Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire No more Evinrudes

The only Evinrude that I recall having was a 1971(?) Bobcat snowmobile. It was both crude and loud by today's standards, but got the job done and I think that it cost under $1,000 new.

I've got the same motor except mine might be a 2006....can't remember. Mine had an issue with the fuel pump when it was brand new. It did not leave me in the river but got in "limp home mode" and turned on the low oil idiot light. Having plenty of oil in the tank, I shut it off a couple of times(having been in IT you just do that as a reflex) and it got right and I went home.....then I took it to the man who read the computer and found out what was wrong. I figured it was a computer problem but the computer was actually trying to tell something.

Anyway, that was covered under warranty and since then the motor has been perfect.......and when I say perfect I mean it. Starts instantly even on cold mornings no matter how long its been setting up, idles smooth as glass , and runs like a raped ape. What else can it do? Only thing you forgot to mention is you just have to put oil in the tank ever so often.....no gas mixing. I just do it or check it before every trip so I won't forget. It don't use much and it would be easy to forget......a tank would last me no telling how many trips.

I think they designed the perfect outboard that checked all the boxes.....power to weight, fuel economy, emissions, great performance, low maintenance, adapted to being stored etc. Problem was, OMC rushed the product to market too quickly and ruined the Evinrude name. I talked to a crabber way before I bought mine when I saw he had two FICHT versions. He said it was the greatest motor ever when it wasn't in the shop which was about half the time. Boat mechanic told me FICHT stood for "found in channel hailing tow". Hard to recover from stuff like that.

When Bomb took over, I figured if they could build airplane engines they could work the kinks out of what OMC started and build a good boat motor. They did but by then I guess the market was already moving away from them.

I have heard the Ficht motors referred to as Fucht many times.

Evinrude made great motors in the past. It always amazed me how many 50's,60's and 70's Evinrudes came

into the shop for routine items, carb clean, points, water pumps, etc. Rarely any powerhead issues.

I have been in the boat business for 31 years, fuqk Evinrude, good riddance. To many reasons to list here.

My car topper is a 14' Portabote. The engine size is limited by weight, not HP. It can't take an engine that weighs more than 85 lb. My 2 stroke 10hp Johnson weighs 82 and works nicely. If I went to a heavier 4 stroke, I'd be limited to about a 7.5 or smaller.

Hardly see any in the harbor around here. I figured they went under long ago.