What kind of motor (used) for an SIB for decent performance?

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
I am still in the process of deciding which inflatable to buy. Hopefully I will make the decision over this weekend / July 4th.

What kind of a motor should I buy for decent performance? Electric or Gas? I am not looking for high speed racing in the lake, but a decent speed. Also, if I buy used what are some of the things I should look out for? Where are some places were I can buy used motors other than Craigslist or ebay?

Also, will a gas motor be portable since I am not planning to have a trailer? Thanks.

My budget is very limited; so I want to look for the cheapest option.
 
Last edited:

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Kind of a mix of questions and answers.

​If you want to go anywhere quickly, then electric isn't an option, it's relatively slow compared to gas.

​A gas motor might be easier to use because depending on the motor you buy it may weigh less than a battery, and you will most likely need two batteries if you want to stay on the water very long.

​There is no cheap option, they all cost money, the more reliability and performance you want, the more money it will cost.
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
Yep, will agreed on that, best top performance has a investment cost. Who said boating was a cheap sport...

Happy Boating
 

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
Sorry, I may have not been very clear. I didn't mean top performance; i just need something decent. I see that there are many motors under 6 hp. Would those be better than electric motors?

Also, what should I pay attention if I buy used.
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
If going for a Tohatsu or rebadged brands would recommend going up to a 9.8 HP if 2 strokes are available, both 6-8- 9.8 weights exact same. If going for 4 strokes, 4-5-6 weights exact same. other alternative with same weight are 8-9.8 OB's Buying second hand OB's could result buying a Pandora OB, if going that route, buy an OB that comes with some warranty from dealer/seller and preferably new models, stay away from Jurassic OB's.

A gasoline OB has more autonomy than any electric OB and are faster...

Happy Boating
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Sorry, I may have not been very clear. I didn't mean top performance; i just need something decent. I see that there are many motors under 6 hp. Would those be better than electric motors?

​Any gas motor will outperform an electric, but what you mean by "decent performance" is still not being specific, do you want to move around at 5mph, get on plane with just you, or three people and gear. An electric won't plane the boat no matter what you do, and since we don't know what size boat you'll eventually buy we can't say what motor is needed to get "decent performance".
 

JohnnyRudeClassics

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
80
Welcome to the world of SIB'n
and good luck to you on your
path to finding a boat you will
totally enjoy.

If you would like to start feeling the wind in your hair on a calm day,
you are going to want something that can, relatively easily,
get up on plane and go 15+/- mph when you throttle back.
E.G. 365 / 390 cm class sib and a 15 or 18 HP 2-Stroke.

I was able to put together such a rig for under a grand,
but that was back when iBoats was clearing out a surplus 365 cm ChinaSIB model for 700 big ones.
....RedStar Marine - zRay 500 Buccaneer (JiLong)

And then I found a "Jurassic" 1962 10 HP Evinrude Sportwin
that I bought and was able to restore to perfect running condition for under 200 clams
(including fuel tank and line).
(SeaRider always has the best humor -- this was actually what we call a "barn find")
(my main knock against these "obsolete outboards", they are not from an era where
the concept of being green was really in the social consciousness at all
and hence emit lots of un-burnt fuel and uncontrolled oil(s) )

The 10 HP mostly was mostly fine, but was under powered under certain circumstances,
especially compared to mounting up a 1992 15 HP Mercury (brother's OB)
or a "Juriassic" 1962 Evinrude Fastwin (I did this one for under $250).
I would have kept the chinaSIB except the transom was only rated for a 10 HP OB,
and so for liability concerns,
I swayed away from operating the boat all the time with that 18 HP Evinrude,
eventually selling it (now my only "SIB" is actually a Stand Up Paddleboard).

Unless you are mechanically competent and able to do a thorough per-inspection yourself,
I totally agree with SeaRider in that you should stay away from
old used outboards as any work on them quickly adds up to more than the motors will
fetch on the open market, if not open up the proverbial "Pandora's Box"
or maybe the box of worms at the very least.

Starting out, I really did not want to wrench on outboards as much as I wanted to go
cruise around, but I ended up totally gear heading out on the outboards. It actually
became a bigger hobby than going boating. You could even say I had a habit. Not
as bad as the antique outboard motor guys with their 100's of motors, but at one
point I had 5 outboards and a trolling motor. I'm better now, sold off everything.
Though one day, I might get a 2 hp for my square stern canoe.

If you have the stomach, stay away from anything other than the OMC products
.... ( primarily Johnson & Evinrude, maybe Gale, and possibly badge engineered derivatives )
&&&
there are some very nice articles on
DuckWorks by Max Wawrzyniak about Obsolete OMC outboards
and then there is that Leroy's Ramblings website which has
a very comprehensive set of articles that cover the older
Johnson and Evinrude outboards
(and of course use Google to search all you can on the topic)

If you find a solid motor in this class, pre ~1973, and learn
how to maintain them, there not a better bargain to be had in an outboard.
For one thing these motors have the OMC universal ignition ( magneto
/ breaker points ) which you can totally rebuild yourself for about
the cost it would take the shop to take the cover off your outboard.
Other than the prudence of an annual tune up, water pump
impeller change, and maybe a quickie carb clean up, there is little to
keeping these motors running another 50 years ( as long as you are
willing to correctly premix the fuel and not totally beat on them )



cheers,

JRC
 
Last edited:

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
Welcome to the world of SIB'n
and good luck to you on your
path to finding a boat you will
totally enjoy.

If you would like to start feeling the wind in your hair on a calm day,
you are going to want something that can, relatively easily,
get up on plane and go 15+/- mph when you throttle back.
E.G. 365 / 390 cm class sib and a 15 or 18 HP 2-Stroke.

