I have a 31 year old Tohatsu 2 stroke with hundreds of hours on it. Have the 6 Sailpro that’ hasn’t skipped a beat ever that gets used hard annually. And took the plunge on the 20 EFI last year for a dingy. It’s so odd how all owners experience is so differing.
I'm a 35-year liveaboard and have had 4 dinghies/outboards. My current outboard is a 10 yr old 30 hp Tohatsu that has served me flawlessly and continues to run perfectly. My worst dinghy was a Zodiac PVC and I'd avoid PVC at all cost. Invest a little more for Hypalon. Also, Dan's preferred dinghy is a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). RIBs are great, especially with higher horsepower outboards, however, they are heavy. Ribs are too heavy to land on a beach and drag out of the surf. My best dinghy was my first, that was a 13 ft hypalon Avon with an inflatable keel. I could land on a SoCal beach through surf and "walk" it onto the beach out of the surf and "walk" it to relaunch. With a 15 hp 2-stroke Yamaha (got stolen so I can't comment on longevity but was great for 4 years), the Avon was a rocket ship. Unfortunately, Zodiac bought Avon and ruined the brand and 2-strokes are illegal in California.
Yeah, hear lots of negative thibgs about Zodiac despitr the reputation. See a lot of zodiacs covered in patches and glue. There are tonnes of options. Ribs are crazy heavy but a small 9 or 10' isn't bad if you don't mind the splashing. I loved our 5 hp 2 stroke tohatsu but if i got a new one it would be all made of cheap materials from Asia. Tohatsu has gone down hill. You'll see what I mean when your choke or starter button just falls off for no reason :(
Still using the same Danny Green nesting dinghy I built in Ecuador in 2007 with a 3.5 hp 2-stroke. It sails better than it rows. Rows better than it motors and motors at about 4-5 knots. I service the outboard once a year myself. Full time cruising. 😊
I have had three of them, a 4hp for my tender and a 5hp sailpro on my 26 ft yacht. And use the 20hp efi at the sail club for our rescue boat, having had them for 7, 5 and 1 year i have never had any issues even leaving impellars in as i have year around usage on them...
The best and most prevalent outboard motor in the Caribbean was, is, and likely will remain for some time, the ubiquitous Yamaha 2 stroke with the 15HP being the most common on dinghies. There are parts available everywhere because all the locals use them as well. Pick one up anywhere along the way. We picked up our 2020 model in the Bahamas as we made our way south. $2200 is an excellent price for a brand new 15HP outboard. Additionally, the best modification I have made to our RIB was to install a fuel/water separator designed specifically for smaller outboard motors. Ours happens to be a Racor unit but there are others available. Keeping water out of the carb is a great start to keeping the motor running optimally!
From my experience, four stroke outboards don't last long, whilst two strokes go on and on. Yamaha seem to be the better of the four strokes and weirdly enough the two strokes too.
We had that same problem with the dinghy in the Carribean, the glue melted, we had to replace the dinghy, we couldn’t even give the old one away,! We are back home in Newfoundland but we need a new dinghy motor when we get back to St Martin in the Carribean. We need a new 8- 9 hp outboard 2 stroke if we can get it. Should we get a tohatsu or a Yamaha? Tks Ed
I don't know about the smaller tohatsu engines, but the 25 and up are tough. I have many friends that use them daily to commercial fish and they last many years. Probably a decade. These engines run most days all day. I don't think anyone can beat Yamaha outboards.
G'gay. If you have an lightweight dinghy, all you need is an 100 amp lithium ion battery witch can be recharged by solar when you are away from the dinghy and an 60 pound thrust electric trolling motor. I set my old tender in this manner and it worked just fine. Advantage no feul no noise going past other boaters and no feul smell. And as no feul needed, you have more cargo space. Diavantage just do not ancour too far from the dinghy warf or beach. Gerard. NSW AUSTRALIA.
You are either very unlucky, or your routine outboard preventative maintenance is questionable. I have run outboards for years - decades on both Tohatsu and Yamaha, without any major failures. I guess it is hard to freshwater flush when extended cruising, but it is vital to longer reliability. Running on decent quality fuel and flushing fuel filter, applying fogging oil, and changing all sealed fluids/filters more often also helps. You may as well do bushings at same time also useful. Little and often is key. YMMV but just using tender engine and not flushing etc, is gonna impact 'reliabilty' perceptions.
Too many product categories in one episode. You should focus on one product category per episode, ex. one episode for dingy adhesive, another episode for dingy outboards. Otherwise, great presentation and great info.
![I built a sailboat. [3/3]](/img/n.gif)
I have a 31 year old Tohatsu 2 stroke with hundreds of hours on it. Have the 6 Sailpro that’ hasn’t skipped a beat ever that gets used hard annually. And took the plunge on the 20 EFI last year for a dingy. It’s so odd how all owners experience is so differing.
