What's a good small portable outboard for the winter

Looking to purchase a new small portable outboard motor for use in the winter before the local lakes in New York freeze up. I'm not looking to go on plane. Just a portable outboard (3-6 hp) with an internal gas tank that I can take from my house, throw in the back of my truck, take to the cottage and slap it on a boat, and when done take it back home. If I remember correctly Briggs and Stratton had 5 hp lawnmower outboards that were air-cooled but they have long been discontinued. The cheapest stuff I see are Chinese junk on amazon. I seriously considered running two deep cycles in parallel and just use a trolling motor, but the battery weight and limited speed are not worth it to me. Does anyone have any opinions or comments on small outboards and running them in the winter?

Would you consider a long tail?

https://mud-skipper.com/index.php/twisters.html

Rob

I have a 2hp mariner (made by Yamaha) it’s an 80’s motor and never fails to run perfectly. They also made larger outboards. If I was in the market, I’d be looking for one of those or a jonnyrude 4 hp also very dependable and can be found reasonably priced if you hunt around.


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I noticed you asked about a NEW small outboard. Personally I would look at a 3.5 tohatsu if i'm reading you right. Mecury, Evinrude and probably others are just rebranded Tohatsus. You'll noticethe Tohatsus are a little cheaper.

I can also echo the good vibes on the Tohatsu's.

IMO all major brand OB's are well made today and in that size you can't go wrong as far as weight is concerned. I don't know if you plan on doing your own service or not but if not go with a brand that service is near by.

If you look at the 6 HP you might find an 8 that weighs the same, the extra HP is always a bonus IMO, you may never need it, but if your out and it blows up or gets messy it's nice to bump the throttle and make it home in a jiffy. If you ever fall in, getting to shore quick is a hell of a lot better option then at hull speed.