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small outboard motors

wesley

Jul 10, 12 6:23

Post #1 of 14 (1094 views)

small outboard motors	Quote \| Reply

At my wife's urging, I'm trying to learn about small outboard motors so that we have a back-up for our sailboat when the wind dies (besides our trusty canoe paddles). The boat is a 19' daysailer, about 900 lb w/o people. Small size/weight are virtues, for convenience in storing it when not in use (most of the time), and mounting it when needed. I don't believe we need much power; I'm not looking to go fast, simply to go. Boat & crew will be rather heavy, but sailboats are designed to move through the water with relatively little drag.

Many companies sell 2.5 hp outboards with small internal gas tanks that seem like they might do this job (Yamaha, Mercury, Suzuki, etc). Does this sound like a plausible match? Any wisdom out there as to whether any company is better than the others? Honda makes a smaller 2 hp air-cooled motor that's a bit lighter than these others... is this getting too dinky for my needs?

At the more exotic end, the battery-powered electric outboards by Torqeedo are another option. These look to be more compact, and involve fewer hassles (no gasoline or oil; can be stored in any position, etc). But, there's a ~ 2x price premium relative to gasoline outboards. Any experience or opinions out there about this product? (Not interested in a new Chevy Volt thread...)

Thanks,

Wes B

Duffy

Jul 10, 12 6:47

Post #2 of 14 (1084 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I wouldn't want an internal tank. That means you are buying fuel at the dock $$ (although with a little, rarely used 2.5 HP it wouldn't be much money to run).

Whatever you decide make sure it's name brand (Japanese). THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is to get the brand that can be serviced by someone close!!!! This cannot be stressed enough.

I wouldn't get an exotic electric that has to be sent away to the 5th ring of hell for service.

Don't know how much power you need. The motor companies will tell you.

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Thom

Jul 10, 12 7:17

Post #3 of 14 (1072 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

The internal tank is convenient but has limited range. I had one and ended up adding an external tank. It's going to depend on how far you get away from home base. The size is also going to depend a lot on where you sail. I would think 2.5 hp would move the boat at hull speed just fine in calm conditions. I had 4 hp on a 16 ft daysailer and it was plenty but there were some days when I was trying to get home in some serious Lake Michigan chop and it would have been nice to have a little more.

timmar

Jul 10, 12 7:36

Post #4 of 14 (1056 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Whatever motor you decide on, you want the "high thrust" version. This is usually just a different prop designed for higher weights and lower speeds - just what you will be doing.

donato1

Jul 11, 12 7:13

Post #5 of 14 (979 views)

Re: small outboard motors [timmar] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

There ara also plenty of electric trolling motors out there that have a ton of thrust. Just need a battery for it. Check out any of Minn Kota's.

theaud

Jul 11, 12 18:49

Post #6 of 14 (938 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I've spent a bunch of time on J80s and we used a 3.5hp outboard and got along just fine. Not sure the exact weight of the j80, but must be around 2500+ lbs, so the 2.5 hp I'd guess would work out ok.

You may want to ask over on Sailing Anarchy - you'll get a good answer, but may have to suffer through a bunch of meaningless posts first. Sort of like slowtwitch for sailing.

trail

Jul 11, 12 19:28

Post #7 of 14 (933 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Are you in 2-stroke legal water?

wesley

Jul 11, 12 19:38

Post #8 of 14 (931 views)

Re: small outboard motors [Thom] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Funny you mention Lake Michigan, since that's where I'm at. Under what conditions would you be using the outboard where there's a lot of chop? I've been thinking of this mainly for quiet days where the wind dies... normally, if there are lots of waves, there's plenty of wind to just sail the thing. (Although, I guess having the wind die and still having to cope with waves is an unpleasant possibility.) In any case, if you've felt underpowered with 4 hp on a 16' daysailer, perhaps I need to be thinking about a bit more juice.

Thanks.

Wes B

wesley

Jul 11, 12 19:42

Post #9 of 14 (928 views)

Re: small outboard motors [trail] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

See above post... Lake Michigan. But, I'm not familiar with relevant regulations. As I've been looking into outboards, I've only seen 4-stroke. Can you even buy 2-stroke anymore, or would they only be available on a used market? My interpretation of the (apparent) demise of the 2-stroke outboard is that it's being regulated out of existence. (Actually, I'm pretty uninformed about the relative merits of 2- vs 4-stroke.)

Wes B

Thom

Jul 11, 12 19:49

Post #10 of 14 (926 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Yeah, when the wind dies the chop can stay around for a while. There were also days I was just trying to get home and didn't want to beat into a headwind for a couple of hours. Really I'm talking about a couple of times where it was an issue. 2.5 HP would probably be fine for almost all conditions.

trail

Jul 11, 12 19:56

Post #11 of 14 (924 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Yeah, you basically can't buy 2-stroke new anymore. But a used 2-stroke - if you're in 2-stroke legal water - is the lightest, cheapest way to go.

If buying new, go ~4HP with internal tank. It's just drop-dead simple. You don't have to worry about vacuum lock, pumping with the little hand pump to get gas in the line, proper seals, hose leaks, managing a hose run to a fuel storage area. Just pull the cord and go.

I've had excellent results with Evinrude and Yamaha. One bad result with a Tohatsu. Not a sailor, but as a rowing coach I maintained a fleet of 5 launches with outboard motors.

rick_pcfl

Jul 11, 12 21:06

Post #12 of 14 (903 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

There is not a significant weight difference between a 2.5 and 4 hp motor. But, it could make the difference between getting home in 1 hour or 2.

Since you may not be using the motor often enough to burn through a tank of gas, be sure to use non-ethanol fuel only and add fuel stabilizer to every tank. With ethanol fuel, you will have carb problems if the fuel sits up too long.

As for brands, I've had good luck with all the major brands - Johnson, Evinrude, Mercury, Yamaha and Honda. Tohatsu/Nissan and Suzuki are okay too.

I guess an internal fuel tank wouldn't be an issue as long as you carried a gas can/tank to fill it from. That would allow you to keep the fuel fresher.

Oh, if you go weeks without using it - be sure to run the fuel out of the carb once you get back to the dock.
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KZ

Oct 22, 12 8:47

Post #13 of 14 (465 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

A few months late, but in case anyone else randomly finds their way here as I did, I happen to have exactly the answer to your question.

It's been two summers of use on our 2011 Suzuki 2.5 hp four stroke outboard, and we've been very happy with it. I bought it after reading many reviews and tests, the most influential factors being that it runs very clean, has a real neutral gear, weighs 30 lbs, and it produced the most actual pounds of thrust in the water, measured by some magazine. We use it on our 18.5 foot wooden sailboat, which weighs around 850 lbs empty, about 1300 pounds all loaded up for a long day on Puget Sound. On calm smooth water, it will easily push the boat to hull speed of about 4.5 knots GPS at a throttle setting I can fairly describe as "fast idle". This setting is quiet and smooth, and the internal 1 quart tank lasts well over 2 hours. I carry spare fuel in a clean motor oil quart jug.

Full throttle is noisy and the vibration goes up, but it pushes the boat a legit 6 knots on flat water. I've never felt underpowered. It'll maintain 4+ knots into 20mph wind and 2 foot seas. I think a 4 horse would just weigh more and burn more gas. It's still a single cylinder, so it won't be any quieter or smoother.

Paddywhack

Oct 22, 12 10:06

Post #14 of 14 (441 views)

Re: small outboard motors [wesley] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Get a Seagull.

http://www.britishseagull.co.uk/

mine is 40 years old and starts first pull every time.