Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Outboard preferences

One that runs and does not strand you.

An oldie but a goodie.

Remember the Evinrude FICHT motors? I had a boat mechanic tell me that it stood for "found in channel hailing tow".

I'm not an expert, but all you listed will work fine. I traded in my 2004, 90hp Merc four stroke. And got a Honda last year. No complaints, yet. The Honda and Merc were only 200$ different. The Merc had been in the shop four times, for electrical problems and I decided, reliability, trumps price. My small motors are Merc, Yamaha, and Honda. Honda being the most reliable of the three small motors. Just my experience. We are running Honda and Mercury on the harvesting boats. Harvesting algea for human consumption! These run 10 to 12 hours a day average, everyday, weather and wind cooperating. From late June thru September, sometimes onto November depending on material to harvest. The Honda's have required less maintenance and get about 15% better fuel usage per hour. Like I said ,I'm not an expert, just sharing experience!!

A Yamaha dealer told me Suzuki is the best one made. I had lots of trouble with small Yamahas. Plugged jets mostly. Brains got fried by lightening maybe. Warranty was good except one mechanic didn't get the cooling tube in right, which would have burned it up if I hadn't noticed all the crazy bubbling.

If you fish rocky lakes, use safety cord to save the motor. hood.

Guiding north of the border I see a ton of Yamahas that size and the ones I’ve used are/were excellent.

One fellow I fish out of owns a lot of remote camps and is one of the biggest single purchasers of outboards that size. He too chooses Yamaha. When he turns them over every couple years he told me he orders 80 some. Best he’s used he says.
Every 7-8 years the Yamaha factory crew from overseas actually stop in and query him on any issues or improvements he might like on those motors. He’s a sharp guy and says over the years he has pointed out a number of things that could be done better, none have ever come to fruition.

Osky

One rub to having a Merc in Wabigoon is, the closest dealer is Sioux Lookout, 45 miles away.

Yamaha


Buddy runs 300hp four stroke. wide open all the time. 7 years nothing but routine maintenance.

I have an HPDI 2 stroke 150. It's a 2001 model. Not one lick of issues.



Clyde

Whichever one has the closest dealer with a decent mechanic and parts shop. If it’s got tits or a motor, and it’ll give you trouble.

Look at onlineoutboards.com. It is a division of Cumberland watersports.

Buy a Tohatsu. They build all the Mercs under 20 hp. Same motor, different labels, more money if it is Merc branded. They also build or have built under other labels.

The 10 hp, 15 hp, and 20 hp are built on the same frame and share bore x stroke measurements, as well as weight.

Might as well buy the 20 hp.

I just installed a new 20 hp Tohatsu as a kicker on my Aluminum jet boat. Electric tilt and trim, electric start. I love it.

I am too old and shoulders are too torn up to yank on a pull start.

Final note. Beware fake online outboard sales sites. I found several with great prices, but wanted payment via Paypal direct. Fug that.

Cumberland watersports is good to go.

In the 15-25 HP range you're looking at its really a horse a piece between brands listed. Merc will be a Tohatsu as noted. Hard to fu.ck up a smaller four stroke anymore.

Smaller Mercury and Tohatsu outboards are built in Japan by a 50/50 joint ownership of the plant by Mercury and Tohatsu.

That's where I bought mine, had it shipped right to the front door.

I'm not wealthy enough to afford a good one so I have a '96 25hp Mercury 2 stroke.

Does alright by me, spent a few hundred getting it tuned up , fluids changed, etc and its starts on the second pull every time.

For the amount of motoring I do, I'd be good with a 9.9 Jap 4 stroke.

That was back when Merc was in a joint venture with Yamaha.The result was Mariners.Evinrude filed a lawsuit against Merc that they won, so Merc and Yamaha went their separate ways.I have a 30HP tiller Nissan which is a Tohatsu with electric start,trim and tilt.Super cheap to run but my old 20HP Merc 2 stroke can whip it speed wise any day of the week.

We've been in Dryden, Ontario on a Friday about quitin' time.
A fellow with a stubble beard fueling up to go fishing in his old, smaller boat with an older outboard.
I'll think he catches more fish than the men with the big dollar rigs.

I think in the fam we've had about 9 boats. 1 Chrysler, 1 Mariner and the rest Merc.

Mariner was the worst of the lot for reliability, then the pentastar and merc has been Toyota like for us. Just fishing Green Bay, Little Bay de Noc, Lake Michigan etc. Nothing really "off shore".

I've always preferred "inboards".

For a long time Nissans were a rebranded Tohatsu. I think Nissan quit selling outboards a few years back. I just read that Tohatsu has a new line of larger engines, all made by Honda.

Checkout the EFT Suzuki’s.

And you can’t go wrong with Suzuki, Honda or Yamaha.