I was able to put together such a rig for under a grand,
but that was back when iBoats was clearing out a surplus 365 cm ChinaSIB model for 700 big ones.
....RedStar Marine - zRay 500 Buccaneer (JiLong)

And then I found a "Jurassic" 1962 10 HP Evinrude Sportwin
that I bought and was able to restore to perfect running condition for under 200 clams
(including fuel tank and line).
(SeaRider always has the best humor -- this was actually what we call a "barn find")
(my main knock against these "obsolete outboards", they are not from an era where
the concept of being green was really in the social consciousness at all
and hence emit lots of un-burnt fuel and uncontrolled oil(s) )

The 10 HP mostly was mostly fine, but was under powered under certain circumstances,
especially compared to mounting up a 1992 15 HP Mercury (brother's OB)
or a "Juriassic" 1962 Evinrude Fastwin (I did this one for under $250).
I would have kept the chinaSIB except the transom was only rated for a 10 HP OB,
and so for liability concerns,
I swayed away from operating the boat all the time with that 18 HP Evinrude,
eventually selling it (now my only "SIB" is actually a Stand Up Paddleboard).

Unless you are mechanically competent and able to do a thorough per-inspection yourself,
I totally agree with SeaRider in that you should stay away from
old used outboards as any work on them quickly adds up to more than the motors will
fetch on the open market, if not open up the proverbial "Pandora's Box"
or maybe the box of worms at the very least.

Starting out, I really did not want to wrench on outboards as much as I wanted to go
cruise around, but I ended up totally gear heading out on the outboards. It actually
became a bigger hobby than going boating. You could even say I had a habit. Not
as bad as the antique outboard motor guys with their 100's of motors, but at one
point I had 5 outboards and a trolling motor. I'm better now, sold off everything.
Though one day, I might get a 2 hp for my square stern canoe.

If you have the stomach, stay away from anything other than the OMC products
.... ( primarily Johnson & Evinrude, maybe Gale, and possibly badge engineered derivatives )
&&&
there are some very nice articles on
DuckWorks by Max Wawrzyniak about Obsolete OMC outboards
and then there is that Leroy's Ramblings website which has
a very comprehensive set of articles that cover the older
Johnson and Evinrude outboards
(and of course use Google to search all you can on the topic)

If you find a solid motor in this class, pre ~1973, and learn
how to maintain them, there not a better bargain to be had in an outboard.
For one thing these motors have the OMC universal ignition ( magneto
/ breaker points ) which you can totally rebuild yourself for about
the cost it would take the shop to take the cover off your outboard.
Other than the prudence of an annual tune up, water pump
impeller change, and maybe a quickie carb clean up, there is little to
keeping these motors running another 50 years ( as long as you are
willing to correctly premix the fuel and not totally beat on them )



cheers,

JRC

Thanks. That's a lot of information for a newbie. I appreciate the detail. The more I read about these, I think I may just stick with electric motor.
 

jogirob

Cadet
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
13
Just got a 1986 Johnson 15hp 2 stroke. The previous owner took good care of it. Those 2 strokes are pretty light and easy to manhandle from the truck bed to the transom and back. A lower powered 2 stroke gas will get you decent performance over electric. From what I've read the 86-?? Johnson/Evinrude motors have good parts availabilty because little changed during all those years.
 

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
Just got a 1986 Johnson 15hp 2 stroke. The previous owner took good care of it. Those 2 strokes are pretty light and easy to manhandle from the truck bed to the transom and back. A lower powered 2 stroke gas will get you decent performance over electric. From what I've read the 86-?? Johnson/Evinrude motors have good parts availabilty because little changed during all those years.

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for the used 1986 Johnson 15 hp? The SIB that I am getting is rated for 15 hp and I may eventually try to get one of these. Thanks.
 

jogirob

Cadet
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
13
The Craigslist ad asked for $1200 but I talked him down to $1100 for both the SIB and the motor. Around here (Sacramento, CA) a similar SIB goes $700-800. So that means I got the motor for around $400-500. A lower HP 2 stroke will be cheaper and lighter. Plenty more powerful than an electric.
 

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
The Craigslist ad asked for $1200 but I talked him down to $1100 for both the SIB and the motor. Around here (Sacramento, CA) a similar SIB goes $700-800. So that means I got the motor for around $400-500. A lower HP 2 stroke will be cheaper and lighter. Plenty more powerful than an electric.

Now that you mentioned Sacramento, CA, I am in the same area as well. I have been scavenging craigslist for a few days before I purchased the Saturn XD430. Where do you normally take your boat? This is my first boat, so I am looking for good places to go around the area.
 

jogirob

Cadet
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
13
Now that you mentioned Sacramento, CA, I am in the same area as well. I have been scavenging craigslist for a few days before I purchased the Saturn XD430. Where do you normally take your boat? This is my first boat, so I am looking for good places to go around the area.

Broderick boat ramp is nearby and I don't need to wrench on any straps to transport the boat. One of the floating docks is incomplete and boaters typically ignore that side because it's too shallow to moore. It goes into the water just enough for inflatables though.
 

boatlova'

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
78
There is a 2012 Mercury 9.8 hp outboard with low hours (less than an hour) and sitting inthe garage for sale here locally for $1250. Is that a good price given everything works on it?

By the way, my boat is a Saturn XD430 - 14 feet long with a max hp rating of 15 hp.
 
Last edited:

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Prices on outboards vary a great deal, it all depends on location, and NADA pricing may not reflect the actual value where you live.

​$1250 isn't great, and it's not bad either, just kind of average.
 
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