Small outboard advice - 2hp to 5hp - 2/4 stroke?

[samiam]

Seeking advice on the purchase of a small gas outboard kicker / troller for my 16' fiberglass driftboat. I was researching electric, i.e. Riptide 101, but I am afraid the battery weight and charging limitations when out in the boonies might kill that idea. I want a motor that can troll for a whole day straight, and still have juice to get upstream or fight the tidewater at the end. I don't think electric will do all that for days on end without recharging. Gas seems more convenient and powerful. Honda makes the air-cooled 2hp at 28#; Mercury makes a 2.5hp and a 3.5hp at 38# each. Nissan, Yamaha, Suzuki, others? I've heard the honda air-cooled can seem a bit noisy. Are any of these motors suitable for laying sideways in a truck bed when travelling? Will they leak fluids? will a 2hp honda get me upstream in the santiam? I've heard one HP roughly equates to 30 pounds thrust. :whazzup: Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[samiam]

More thoughts.... I've also seen a brand called Island Hopper, which kinda resembles a glorified weed whacker in their lower HP models, but they have a 3.5hp aluminum 2-stroke that weighs only 29#, water-cooled, and 360 degree steering F-N. does anyone have thoughts on this brand Island Hopper?

[bobber_boy]

I had a 2hp honda. let me tell ya...that thing was LOUD! but it was reliable and ok on the power side. I just wanted to be able to troll, and the clutch drive system isn't that great for that

[samiam]

Bobber Boy, I came across your post in another thread saying you might have a small motor like this for sale - still selling?
Thanks.

[Chrome Bumper]

How bout a 5 hp honda? You can lay them down, should be reasonable used.

[samiam]

At 60 pounds the Honda 5 hp is heavier than i want, but it's not unreasonable. I haven't seen many newer lightweight small hp outboards for sale at all. i'd say for weight purposes 5 hp has got to be the max. The mercury 4hp is 55# so not much less, and a loss of one hp. I've started to notice some outboards have alternators as options for powering accessories. Thanks.

[Nomad_Greg]

I haven't seen many newer lightweigh small hp outboards for sale at all. i'd say for weight purposes 5 hp has got to be the max.

I know the feeling, I have been looking for something around 5hp (short shaft) and have had a hard time finding one. Thought I found one the other day, but it was gone before I could call. Good luck with the search, mine continues.

[samiam]

Another related question is if there's a better time of year to buy new motors. i.e. boat shows? i've never been to one. I assumed end-of-season (Fall) might be good so I'm looking now.

[Chrome Bumper]

I have had good luck on cold, dark, wet winter days, when they haven't made a sale for a week. Look for one in the corner with dust on it. If there are no used ones for sale there must be a reason no one is selling.

[Blind Bobber]

My 3.5 Nissan is something like 37 pounds and extrememlyreliable. If my math is right 3.5 horse power is equal to 60 thrust pounds. O.K. now the down side of this motor. It is noisey at wide open and is a single cylinder so vibrates more than a twin. P.M. me is you want to work a trade for a larger older motor (7 horse max), I believe this motor is a SS as it measures 28 inches from tip of bottom below prop to transom top mount.
BLIND BOBBER

[samiam]

I would like to think the Honda 2 hp would be enough power in bays to crab and rivers to back upstream, but i dunno. How does the clutch hinder trolling? Thanks.

[samiam]

My 3.5 Nissan is something like 37 pounds and extrememlyreliable. If my math is right 3.5 horse power is equal to 60 thrust pounds. O.K. now the down side of this motor. It is noisey at wide open and is a single cylinder so vibrates more than a twin. P.M. me is you want to work a trade for a larger older motor (7 horse max), I believe this motor is a SS as it measures 28 inches from tip of bottom below prop to transom top mount.
BLIND BOBBER

You might want to double check that measurement. I think from top of transom mount to the fin just above the propeller is the right measuring distance. over 20" and it's a long shaft... ???

[samiam]

anyone have any thoughts about a used mercury 5 hp? pretty lightweight. 360 degree rotation. built in gas tank is nice for a drift boat since i'm short on space. I guess in past decade mercury made a 5hp in three different models, a "classic", a "portable", and a "4 stroke". 4 was heaviest, portable was lightest. Looks like you can also swap differnt props, i.e. high thrust, but maybe this is a feature of every motor.