I'm a 35-year liveaboard and have had 4 dinghies/outboards. My current outboard is a 10 yr old 30 hp Tohatsu that has served me flawlessly and continues to run perfectly. My worst dinghy was a Zodiac PVC and I'd avoid PVC at all cost. Invest a little more for Hypalon. Also, Dan's preferred dinghy is a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). RIBs are great, especially with higher horsepower outboards, however, they are heavy. Ribs are too heavy to land on a beach and drag out of the surf. My best dinghy was my first, that was a 13 ft hypalon Avon with an inflatable keel. I could land on a SoCal beach through surf and "walk" it onto the beach out of the surf and "walk" it to relaunch. With a 15 hp 2-stroke Yamaha (got stolen so I can't comment on longevity but was great for 4 years), the Avon was a rocket ship. Unfortunately, Zodiac bought Avon and ruined the brand and 2-strokes are illegal in California.
Yeah, hear lots of negative thibgs about Zodiac despitr the reputation. See a lot of zodiacs covered in patches and glue. There are tonnes of options. Ribs are crazy heavy but a small 9 or 10' isn't bad if you don't mind the splashing. I loved our 5 hp 2 stroke tohatsu but if i got a new one it would be all made of cheap materials from Asia. Tohatsu has gone down hill. You'll see what I mean when your choke or starter button just falls off for no reason :(
Still using the same Danny Green nesting dinghy I built in Ecuador in 2007 with a 3.5 hp 2-stroke. It sails better than it rows. Rows better than it motors and motors at about 4-5 knots. I service the outboard once a year myself. Full time cruising. 😊
I have had three of them, a 4hp for my tender and a 5hp sailpro on my 26 ft yacht. And use the 20hp efi at the sail club for our rescue boat, having had them for 7, 5 and 1 year i have never had any issues even leaving impellars in as i have year around usage on them...
The best and most prevalent outboard motor in the Caribbean was, is, and likely will remain for some time, the ubiquitous Yamaha 2 stroke with the 15HP being the most common on dinghies. There are parts available everywhere because all the locals use them as well. Pick one up anywhere along the way. We picked up our 2020 model in the Bahamas as we made our way south. $2200 is an excellent price for a brand new 15HP outboard. Additionally, the best modification I have made to our RIB was to install a fuel/water separator designed specifically for smaller outboard motors. Ours happens to be a Racor unit but there are others available. Keeping water out of the carb is a great start to keeping the motor running optimally!
your tip on the safety line is a great one. All your eggs in one basket at 60' isn't a great idea. very nice.
I'm on my 4th Tohatsu, never had an issue with any of them.
From my experience, four stroke outboards don't last long, whilst two strokes go on and on. Yamaha seem to be the better of the four strokes and weirdly enough the two strokes too.
An ascender isn't meant to be used to decend, clearly. To decend use a Gri gri or similar and gravity. I hear gravity is quite reliable.
We had that same problem with the dinghy in the Carribean, the glue melted, we had to replace the dinghy, we couldn’t even give the old one away,!
We are back home in Newfoundland but we need a new dinghy motor when we get back to St Martin in the Carribean.
We need a new 8- 9 hp outboard 2 stroke if we can get it. Should we get a tohatsu or a Yamaha? Tks
Ed
I don't know about the smaller tohatsu engines, but the 25 and up are tough. I have many friends that use them daily to commercial fish and they last many years. Probably a decade. These engines run most days all day. I don't think anyone can beat Yamaha outboards.
For a Dingy I think I would go electric. It’s obviously more expensive but look at epropulsion.
G'gay. If you have an lightweight dinghy, all you need is an 100 amp lithium ion battery witch can be recharged by solar when you are away from the dinghy and an 60 pound thrust electric trolling motor. I set my old tender in this manner and it worked just fine.
Advantage no feul no noise going past other boaters and no feul smell. And as no feul needed, you have more cargo space. Diavantage just do not ancour too far from the dinghy warf or beach.
Gerard. NSW AUSTRALIA.
Wowww Im from Habana Cuba thats good!!
You are either very unlucky, or your routine outboard preventative maintenance is questionable. I have run outboards for years - decades on both Tohatsu and Yamaha, without any major failures.
I guess it is hard to freshwater flush when extended cruising, but it is vital to longer reliability. Running on decent quality fuel and flushing fuel filter, applying fogging oil, and changing all sealed fluids/filters more often also helps. You may as well do bushings at same time also useful. Little and often is key. YMMV but just using tender engine and not flushing etc, is gonna impact 'reliabilty' perceptions.
Too many product categories in one episode. You should focus on one product category per episode, ex. one episode for dingy adhesive, another episode for dingy outboards. Otherwise, great presentation and great info.
Sounds like abysmal maintenance and limited mechanical skill.
ymmv