Home Forums Fishing Freshwater 2 or 4 stroke opinions

ok in my search for A new boat i am lookin for a motor to put on it.
i have a 40 hp yamaha 4 stroke on my duck boat pull start
love it except for the pull start
called some of the local dealers to get pricing on new 40 hp 4 strokes and one dealer starts talking about the etec 2 stroke motors
says they are very fuel efficient, emmissions is great noise and vibration like a 4 stroke
give me ur thoughts on this verses a 4 stroke yamaha
i can buy the etec 50hp for the same money as a yamaha 40 hp 4 stroke
thanks

A friend with a fishing lodge dumped his only etec because of computer problems that plagued him. I think you have the better motor.

I have a 4-Stroke, 60hp, Mercury and it's been a good motor for me. I run my boat about as much as any 10 combined other fellas and she's done me right.

Pros of a 4-Stroke

No oil to mix or oil reserve to mess with
Easy maintenance
Starts when cold as a well diggers butt
Can run at extended periods at idle speed

I'm a 2 stroke fan because they're simpler, more powerful per lb., easier and cheaper to rebuild, smaller, don't require oil filters or oil changes (for the crankcase), and they respond quicker.

One thing to be careful of with all outboards, especially 2 strokes, in the high ethanol gas... Gums up a engine like nothing else...

It's no friend to four-stroke outboards or inboards either. It's pure crap with an untreated life limit of about 30-45 days. Phase separation has become a HUGE problem with ethanol blended fuel in the marine environment. Aluminum fuel cells are corroding from the inside out, bladder-lined cells are softening, and water-in-fuel incidents have skyrocketed. Startron in the fuel is a necessity. All of my older two-strokes required fuel pump and carb rebuilds with ethanol-compatible seals, and I had to change the lines on the old tanks as they were butyl and deteriorated from the inside out from the ethanol.

Why not just stay with the Yamaha motor and get an electric starter installed?

You could even go cheaper and make a hillbilly starter for your boat.
Just cut a hole in the cover of your motor above the center of your recoil assembly. Right in the center you should see a hex bolt that holds the recoil assembly together (this should be metric probably a 20 to 24 mm) Get a cordless drill preferrably an 18+V with extension long enough to reach through the cover to hex. Make sure drill is in apx. 400-800rpm forward (clockwise), feather variable speed drill to appropriate starting rpm. But hold on tight it might take a little torque to roll motor over initially and when it sounds like it fires up pull upward to pull socket off of nut do not release trigger until you pull off of motor or your drill might take flight an end up in the water. - just a suggestion

tom smith..i would if i had enough money to buy new boat and swap motors out then sell my current boat .but it hard enough to get guys to come up with cash for a boat with a motor let alone without

Fog;
Check Craigslist and also, just as a thought, call your local progressive or geico representatives that are near bigger bodies of water. I'm sure they have boats that are totalled in the hull that have little to no engine damage they might could sale as parted out.

I must have misunderstood your original posting. I thought that you already had the boat and the 40hp 4stk Yamaha, and that you liked it, but that you wish it had an electric starter. That's why I suggested that it might just be easier to keep what (I thought) you had and just get an electric starter installed, which is normally not that big of a deal.

Ok, I reread the post and I think I'm clear. You want a new boat. You already have a duck boat with a 40hp Yam 4stk w/o elec start.

I don't think here is anything wrong with the motor you already have, you could easily get elect start installed on the motor. As far as getting a new boat, you could put the motor you already have on the new boat. That might be a better way to go.