Which ONE ?? '94 Yammie OR '06 Johnson ??

Which one would YOU buy ?? I am about to choose...help me decide..

BOTH are 30hp , 2 stroke , electric start, long shaft remotes with control boxes, cables and fuel line & tank.

1. 1994 Yamaha , one owner, has been winterized and stored for the last 4 years...never had problems ( so he says) Price $1000

2. 2005 Johnson bought new in 2006 ..owner is unfortunately in tough financial times an has this on a boat he is trying to sell as a whole rig, but is reluctantly willing to split it up Price $1300

Which one ?

I would go with the Johnson. But that's just because I have always been a JohnnyRude fan and it seems like the better deal.

I would think either motor would be great.

You're talking about an 11 year difference in age. If the Johnson is in good shape....it's worth more than the $300 difference. Plus...engines that have been sitting for a long period of time are always a risk. My 150 that I bought used and was sitting for 3+ years is being rebuilt right now after running it for about 7 minutes last year and leaving me stranded. That's proof enough for me!

The Johnson.

sounds like a no-brainer to me....the Johnson

Johnson

My personal choice would be the Johnson. 11 years newer and the fact that Johnson has been building great outboards for so long. I've seen a number of old Johnson motors that were beat on, tossed around in the back of trucks, and just thoroughly abused and they still ran like a swiss watch.

it seems to simple to me like the others have said $300 for 11 years younger I wonder what is wrong with the johnson

Johnson. Hands down

It seems like the overwhelming choice is the Johnson.....

BUT.....like RedBug asked..... "what is wrong with it?".

Well, as far as I can tell, nothing that I can see or hear....my thought , however , was that Johnson is out of business ...went out in 2007... after being bought out by Bombadier in 2000 or so...that left some question in my mind about the Johnson quality in it's final days of production...

Any input on that ?

BTW -- my THANKS to all who have replied and offered thier advice and opinions so far!

The Yamaha-is it twin cylinder or 3? If 3 does it have oil injection (Autolube)?

The 3 cylinder Yamaha's are nearly indestructible. I've NEVER had one on the shop for anything but carb cleaning-from sitting for years on end. Never a powerhead failure, ever. Have had a few 25's in for powerheads and a few small motors, and one C150 Yamaha, but never a 30 triple. I prefer a Yamaha myself over most of the other motors but it's because I work on a lot less Yamahas then I do OMC's, Merks, Suzi's, and Tohatsu's.

OMC went belly-up we all know that. They built some good engines no doubt. Couple things I don't like. First off IIRC, they are 2 cylinder single carb-which compared to the 3 cyl 3 carb Yamaha, runs pretty rough. And noisy. But simpler in design by a little bit. The other thing I don't like applies to all OMC outboards. They went belly-up which gives me the feeling of corporate instability. I wouldn't want to invest a month's worth of my salary (which is about what your seller is asking for his JohnnyRude) into something that may or may not have enough support to give you the parts you need, IF you need any. Yamaha is not going anywhere other than making a bunch of 4 stroke engines. But the US EPA has their hands in on that.

Turbotodd - it IS a 3 cyl, but NOT autolube...it is premix.

Also, I had similar feelings about the Johnson as you expressed.

My fear with the Yamaja is the sitting for 4 years (even though it was stored inside), I still have fear about the impeller blades getting brittle and breaking off when under a load. The man has been honest and said that he never replaced it since he bought it. The seller is an engineer, and maintains everything he owns with meticulous care, so I can only assume he did the same with the motor.

However , the only way I would feel safe would be to replace/repair the impeller and water pump...Got an estimate of about $350- OUCH! add that in , and it becomes $1350....a tough piece of meat to chew on & swallow

I have had 3 yamahas over the years and other than changing the plugs and water pump and lower unit oil
I just turn the key and go my one motor had over 1500 hours when i sold the boat and is still running strong that was a 91 15hp

Johnson for sure! $350 is quite high for the impeller, but will ensure you're G2G for quite a while!

I'm a Johnson fan, had several over the years and never had one iota of trouble from any of them. As for parts/repair work and availability, I'm pretty sure you can get just about any part for even very old OMCs quite easily and reasonably. I would go with the Johnson.

However, I do know that Yammie builds a great OB, and a 3 cyl gives you some extra oomph the Johnny might be lacking. Also, replacing the water pump and impeller, (might as well do the whole kit), is easy. If you do it yourself, you will learn your engine, and save a lot of $$ too.

It's really a toss up. They both will need at the least an impeller change and replace the LU lube, if nothing else than to give you peace of mind. Try to see em run if you can, and make the choice. They both sound like solid deals to me.

3 cylinder is nice! Good motors-bulletproof for the most part. Have never had to do anythign to them other than impeller ( $35) and clean carbs once in a while. Lots of torque. And smooth running. And they sound similar to a big V6, well kind of. Same powerhead as a later model C40 triple, different carbs, tuner, leg, etc. Out here they're sought after by the duck hunters. They'll usually pay about $2500 for a beat up one. A nice stock one brings closer to $3000. A 25MSHV3 (3 cyl 25) cowling fits on it just fine and then the hunters can use them on horsepower limited waters. AND...if that wasn't enough, there's mods available for them. I saw one on a 1550 Edge boat that was running almost 45 mph. It was nowhere near stock though.

johnson 100%

I loved my old 25 yamaha long shaft.....never had a problem with the engine.

Hey guys - here's another twist to the story

Yesterday the owner of the YAMAHA Lowered the price to $750 because I expressed to him my concern and the dealer costs for a new water pump!

That '94 Yamaha 30hp 3cyl remote with controls is starting to look really tempting !!!

Why not replace the pump yourself it's not that hard and makes the yammie that much more appealing.