lever and then a throttle on the tiller. I MUCH perfer this over my merc that had everything in the tiller (turn backwards for reverse) although it takes a little getting used to as everything is now backwards.

Just for reference. Singlers has the 08's on clearance. Manual Start 9.9HT was around 1500 (NEW) and the electric start / trim was around 1900. Guessing a 8hp would be a little less.

One other thing. In all my research, I did a lot of research. If I hadn't bought this one slightly used I would have gone with a Tohatsu. Much lighter, exact same internals as a Merc/Nissan. Good warranty. Commecement Bay Marina in Olympia was selling 8hp for around 1600 new.

Good luck.

Chris
Thanks for all the info on the Suzuki. I am leaning towards an 8hp or 9.9. as long as the motor will troll nicely. At some point the motors are fuel injected. At one time I was thinking that the smallest FI motor might be the way to go. I think that weight will keep me with the smaller size motor in the end. The Honda is about 90 lbs. and it is heavy enough. All I really need is a long shaft 8hp that will troll without problems. I am pretty sure I would buy a new motor and it would be electric start. I really like the 4 stroke because it is so quiet and I want a quiet motor again. How about the remote steering feature. Are you familiar with any of them?

[OB1]

Actually I bought the motor brand new. I just had the carb boiled out for the last trip by a guy that does mechanics for a living. The motor ran like a kitten in the guy's driveway and I couldn't wait to give him the $75. The motor worked under power for about three minutes trolling before it failed and wouldn't start.


I would give the dealer major crap about this! You might try calling Honda and give them some guff.
Sorry to hear about this.

[RiverJohn]

Could be a vacuum leak too.

The Yamaha T8 is the king trolling motor, with electric start and tilt, but kinda spendy. Maybe you can find a dealer that has one on flooring he has to get rid of.

It's kinda scary though, that there is no ropestart backup.


Count me as another T8 vote.

Although I didnt have any trouble with my former Honda 8, it was a major bastage to start in the mornings.

T8 much smoother and very easy to start.

[Herring Impaired]

It's kinda scary though, that there is no ropestart backup.

My T8 has both electric start and rope start. In fact, it has a Backup rope start system as well. Wouldn't have bought it if it did not.... It's about a 2003-04 model and has run like a top.

[twisted lines]

Should be easy to sell that Honda most of the ones I have been around run like that. High Thrust Yamaha! Bought mine in 02, They do have a flywheal and rope start Only reason I Know is left somthing on for a week and it was dead in the water. My fault but that does bring up a point you need to remove a cover its 10MM and you need a socket didn't have one at the time!:passout: I would think about the Suzy but heard parts are hard to come buy, no Dealers in my area. The M Thing I won't go there, I would have to put my name here..... I have had the TR-1 Auto pilot for stearing the kicker for as long as I have had the Yamaha. Like them both very much, some don't.

[fishkisser]

The Yamaha T-8 is a fine motor and has a rope start backup ...
But you will probably never have to use it ... I have had no problems with mine ...

[MattPark]

The newer (not sure which year, 07 or 08) Suzuki 9.9s are super lean at idle to meet emissions requirements, which makes for a long and sometimes difficult warmup. Idle mixture is not adjustable without modifying the carb. Even with the electric start, it can take some careful manipulation of the throttle and choke to get them going, especially when it's really cold out.

Those shift in the throttle Mercs are junk. If anyone has issues with one, let me know, I've fixed about every damn part on mine.

[cmb1998]

The newer (not sure which year, 07 or 08) Suzuki 9.9s are super lean at idle to meet emissions requirements, which makes for a long and sometimes difficult warmup. Idle mixture is not adjustable without modifying the carb. Even with the electric start, it can take some careful manipulation of the throttle and choke to get them going, especially when it's really cold out.

Those shift in the throttle Mercs are junk. If anyone has issues with one, let me know, I've fixed about every damn part on mine.

My 08 Suzuki 9.9 seams to run fine when cold. Starts right up. Although you do have run with the choke on for a good 5 - 7 minutes... Trolls just fine though even with the choke on.

Later,

Chris

[MattPark]

That whole trolling fine with the choke on kinda suggests it may be a touch lean:) A 5-7 minute warm up seems a little unreasonable to me, imagine if your brand new vehicle needed 5-7 minutes to warm up before you could pull out of your driveway (or out of the way of an outbound freighter if your main calls it a day). I understand trying to make engines run clean, but c'mon. That said, I'd buy one over a T8 any day of the week, mainly because of price. It's an easy adjustment/fix.

I don't know if it's the 4 blade prop or what, but I do a lot of "hover" fishing over the A jetty/south jetty and the Suzuki seems to be able to control the boat a bit better than the Yamaha. I understand that unless it's an identical boat it's not fair to compare anything, but the Zuke is on the bigger, yet very similar boat.

