2 cycle vs 4 cycle

Hey everyone. Long time looker, somewhat new member. When I figure out how to post pictures Ill share my 1984 Fisher 1438? 20 year project with all. For now my question is I am in the market for a 1860 center consol grizzley. I can get it with the old style 50hp merc or the new style 60 merc . I really need some help understanding the difference. Thanks

Biggest seem to be weight and fuel ecconomy. The four stroke are a lot heavier but are cheaper to run. The 2 strokes are light but suck fuel.

On a 1860cc a four stroke shouldn't be a penalty at all. A tiller 14 or 16' boat will suffer a bit from being too stern heavy.

Jamie

I have always been a 2 stroke guy and never owned a 4 stroke. I have a 50hp Merc (2003) and love it. The power to weight is really nice for my 16" boat. I can't imagine having a heavier 4 stroke on there. I am usually a "new technology" kinda guy, but just don't see much advantage for a 4 stroke on a small boat. Unless you use your boat several times a week and/or motor great distances, the fuel savings is a non issue. Even if I got double the fuel economy, it would not make a difference for me. Now, I can see it if you have an offshore boat with 2 large motors running for hours at a time!

If you have environment concerns the Evinrude E-Tech 2 stroke runs cleaner than a 4 stroke I believe. (If not cleaner, then close to it.)

KRS

Plus you better hold on to your you-know-what when it comes time to repair a 4-stroke. There is nothing inexpensive on them.

If you will do a search, you will see that this has been a really hot subject. It is kind of like Ford verses Chevy. They all have their unique advantages.

I'm a 4 stroke Yamaha fanatic. I currently own a 25hp and a 200hp 4 stroke. This is my 5th 4 stroke, I sold my boat with twin 300 4 strokes last year. I've had to many 2 strokes to count (guessing 20+ over the years). I fish in an unique area where it's not uncommon for a short trip to be 50+ miles. I ran over 130 miles this past Saturday. My 25hp on a 14' will run about 80 +/- miles on 6 gallons. I did have to add floatation pods for the weight, but I say it's worth it.

I guess I've been lucky and haven't had any issues with any of my 4 strokes. There are more moving parts so I do see where someone might say they are more expensive to work on and some of the work on them can not be done on them without a really good mechanical knowledge. I did have some Ethanol issue to a tune of over $1000, but it wasn't the motors fault, it was my ignorance. I believe they are cheaper to run in the long run. Running the distances I do use to cost me a fortune in 2 stroke oil. At $20+ a gallon for the good stuff, it added up considering my last 2 stroke boat had twin 2 gallon oil tanks.

If I were staying in small lakes or super shallow water, I would consider a 2 stroke.

Hope this helps!

Specknreds ,what exactly did you mean by ethanol problems being a result of your ignorance?
How did you fix the problem?

My 2.5 cents....

I am currently in school training as a Marine Technician and have had the opprotunity to learn about both and work on both. A 4 stroke is simply a small car engine, it has more internal moving parts (valves, springs, camshaft, etc) where a 2 cycle has less internal moving parts (only a crank, connecting rod, and piston).

You will find the 4 stroke more fuel efficient and no need to mix oil.

A 2 cycle has less that can go wrong.

Cost to fix? Not much difference really to spite what you hear. If you maintain it, you will have less need to pay for major repairs.

Fuel is horrible today, Ethonol is killing engines, all kinds, it doesn't care what kind. Be very mindful of your fuel and use a good additive to stabalize the ethenol.

KRS62 said:

If you have environment concerns the Evinrude E-Tech 2 stroke runs cleaner than a 4 stroke I believe. (If not cleaner, then close to it.)

KRS

Click to expand...

^ Yep.

Bufford in Orlando

Thanks all. Im going to go with the merc 50elpto. Thanks for the info. River..

Good deal. I love my new Tohatsu TLDI 50.....Great mileage and quiet also.

batman said:

Specknreds ,what exactly did you mean by ethanol problems being a result of your ignorance?
How did you fix the problem?

Click to expand...

When Ethanol first come out, I didn't think anything about it and used it like regular gas. I filled the tank on my 25hp and went fishing. I let it sit for 3 weeks and filled it up and went fishing again. I noticed my motor was hesitating and sluggish. I emptied the water/fuel seperator and it was full of water and crud. I took the cover off and noticed fuel leaking from a rubber boot on the carb. I took it to the shop and the mechanic showed me the effects of Ethanol. It melted the rubber boot. He put an old oring in a cup of Ethanol while I was there and by the time i left it would leave smudge marks on your hand. I went home and researched it and found out from an university research website that in my humid and hot enviroment ethanol has a shelf life of 2 WEEKS in a vented container.

Problem #2 I had a 150 gallon tank on the other boat. I had half a tank of regular gas and filled the rest with Ethanol. I idle out of the harbor and alarms go off as soon as I hit the throttle. I emptied the water separator about 10 times and was still pulling water out of the gas. First thought was bad gas from the station. I know the owner and he and I checked his tanks. No water. HHHMMM!!! A outboard mechanic told me to look up phase separation in Ethanol. If you mix large quantities it can go through a chemical reaction causing instant phase separation.

Ethanol is a solvent. Eats old o-rings, rubber parts, and fiberglass fuel tanks. It took all of the writing off of my fuel filter.

Ethanol bonds with water. Vented tanks gives it access to moisture. Has a shelf life of two weeks under the right conditions.

Ethanol has a lower BTU. Lower performance in any engine.

Just google Ethanol problems in outboards and there will be more than you care to read. The gas stations around here that do not have Ethanol have learned to put signs out. The people with boats flock to them on the weekends.

Interesting,never heard the two week shelf life before.
I have to travel outside of my metro area to find ethanol free gas,but I can see I gonna have to start.
I do use a small amount of Stabil ethanol treatment in my tank,and haven't had any problems yet.Better check my filter soon though.
Thanks for the info.
DanD