Best Small Outboard Motor

gbc, the Tohatsu is 8hp not 8.5hp and since 2000 the Mercury and Tohatsu use the same engine powerhead.The Merc model 8hp is made out of a very low copper content Aluminium Alloy which makes for best corrosion protection in salt water use.
I have a 8hp Merc on my 2.7 Metre inflatable and it does get up and going very well with me, the missus and dog along with our essky and fishing gear.
Mercury has the most extensive dealer network around Australia, so good for us travellers.

Sorry, brain explosion - it is actually 9.8 h.p. for 26 k.g.'s and it's a ripper.
I had an m8a for 20 years and got confused - never needed the dealer in that time.
I also have a mercury 135 h.p. optimax on my other fishing boat - I'll never own merc again.
I agree the base merc 8 is a rebadged tohatsu so I'd assume that level of corrosion resistance would be uniform over the whole tohatsu small engine range since it's their product?

GBC thanks for updated info re Tohatsu. I owned a 9.9 many, many years ago and it was pretty good & even though that`s 25/26 years ago I found that model very heavy to lift, consequently updated to a 15HP Yammie which was excellent and much lighter....so you will see why I`ve asked for current info on which motor to buy.
Cheers

Frank

Frank - you'll find that most 9.9 h.p. motors are a de-rated 15 h.p. motor. The tohatsu 9.9 just had a restrictor plate in the carby - remove that and its now a 15.
The 9.8 is a tuned up 8 h.p. hence the weight advantage, and the wierd h.p. rating.

gbc....I became aware of that little piece of info at the time and the dealer removed the restictor plate during the first service and the tinnie really flew !!

Frank

wilco318, If a Merc mechanic you should know they use the lowest copper content alloy of any brand, a patented product XK360, also you would know Merc are the only brand who offer up to 5 years warranty on their 2 strokes + a 3 year corrosion warranty. If they were a corrosion problem they wouldn't be giving all that coverage.
My 8 hp is 5 years old, done 100's of hours in salt water. Gets flushed after use and serviced once a year. It still like new and goes great.
I also have a Stacer Boat with a 135hp Merc Optimax, it goes great and is much more fuel efficient and better performance than my mate's E-Tec on a similar boat.

wilco318...you make life difficult as plenty of posts disagree with you and me piggy in the middle, so to say !!!..how do I know and the advice from you V others is pretty conflicting...but thanks for the advice.

Cheers

Frank

Blackmax - do yourself a favour and get the compressor and alternator mounting bolts replaced each service. They have a nasty habit of shearing and causing major damage. Mine's done it twice now. Last time we had extra mounting bolts tapped into the head. Depending on how old yours is it may have the extra bolts. I won't argue about the fuel efficiency or poke - they do very well on both facets. I figure it isn't worth anything so I'll run it til it dies now - up to 1300 hrs at present.

blackmax posted:
wilco318, If a Merc mechanic you should know they use the lowest copper content alloy of any brand, a patented product XK360, also you would know Merc are the only brand who offer up to 5 years warranty on their 2 strokes + a 3 year corrosion warranty. If they were a corrosion problem they wouldn't be giving all that coverage.
My 8 hp is 5 years old, done 100's of hours in salt water. Gets flushed after use and serviced once a year. It still like new and goes great.
I also have a Stacer Boat with a 135hp Merc Optimax, it goes great and is much more fuel efficient and better performance than my mate's E-Tec on a similar boat
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YES quite true, of the AMERICAN built motors. (they are actually very good) but NOT of the Tohatsu built Mercs. That is any of them built in Japan. Also the mercs built in china are also quite good.

Plasnart....am always looking for the "bargain buy", can you tell me the engine weight, which seems to be the critical part according to the hull importer..ohh and the obvious question, if motor 5 years old and brand new unused,why is this so ??...advices please

Frank

Hi seniorcit, sorry to take so long to respond but I've just checked back on this thread.

Not sure of the weight but if you look up Honda Marine website the weights of the BF10 are shown there.

The reason it's 5 years old and still brand new is because I bought a display unit. It was on a stand in the showroom for a few years until it was superseded by the new model. I bought it last year for my trailer sailer but it doesn't fit the cockpit well (yes I know I bought it before I was truly ready for it and then when I was it didn't fit!!). Silly silly me yes I know.

To make it fit my boat I have to do some substantial modifications to it and I don't want to do that really.

It came with a 5 year warranty and I've had it for just over a year. That's why it's still warranted until 2014. I have all the booklets, receipts, toolkit, fueltank, etc. I bought it legitimately and can prove it so if you're concerned it sounds a bit dodgy then I can reassure you it isnt.

If you are at all interested seniorcit, please give me a call on 0413 580 462 and we can discuss further.

Rohan.