New motor

[james-davis]

I moved to Florida from Texas, need a small motor to run in salt water. I don’t want to ruin my old stuff, my newest is 71 4 hp Evinrude rest 40’s. what would you buy in new stuff, 4 to 10 hp for back bay fishing? Anything out there that’s some what good?

[PugetSoundBoater]

In my experience ,the OMC 1973-79 6 hp’s that I’ve had are good. Avoid the 1974-76 9.9 with the ignition points. The 9.5 hp 1973 and earlier are hard to work on . 1977 and later 9.9’s have CD ignition ,definatly a better ignition system. Been there.
I’m sure others will chime in. We all have our favorites.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[dan-in-tn]

Are we talking a new motor to you or a brand spanking new motor out of the box? If it is a brand new motor I dont have much to recommend. Just my opinion. The facts are Evinrude & Mercury are both selling Tohatsu brand motors in the small engine lineup below 15hp I believe. Lot of plastic & cheaply made. I don’t have anything against Tohatsu just not what I am use to in an outboard you can take out & use. Too many do dads that break off! Most are 4 strokes now which are just more complicated.
If we are talking a new motor for you to consider as already mentioned the 6hp is rock solid. If you can get away with less hp a Lightwin can’t be beat! Plenty of them out there (I have over a dozen) and you can’t kill them. I am sure Mercury fans have their favorites too, I just don’t know what they are. If you need the whole 10hp I guess a 9.8 is pretty darn good. As mentioned again any 9.9 OMC after 1977 is fine.

Dan in TN

[frankr]

I pretty much agree with what’s already been said. My favorite in the HP range specified would be the 1961-63 10hp—-if you can find one that doesn’t have a worn out lower unit from running with water in it. The 1974-76 9.9 motors left a bad taste in my mouth that probably will never go away. 1977-up certainly are better, but like I said, I have a hard time getting over the lemons from ’74-76. The 9.5 in later years with vibration dampers is a good motor, but very hard for the novice to work on, if it needs to come out of the shell. Besides, BRP seems determined to get rid of them by obsoleting all the parts.

Yep, the 6hp up through the ’70’s is a darn good motor. They messed with that one too, in later years. But I don’t have any experience with those.

[jerry-ahrens]

I haven’t looked much at new outboards in the ”fishing motor” range, but I think I would look at Honda. I have customers that have them, and they are dependable, fuel efficient motors. Lots of guys here in Mo. use them for kicker motors on the big Lund boats… I don’t think much of the Mercury [Tohatsu’s] as Dan has already pointed out. I hate to admit this, but Honda and Suzuki seem to be good reliable engines….. at least I see less trouble over time compared to others. The down side is the cost though! They are expensive. I think I’d find a nice low hour 9.9 or 6 hp OMC and go that route. Even if you have to put some money into it to make a good motor. That’s what I’ve always done.
Dan, how about the 4hp Deluxe OMC from the 90’s? I had one of those come through the shop this summer. It ran like a sewing machine! Nice little motor with full gear shift and a remote tank. It looked just like a 9.9 only it was a 4 hp.

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[james-davis]

Thanks for the information. I thought of brand new, but between price and plastic, I wasn’t impressed. I have a lightwin 4 that is my fishing motor, 71,my boat is rated for 20hp. I was looking close to 10hp, something a little quicker to get off the water when these thunder storms roll in. The Evinrudes sound good.

[outbdnut2]

If you are looking at new to run in saltwater, check with each manufacturer as to what, if any, saltwater corrosion resistant coatings are in the cooling system. I’m not near saltwater so I haven’t looked into this. If you go 4-stroke, check the weight before you buy – a lot of these are really heavy.

If you aren’t looking at totally new, I’ve found the Merc 9.9s from 1986 on and the Johnson/Evinrude 15s and 9.9s from the 1980s and early 1990s are great fishing motors. Note the Johnson 15 is the 9.9 with a bigger carb – easy to convert. I agree the 6 HP Johnson/Evinrudes from the 1960s, etc are great too!
Dave

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