Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Canoe outboard motor

I'm wanting to get a square back canoe to do overnite fishing trips at the lake, go duck hunting etc.... I wanna get an outboard motor. A battery trolling motor will be to wimpy to go a mile or so up lake and back. What kinda outboard would be a good economy starter rig, nothing special. Just going to the lake once a month with canoe filled with some basic camping gear or duck decoys. Not a lot of weight. One person in canoe.

I like the 2 stroke outboards with the gas tank built onto the motor. I have a 3.5 Johnson, it's light as a feather and you don't have a tank or a hose to clutter up your space.

I've used small outboards on canoes for over 60 years and many miles and I have to tell you that today's small outboards 1.5-4HP really suck IMO. They are all single cylinder so they vibrate like crazy and the noise is insane.

The little Honda is the quietest but it has a centrifical clutch that goes out of gear when I want to troll for lake trout.

My niece has my 1965 Evinrude Ducktwin with weedless drive.......best small outboard I ever owned......Johnson would be same except for paint.

We have a couple of old 2-strokes that I've used side-mounted on canoes.

One is a 3 hp Johnson from the mid 1950s. Two cylinder, water cooled, integral gas tank. Not real light, but OK on big canoe, plenty of power and smooth. Worked pretty well side mounted on a 17 ft Grumman, would be even better on a square ended canoe.

The other is a little air cooled Sears 1.5 hp. Don't know the age, bought it used from an uncle 15 or 20 yrs ago, could be from the '60s or '70s. Single cylinder, integral tank, noisy, but a lot lighter than the 3 hp motor. The lack of a water jacket for cooling definitely lets more noise thru. Mainly use it on a 16 ft Old Town Discovery canoe with side mount. The much lighter motor feels safer, tips canoe much less, still pushes it along pretty well. Don't know if anyone makes little outboards like it anymore.

If you get a 15 ft or larger square back it could probably take up to around 5 hp (but check the actual rating!) If you can find a used 3 to 4 hp in decent shape or worth rebuilding it could save you a lot of money. Your're not going to get a lot of speed anyway, canoes don't "plane" or get up on step with a motor. Too much motor just hangs excess weight on the back and imbalances the boat. I haven't looked at new outboards lately, but I think that for the same power 2-strokes are still lighter than 4-strokes.

I will add my vote for the 1950's-60's Johnson/Evinrude 3hp 2 cylinder outboards. They are reliable, quiet, and relatively light (~35#). Parts are available for things like impellers, ignition, etc. and a large supply of used parts exist especially in areas of the upper Midwest where these motors were a mainstay. They were built in Belgium and well engineered/built at that! The Evinrudes are finished off a little nicer than the Johnsons but it is just cosmetic. They built them for about 15 years through the mid to late 60's. No plastic!!! Variations included short shaft(majority), long shaft, extra long shaft for sail boats, "folding"/breakdown models w/ case, and my personal favorite... the "ducktwin"... Evinrude w/ olive drab green paint from the factory and "mallard" decals and drab lettering on the housing... vintage sportsman "cool"!!!

You can still find well maintained specimens for $150-250 if you look... well worth the price.

I currently have 5 in my "boathouse"... my Grandfather's original from 1954, another 1955 that my Dad bought years ago, a long shaft from the early 1960's, a pristine 1958, and my most treasured... a near new 1962 Ducktwin, all Evinrude. I wish I could figure out how to "take them with me" someday! They tell me the Almighty prefers an Evinrude Lightwin...

Todd

Gotta agree with Mike and Lundtroller.......those old 3.5 HP Evinrude and Johnson motors were great units then consider the weedless drive factor and you really have a versatile canoe motor
suitable bass fishing in the weeds or duck hunting in wild rice.

Used a 2.5 Suzuki on a canoe for several years. Motor came from Discount Outboards online and it worked very well.