Old 2 stroke vs new outboards (2&4) stroke

[cheetahgod]

How reliable are new outboards and how long do they last compared to the vintage 2 strokes ?
I saw the Evinrude g2 have a 10 year warranty

[billw]

Hard to say, especially with little ones. The little Tohatsu based ones have not impressed me much with corrosion resistance. However, we’ve got some Merc Verados and Yamaha V6 four strokes with over 1000 hours on them, in salt water. I know other places have much more.

Long live American manufacturing!

[frankr]

Buy a pair of G2’s and for another $5999.00 you can get the idock joystick system that docks your boat for you.

https://www.evinrude.com/en-US/idock.html

[fleetwin]

Well, vintage two strokes certainly have simplicity on their side, and simplicity usually goes hand and hand with reliability.
That being said, I don’t think you can buy a new outboard (two or four stroke), that does not have a complex electrical system. Complex electrical systems and salt water surely do not mix well.
Needless to say, I am a two stroke guy. But, to be fair, I am sure there are four strokes out there that are reliable also.

[drifter]

I have to say that several times I’ve gone to the lake to test a mid fifties OMC and watched as a guy pulled and pulled on a new Mercury.
3 pulls and I’m gone. They are still pulling.

[outbdnut2]

People I know that have newer 4-strokes have had little or no trouble with them. I bought a 25 Yamaha new for my pontoon in 2004 (The wife wanted really quiet motor) and in all those years all I’ve changed is oil and the starter solenoid (relay). I see two downsides to the 4-strokes: one is weight – they generally weigh a lot more than the 2-stroke of same HP. If you have a boat that is already heavy to the rear, you may be adding unacceptable weight. The other downside is low end torque is lacking. You need more HP to get a skier or multiple skiers out of the water. I used to routinely pull three teenage skiers out of the water with a 1960 40 HP Johnson. I doubt there is a 40HP 4-stroke that can do that. This also means more HP to plane bigger boats, or plane them faster. Serious Bass fishing tournament guys call it the "Hole Shot" timing to get up on plane fast to get to the next fishing spot faster, so they stick to 2-strokes.
Dave

[billw]

I dunno….The Verados with the super chargers have a pretty darn good hole shot…..But we drift off topic…!

Long live American manufacturing!

[Tubs]

About 3 years ago Dick got rid of this 9.9
for a new brand new Mercury 9.9 four stroke.
He was really missing his Johnson putting
that heavy four stroke on to the boat last year.
He was really missing his Johnson after spending
2 days pulling on his new motor without getting
it to start. He was really missing his Johnson
getting the Merc off the boat and up to the
camp so he could put it in his car to take it
in to have it fixed. I don’t remember how long
long it took to get it back but I remember it was
over the 4th holiday. He was without a motor for
at least 7 days. I remember when he put coils in
the Johnson and an impeller. He also replaced
the throttle gear in the tiller. He always repaired
it the boat house and it wouldn’t need to be down
more than a day. I swear he went to town for gas
every other day when his boy was growing up. He
really misses his old Johnson when he gets teased
about if his Mercury is going to start today.

A "Boat House Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

[twostroke]

Amen, Tubs! "Live in the past…it’s cheaper". My mentor/advisor in college had a sign on his office door that said that. Yeah, the new 4-strokes are quiet & smooth and idiot-proof (but expensive)…. My poor old pontoon boat that my wife and I use on almost a daily basis when the water isn’t ‘hard’ has a 30 yr old OMC twin that just plain runs. I bought it 20 years ago when it was 10 years old. Feed it a water pump impeller every few years ‘just because’…. It really, really likes gasoline. Ok. I think I paid $500 for it back when I had hair and it runs as nice now as it did then. I can’t get past the fact that I have a whole garage full of operating fishing motors for pennies on the dollar, in addition to some really old stuff…..and they’re darned near indestructible. I can fix ’em all with normal tools, an extensive vocabulary, and parts that are relatively easy to find (for the most part). The local party store sells beer, two stroke oil , and rec-gas. Buy lots of all of the above and life is good, cheap, and paid for.

Thanks, Tubs!

Jim

I say "pardon me" a lot. I had a 20H, then raced open mod sleds.

[chinewalker]

In my experience, most "reliability" issues are less about the motor, and more about the operator, and the care and maintenance used on the motor in question. They neglect to change plugs, use fresh gas, or simply don’t have a proper starting procedure down. Many more times than I can count, I’ve started motors for people after they’d been pulling… And pulling… And pulling. I sit down, prime bulb, check for gas on the water (flooded) and go forward accordingly. Barring a major issue, I usually have the motor running after a few pulls, and the owner is left scratching their head.

[Author]

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