2 stroke or 4 stroke

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catman529

catman529

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Eventually I should have enough saved up to buy a used outboard around 20 hp for my 13 ft v-hull. Thinking ahead here, should I go with a 2 or 4 cycle motor? A 4 stroke would be more fuel efficient right? But a 2 stroke has more power and less weight which I also would like. What would you go with?
 
I can't say anything bad about a 4 stroke outboard because I have never had one. On the other hand, I have had 4 different two stroke motors in my life. All Evinrude or Johnson. A 18hp, 80hp, 9.9hp and 25hp that I have now. I can't say anything bad about those either because I have never had a problem with any of them. For me personally, I would go with a lighter motor because of some of the areas I fish can get shallow and the less draft the boat has the further I can get into my hallowed waters. I don't think you could go wrong either way. Maybe someone that has had both will chime in.
 
Yeah I forgot about shallow waters. Definitely need to go shallow sometimes. Plus a 2 stroke smells good. I'll see what others have to weigh in. Thanks
 
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Love my 4 stroke. No mixing oil and gas and it is whisper quiet. I would reccomend a 25 or 35 with a jet lower unit. Mine is a 15 and when I broke the lower unit I could not get a jet lower unit that small.
 
catman529 said:
I think a 35 on a 13 ft aluminum boat might be over kill. Should I go with 20 or 25?
Click to expand...

Which ever you find the best deal on...5HP ain't going to matter much...
 
I have a yamaha 115 2 stroke on my personal boat and never had reasons to complain, but we have a 4 stroke yammy 20hp tiller on a work boat and we just put a brand new 4 stroke yammy 90hp on another......4 stroke IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO. Quite and fuel efficient and actually, we had a 115 johnson on the boat that we just put the new yammy on. I can't say for sure because I did'nt have my gps, but I swear the 90 pushes the boat faster than the old 115.
 
Have you considered an air cooled disel? Jokin

never had a 4 stroke. had 6 evenrude 9.9 merc 18 evenrude 50 merc on boats I have owned in the past and now have a 40 evenrude on a 14 ft fiber glass trihull. There should be a max hp rating tag on your boat. I would not go more than 10hp above that.
 
I had a 2 stroke 15hp Yamaha and that motor would flat out run. Never had any issues out of it. It would push my 14 ft jon boat right at 28 mph with me in it only. It was more than enough power for the light jon boat. I had a 15 hp Evinrude and the drive shaft broke and a 6 hp Evinrude that would run great and then slow down after about 5 minutes at WOT. I have a 90hp Yamaha 4 stroke now and it runs great. It drinks fuel faster than the smaller motors, but then again I'm going 15 to 20 mph faster. When you get a motor, make sure it's a Yamaha. They are built better and last. On a small boat like yours, I'd go with a 2 stroke 15hp Yamaha. It will set you back about $1000, but they are worth every penny.
 
Craddock1 said:
Love my 4 stroke. No mixing oil and gas and it is whisper quiet. I would reccomend a 25 or 35 with a jet lower unit. Mine is a 15 and when I broke the lower unit I could not get a jet lower unit that small.
Click to expand...
25 horse is the smallest jet pump they make. The h.p. at the nozzle would be about 17 with a 25 h.p. motor. A new jet pump would set you back about $1700.
 
I have a 2 stroke yamaha 90hp and love it :)

but that being said I wish it was a 4 stroke...What ever you get do your research before buying...I did and found out that yamaha and Suzuki make awesome, dependable motors...
 
Model70Man said:
I had a 2 stroke 15hp Yamaha and that motor would flat out run. Never had any issues out of it. It would push my 14 ft jon boat right at 28 mph with me in it only. It was more than enough power for the light jon boat. I had a 15 hp Evinrude and the drive shaft broke and a 6 hp Evinrude that would run great and then slow down after about 5 minutes at WOT. I have a 90hp Yamaha 4 stroke now and it runs great. It drinks fuel faster than the smaller motors, but then again I'm going 15 to 20 mph faster. When you get a motor, make sure it's a Yamaha. They are built better and last. On a small boat like yours, I'd go with a 2 stroke 15hp Yamaha. It will set you back about $1000, but they are worth every penny.
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as I just posted I have a 2 stroke, but I wouldn't own anything other than a Yamaha...
 
