Good ole Johnson surprised me

Hello all,

I've been a member for a year, I mostly lurk due to the fact that questions that I can answer are already answered by knowledgeable folks around here(which is why I love this site) before I can reply :lol: .

Anyhow, last month I finally got around to needing my 72' Johnson 6 hp,(been fishing electric only lakes) I put er' in the barrel, pumped up the primer bulb, and put the choke on, and I'll be darned if it didn't sputter to life on the first pull. After gathering my jaw off of the floor, I worked the choke for a few seconds, and after a small cloud of blue smoke, she was purring like a kitten.

All winter long I've been keeping my eye out for a "newer" outboard, but I think I'll keep the ole' Johnson around for a while.

To me the 6hp engine was one of the most sucessful engines ever built. Probably the finest example was the 1978 6hp. With the advancements and incorporation of the newest "magflash" ignition system it was just about bulletproof. I know for a fact that if all engines were built like the 6hp we would all be the Maytag man as far as the repair industry goes.

Will you please pray for me? I'll be trying to start a new to me 20 hp Johnson maybe this week or next that I just purchased with a boat that has been sitting for over twenty years! Meanwhile, rebuilt carbs are going back on my 48 hp Johnson tomorrow. Here's hoping!

Love them old johnys is keep it. My 63 would crank with a half pull every time

Good stuff guys

nomowork said:

Will you please pray for me? I'll be trying to start a new to me 20 hp Johnson maybe this week or next that I just purchased with a boat that has been sitting for over twenty years! Meanwhile, rebuilt carbs are going back on my 48 hp Johnson tomorrow. Here's hoping!

Click to expand...

OK, there is bullet proof, but then there is the 50 cal!

20 years is a looong time, but 2 strokes with some minimum storage prep can recover well with some minor parts replacement. If it is of CD ignition vintage, even better. Good luck on your recessitation.

I picked my tin up when I was 13 (now 29) for $50, a sears 12', I started with an Eska that required 3 hands to operate since the fuel pump was shot, and since the exhaust was rotted through, it sounded like a dirt bike on the water :lol:. I didn't have a trailer, so I hauled it in the bed of my 94' Toyota pickup. One morning at noon, a deer jumped out in front of me and I ended up with an Eska on the dash of my truck. When I got home, my dad saw how bummed I was, and since the transom on his fiberglass unit was rotting away, he offered to sell me the trailer and motor(72' Johnson not running) for a whopping price of $1.00. I put a new impellor, 2 new coils, and a carb rebuild into her, and she has purred like a kitten ever since. I re-fabed the trailer to my tin, and the rest is history...Every time I take my dad out he says "I should have held out for $2.00".

Keep the little johnson, you never know when you might need a extra small engine. I still pull out my 61 5.5 johnson a couple of times a year to use her on trips up to northern wisconsin on church fishing trips.