[samiam]

This thread is borderline starting to stray to a classified ad instead of talking about makes and models and reviews of small outboards. Anyone have anything positive or negative to say about any specific small horsepower outboard? I think i've heard from just about everyone that any air-cooled engine is going to be too noisy. If anyone has a sales offer for me please just PM. Thanks.

[Chrome Bumper]

short shaft, 16" transom to cavitation plate, LS=20 Extra long 25, XXL=30", my hondas are 22.4", go figure

[samiam]

How bout a 5 hp honda? You can lay them down, should be reasonable used.

I had to disqual the honda's since the driftboat could really use the 360 degree steering feature, and honda seems to only offer that on their 2hp engine. Thanks.

[ondarvr]

I've used 1.5, 2, 3.3, 6, 8, 9.9, 15hp and electric motors on drift boats, they all work OK. Any of the single cylinder models are louder and vibrate more than two cylinder ones, but they still work. If you plan to troll all day the 2 cylinder ones can be much more comfortable to use, the noise and vibration of the singles can get to you by the end of the day. It's easier to control the boat in the wind and current with the larger higher thrust OBs and going up stream is not a problem with them. I like putting the smaller and lighter motors on and off the boat more, but as soon as you're on the water the extra HP and thrust of the larger ones is nice. With any of them the bow will come up as soon you start to go at any speed greater than an idle, so I just put the gas tank and other stuff up front to help balance it out. I see lots of small 2 cylinder older motors that have been used a great deal and still run great, I don't see that many of the older singles still running, it may be that they just aren't built to be run as much and wear out sooner.

PS
There won't be a big difference in speed with either low or high HP, a DB hull will only go so fast, but there is a big differnce in thrust and that's what helps you control the boat.

[Okie]

The problem with a small engine on a 16' drift boat is being able to steer the boat in a straight line. The drift boat has a flat bottom on it and it is very sensitive to very small turns of the engine. So no matter what engine you use this will be the main problem. "Steering a straight line."

Good Luck;

[samiam]

ondarvr and okie. thanks for the advice. the 2-cyl motors sound like the choice.

[lbarrett]

Sounds like you are ripe for a suzuki or Yamaha 6 hp 2 stroke. Both are in the 60 lb range, 2 cyl, very quiet and smooth, can lay them down any way you want, and 100:1 oil mixture so they don't smoke much. Check out iboats.com-they have some for sale there. I bought a motor from there a couple of years ago and they treated me well. I switched from a 2 stroke Yamaha 6 to a 4 stroke yamaha 8 on my jet boat just because I got the four stroke fever and I also wanted to get away from having two separate fuel tanks. I'm not sure that I gained much with the four stroke-LTB

[samiam]

good point on fuel mix and smoking. i figure i have enough info now to sort thru all the makes and models and see if anything even exists with a 2cyl, 2 stroke (lighter weight and higher hp), 360 steering, f/n and maybe reverse, long shaft, over 2 hp. and integrated gas tank. oh and high fuel mix ratio. gee, should be easy.

[Tinman]

I've owned a 2 hp Suzuki (1990 vintage) and a 3.5 hp Tohatsu (same as Nissan), 1999 vintage. I much preferred the Tohatsu. I got the version with a Forward-Neutral shift, which was very much worth it.

The Tohatsu was tough and reliable, but being a single cylinder, it does vibrate a lot. The integral tank only lasted for an hour or two of running. And it is a pain to replace shear pins when the prop hits something.

[samiam]

Anyone used a British Seagull motor?

[bobber_boy]

One of my friends has a british seagull motor and I've heard it run before. The motor only spins at like 1400 RPM so it isn't very fast, but they have tons and tons of torque. Very interesting motor actually! The first thing my friend said about his was that it would probably run on melted butter or cooking oil

[samiam]

One of my friends has a british seagull motor and I've heard it run before. The motor only spins at like 1400 RPM so it isn't very fast, but they have tons and tons of torque. Very interesting motor actually! The first thing my friend said about his was that it would probably run on melted butter or cooking oil

i did a bit of research. your friend's comment was truer than ya might think. at least as it pertains to the sheer amount of oil in the gas/oil mix. it's like 10:1 !!!! i think i'll have to pass on the seagull for the driftboat. the greenies would come out and protest my oil slick.