Hard time choosing a small outboard

Hello,

I am new to the forums. I have bought my very first Jon boat which is a G3 1236. Maximum weight capacity is 470lbs (Not sure if this is just person weight without motor or not).Maximum hp rating is 10hp. I am having a hard time choosing which motor will work for me. Where i bought the boat they basically deal with Yamaha outboards. I was looking at a new 6hp Yamaha (58lbs) which after rebate is 1600$ or a Tohatsu 6hp (58lbs) 1300$ or 8hp (81lbs) 1700$. I am only hauling the boat in my truck bed as i do not want a trailer. I am wondering which motor will suit me more for when i go out fishing. Is an 81lbs motor going to be a pain to take on and off, and which brand would be the better of two to go with. The Tohatsu would be from onlineoutboards.com. This would be my first outboard and in the Boat would be my 13 yr old son and I. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Without knowing anything about you phisycal shape it's going to be hard for us to advise you on this. Me personally I wouldn't want anything to do with taking either one on and off a boat and loading it into a pickup truck bed. I have a '96 9.9 'rude which weighs in at around 75lbs and it's a handful for me (5'-11'' and 195 lbs 24yo) Also someone else can correct me if I am wrong but I don't think you can lay any 4stroke down on it side because the oil will run up into the carb and valvetrain causing a big mess.

I had a Yamaha 5hp on a 10ft G3 and it was dog slow with two people.

Bluejay, my first question for you would be are you dead set on a new motor only? If you are I understand the choices you mentioned, any of which would probably work fine. My next question would be, are you only interested in 4 stroke motors? The motor weight issue is something that only you can answer, 20 pounds is 20 pounds, it does make the motor more bulky and a little harder to handle but there is a benefit to that 20 pounds in this case, it brings you another cylinder, every 2 cylinder I have ever had or known of is smoother running than a one cylinder (a friend of mine calls them paint shakers for a reason). As Aaron mentioned there is also the issue of making sure you lay a 4 stroke down properly or risk oil running out of it or into places it should not be. My answer to your question if you are set on a new 4-stroke, get the 8 hp Tohatsu, if you can live with a used motor, look for a good used, mid 80's up Johnson/Evinrude or Yamaha 6 or 8 hp 2-stroke. Those engines are all 2 cylinder and weigh around 60 pounds. Whatever you choose, welcome aboard and happy boating. Bob

Thank you for the quick reply's. Maybe i should look towards getting a trailer. Did not know about the oil leaking out. I am sure i can find a used trailer for a resonable price. I weight about 190lbs (33 yrs old). I will browse around as bbstacker1 notes for a motor. I will get back once i have gotten everything. Thank you all for the reply's

Take your time, find a GOOD used Johnnyrude 9.9.........you won't be disappointed!! (I have an old '56 10 hp Johnson you might like....just kidding, dropped a cyl. last year. Parts and my time are worth more than the motor is. Was a really strong runner though, pushed my 14' flatbottm at 17 mph.)

I just bought a new 4HP Yamaha last year. It's a PITA to put on the boat once in the water and just as bad taking it off after a long day on the water.

Yes you can lay a 4 stroke on it's side with no problems. Just make sure to lay it on the correct side. How do you know which side is correct? Easy, it has a couple of tabs that kind of stick out that are flat.

You don't have to have a boat trailer to haul a jon bot in. My dad uses a utility trailer and just backs it in the water if he is at a ramp. If there is no ramp he just backs close to the water and drags. He uses the tail gate like a ramp to drag up on the trailer or slide off.

Check with smalloutboards.com, they have some good prices and have some fish camp motors quite often at great prices.

bluejay,

where are you located? You may have a member nearby that wants to sell. If you're near GA, I have a 5hp for sale :mrgreen: