Can someone please explain outboard motors to me ???
Seriously- not the monster 150 hp and up brutes- but a little kicker for a Jon boat- 3 to 9.9 hp. I can't see them as being more complex than a small mower. Many are air cooled. But the PRICE! Jesus wept!
Why does a small motor cost your firstborn child and a mortgage on your boat? Really- I profess my ignorance- can someone enlighten me?
Why does a small motor cost your firstborn child and a mortgage on your boat? Really- I profess my ignorance- can someone enlighten me?
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because they can, same for a larger motor up to 200hp, why should it be 2-5 times as much as a car motor???? guess you could say they come with the transmission though....... 0 -
It used to be around a hundred a horsepower, not anymore.
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Because boat owners have bottomless pockets. 3 -
Engineering for a production run of a few thousand is EXPENSIVE, boat motors are complex with a lot packed into a little space. A Lycoming 0320, a four cylinder opposed air cooled aircraft engine costs 50K new. 0 -
Starts at $44,750.....
https://www.boatingworld.com/engines/yamaha-xto-offshore-425/0 -
All outboards of today must meet 2006 emission standards. If you look at the advertising even 8 and 9.9 hp rope start motors are being built with fuel injection. As Bpost said boating is a small world. Very small outboard production runs. As the sales numbers dwindle down the prices will only go up. Ive been in the marine business for 42 years and Ive been saying for awhile that boating will become the same as owning an airplane. Far too expensive for most Americans. 3 -
Just remember, a boat is that hole in the water into which you throw money. 3 -
Boat motors are so complex now that the average owner can't work on them, even the smaller ones. I've got a 9.9 Evinrude from the early 70's, I know it inside and out.....it ain't going no where 
and it's as simple as an older B&S engine, very easy to work on.0 -
Airplane engines cost so much due to FAA certification and product liability insurance , at least that’s what I was taught . Boat motors from the 80’s and back are simple . Not a lot to go wrong in the smaller sizes . I had an old sears 3.5 hp that ran for years , 30 plus . It was a dead simple tecumseh 2 stroke
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They're not too bad to work on but they are a little more complicated than a lawn mower. I"ve got a 1957 Evinrude 5.5 hp and a 1966 3hp Johnson Seahorse that I've managed to keep running over the years. You don't want an air cooled outboard.chme said:I can't see them as being more complex than a small mower. Many are air cooled. But the PRICE! Jesus wept!
Why does a small motor cost your firstborn child and a mortgage on your boat? Really- I profess my ignorance- can someone enlighten me?
Evinrude 5.5 hp0 -
I don't think a 25K Bass Boat is going to break the bank. Of course I paid less than half that and got a new one with less than 9 hours on it. Should last my lifetime. 0 -
I have a buddy that replaced an old Mercury with a new Yamaha 250 4 stroke and I think he told me it was about 20 grand. 0 -
With prices like 40,000 for an entry level pontoon boat, motor and trailer, boating costs have skyrocketed. My local typical bass boat is an 18-20 ft boat with a 150-200 hp motor on it. Those start new at about 60,000. It used to be true that air cooled outboards were bad. The only modern outboard that I know of thats air cooled is the 2.3 hp Honda. Its the lightest outboard in its class and very reliable. Not a great motor for fisherman. It has a centrifical clutch for neutral and forward and even at the lowest throttle setting it idles way too fast for trolling. Smitty500mag the motors you have were built in a competitive marketplace with pride to be the best. They dont try to do that anymore. 0 -
Yep, you do not want air cooled.
The price of parts and rising costs of the small motors (40 Hp and down) is why i quit working on them.
I've got some Evinrudes/Johnson's from the 60's-70's that are easy to work on and just keep on running like the energizer Bunny with just little bit of TLC.
I've heard some outboards are not allowed being used on some waters now days due to Al Gore type pollution.
Heck, I also see some electric trolling motors that now days cost a arm and a leg.
I'm going to have to stop sayin, "What is this world coming to"
because it seems it's in the same category as "How Stupid can you get"
People take it as a challenge.
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got a little evinrude 4 cylinder that was grandads out in the shop...i think it dates to the 1930's 0 -
If it looks like this one it's a Evinrude Zephyr 5.4 hp made from 1940 to 1949. They were the smallest of the 4 cylinder outboards. When they were tuned they ran as smooth as silk but keeping them that way was not easy as they are a bear to work on.spasmcreeksrun said:got a little evinrude 4 cylinder that was grandads out in the shop...i think it dates to the 1930's0 -
I still have a small one from J C Penney that cost me less than one hundred Dollars around fifty years ago. Of course I was making less than $4/hr then.pulsarnc said:Airplane engines cost so much due to FAA certification and product liability insurance , at least that’s what I was taught . Boat motors from the 80’s and back are simple . Not a lot to go wrong in the smaller sizes . I had an old sears 3.5 hp that ran for years , 30 plus . It was a dead simple tecumseh 2 stroke
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Anybody remember the old Eska outboards? I cant remember if they were 2 strokes but they were air cooled and looked like lawn mower engines. 0 -
Ive got an Elgin 1946 1.5 HP that I got running last year. Weighs 17 pounds. Had the fun with it, gonna dump it. 0 -
Yeah- about those $25 boat motors- see anything wrong with that ad???
Cannot recall ever seeing a rope start 25 hp, and cannot recall seeing a 4 stroke with a 25-1 oil mix. And 2 stroke boat motors can no longer be imported to the US.0 -
chme said:Cannot recall ever seeing a rope start 25 hp
They made them back when men were men.
Here is a 1955 Johnson 25 hp with a rope start.
And here's a 30 hp 1956 Evinrude with a crank rope.0 -
Here is why they are expensive, look at the engineering needed to build just a few thousand of them.0
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buddyb said:Anybody remember the old Eska outboards? I cant remember if they were 2 strokes but they were air cooled and looked like lawn mower engines.
I had one for awhile, 2 stroke, 7.5 hp had to spin the motor backwards for reverse.
It was low hour but if you ever had seen or used a 5 hp Johnson/Evinrude you could tell this thing was a POS. Sounded more like a lawn mower running. I'm not sure but I seem to remember this one had a water pump, but not sure.
I've got a 1955 5 hp Johnson out in the shop, was running good when I hung it on the storage rack 15 years ago. It's the two hose gas tank type. Noticed awhile back just the two hose gas line connecter is a collectors item and people pay big bucks just for the connector and the gas tank is also a desirable collector item. I have two good 6 gallon two hose tanks. (the engine pressurizes the gas tank to force gas to the engine and a manual pump on the tank for starting when not pressurized. Also have a 40 hp evinrude electric/manual rope crank. I've had to rope crank it a few times. You have to get yourself mentally prepared for each pull of the rope on a 40 hp outboard. Companies would get sued out of business now days if they made such.
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I have a small 2 man plastic basstracker pontoon type johnboat, weighs less than 100 lbs. and only about 8ft long. I was looking for a small gas motor to troll with instead of having to carry two batteries. I got a small 1.5 hp tanaka boat motor from a truck driver who delivered at work. sounded like a weedeater running and only weighed about 6-7 lbs. only thing was it was old and a 2 stroke and had been sitting with gas in it for a few years. got it cleaned up and running only you had to play with the idle screws to get it to idle, then it wouldn't run wide open, if you adjusted it to run wide open it wouldn't idle or start. it was great for what I needed when I was musky fishing you could run all day on a quart to half gallon of gas, which was nowhere near as heavy as a battery, just could never get it to run right without having to fight with it, paid like $50 for it and sold it for $150, haven't seen one since.......... 0
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