Well before asking, I already was leaning toward a Merc or Yamaha. Seems like a lot here like the Yamaha motors. Seems kind of split between 2 and 4 stroke. Almost might lean toward a 4 stroke now but not completely decided yet. Thanks everyone for the input. Plenty of time ahead as I save some cash for a good motor. Most likely won't get one till some time next year. Right now I have a 5 hp Briggs 4 stroke and a 7 hp Sears 2 stroke and I haven't got the Sears to run yet (it sat for a while). Was given to me by a guy I met fishing who had no desire for the motor. It's an old one too. Both motors are air cooled but the Sears has an impeller to cool the lower part of the motor... hope I can get her running good, to hold me over for a bigger motor. I would anticipate roughly 7 mph out of the Briggs 5 horse but haven't tried yet - need to check for faulty fuel pump on the briggs.
 
I have run a lot of motors over the years and I wouldn't go back to a 2 stroke if I had the choice.

1. Have you priced 2 cycle oil lately? Its messy, smoky, and one more thing that can go wrong.

2. With our modern gas mixes, it seems like the 2 cycle mixed gas breaks down quickly. I think its the ethanol and 'environmentally safer' gas mixes.

3. My 4 stroke doesn't foul plugs like a 2 stroke.

4. 4 stroke starts much easier.

5. The 4 stroke is much quieter. Its a fishing boat, not a dragster so stealth is a benefit.
 
On a small outboard 4 stroke for sure! Be careful on size however as I just sold a 14 ft Jon and a 15 hp 4 stroke separately, as it was too much motor for this particular boat!
 
catman529 said:
Well before asking, I already was leaning toward a Merc or Yamaha. Seems like a lot here like the Yamaha motors. Seems kind of split between 2 and 4 stroke. Almost might lean toward a 4 stroke now but not completely decided yet. Thanks everyone for the input. Plenty of time ahead as I save some cash for a good motor. Most likely won't get one till some time next year. Right now I have a 5 hp Briggs 4 stroke and a 7 hp Sears 2 stroke and I haven't got the Sears to run yet (it sat for a while). Was given to me by a guy I met fishing who had no desire for the motor. It's an old one too. Both motors are air cooled but the Sears has an impeller to cool the lower part of the motor... hope I can get her running good, to hold me over for a bigger motor. I would anticipate roughly 7 mph out of the Briggs 5 horse but haven't tried yet - need to check for faulty fuel pump on the briggs.
Click to expand...

Its kinda one of those things where if you buy a 2 stroke, more than likely you will be happy for the time you have it and it will suit your needs just fine...BUT when/if you switch to a 4 stroke, you'll wish you had bought it first...I know I was completely satisfied with my 115 2 stroke, but I use boats for my job and ever since we switched to mainly 4 strokes, I wish now I had spent a little more and got a 4 stroke yamaha 115 when I bought my boat new....
I've had mercs and yamaha's on my personal boats. The merc was ok, but I'd give yamaha the edge everytime. I have friends that swear by Honda 4strokes on their duck boats, but I have no personal experience with using them.
 
People forget about why 2 strokes are practically illegal. I put a 2 stroke into a clean barrel and ran it for only five minutes and the barrel was coated with a black film that just wouldn't come off. No way I want to do that to the Caney.

My last two outboards are Merc four strokes and they start effortlessly, sip gas, you can talk in normal tones to your shipmates, and there is no oil film on the water nor is there smoke.

Get the most horsepower for the weight. Basically the 20 weighs same as the 15, the 30 weighs the same as the 25. A 20 HP four stroke weighs within ten pounds of the old 25 2 strokes and is only 3 to 5 mph slower
 
On a budget, I think you can get a lot newer, more HP, and less weight 2 stroke for the money it would cost to get a well used, lower hp, heavier 4 stroke. If money wasn't an issue, I would only own 4 stroke.... however, I have only owned 1.
 

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