They are both excellent motors.

[cmb1998]

That whole trolling fine with the choke on kinda suggests it may be a touch lean:) A 5-7 minute warm up seems a little unreasonable to me, imagine if your brand new vehicle needed 5-7 minutes to warm up before you could pull out of your driveway (or out of the way of an outbound freighter if your main calls it a day). I understand trying to make engines run clean, but c'mon. That said, I'd buy one over a T8 any day of the week, mainly because of price. It's an easy adjustment/fix.

I don't know if it's the 4 blade prop or what, but I do a lot of "hover" fishing over the A jetty/south jetty and the Suzuki seems to be able to control the boat a bit better than the Yamaha. I understand that unless it's an identical boat it's not fair to compare anything, but the Zuke is on the bigger, yet very similar boat.

They are both excellent motors.

I guess my point was just that it doesn't make any difference. Choke in or Choke out it runs great and trolls just fine.

Later,

Chris

[pwrline]

Ive been running a 9.9 yami (elec start has rope backup 01 model yr)since bought in 02 on used boat, it has run flawlessly with normal
maintenance ,would buy yamaha again ! :meme:

[Lurp]

Sorry to hear of your Honda problem
I had an 89 9.9 it ran flawlessly one pull to start
I now have a 99 8hp on the boat I bought new in 99
For some reasdon my fishing partner can't start it with 20 pulls yet I do the same things and 2 pulls max and it fires right up and runs perfect, go figure

[cmb1998]

I guess my point was just that it doesn't make any difference. Choke in or Choke out it runs great and trolls just fine.

Later,

Chris

Just wanted to follow this post up...

Put about 15 - 20 hrs on my new Suzuki kicker crabbing last week. Worked flawlessly. As far as the warm up, it's only a couple of minutes. Really impressed with the motor. Only used about 1.5 gallons of gas in all that time!

Later,

Chris

[tafish7]

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with your Honda kicker. If you put up with it for 7 years you have a lot more patience than I do. I'ed have taken it back after the first few problems and demanded a new motor.
I had problems with my Suzuki kicker and then bought an Evinrude kicker to replace that and they were both bad!!!!!. I then bought a Honda 8 hp kicker and have had great success with Honda since. I now have an 06 Honda 8 with Electric start and power trim and tilt. All it needs is an oil change and it's good to go. I fish 90 to 100 days a year and my kicker runs 95% of the time.
What ever brand you buy I hope you get a good one as you can see by the posts here that no matter what brand you buy you always take the chance of getting a lemon. We've all been there and there isn't anything worse than motor problems when your fishing. Good Luck!!

[Trout,myster]

I run an 8hp Honda that I bought at the Sportsman's Show in 2001. It was one of the last 2000 motors the dealer had. When I went to pick it up, the mechanic showed me a couple of tricks and I've never had a problem with it.

To start it, I pull the choke all the way out and then turn the throttle on as far as it will go with the motor in neutral. One or two pulls and it fires right up. Usually takes about 2 minutes or so before it will run smoothly without the choke. From that point, it will run forever.

The second trick is to get the right air/fuel mixture to it. I have to lean it out when I go up to say, Paulina Lake and then richen it back up down here in the valley. It was easy to do. When I need to set the carb, I usually take it to the lake or, if on a river, just do it at the dock. Once the motor is warm, put it in gear and set the carburetor with a load on the motor. Most motors will run even if lean until you try to put it in gear. Kind of like the old cars with hand chokes. Had to play with them and keep it running until warm.

Something you might want to have checked is the ignition timing. I had another boat a few years ago that had a Merc 90 horse on it and it was absolutely a nightmare to get started and keep running, especially at low speeds. I bought a Clymer manual for it and went over the timing instructions. When I used a dial gauge to check the TDC mark and subsequent timing mark, I found it was way off. Naturally, the dealer threw a timing light on and set the timing to the pointer. Once I got all the pointer set and retimed the engine, it was a dream.

I think the motors are like cars. Regardless of the make, you either get a good one or a bad one. For what it's worth, I noticed while in Alaska that Yamahas seem to dominate, at least on the river I was fishing.

[fish junky]

My vote would be for a Merc 9.9 Pro Kicker. I had a 2005 and put many many hour on it. Never had a problem and it was the smoothest running small motor I've ever seen. The lady that bought the boat and motors use's it 3 day a week and just loves it. I fished with her last week and it still runs just as smooth as the day it was bought.

I now have a 2007 T-8 and from the get go had carb problems and linkage problems. It's been to the shop. It still dosen't run as good as the Pro Kicker.

Go Merc, You won't be dissapointed.