6hp 1971 Evinrude, worth getting?

[film495]

I have an old 68 3hp, and I've done maintenance on it over the years. old family motor, and it runs better that it ever has last few years. I saw an ad for a 71 6hp, were those build well too? I would assume so, but different years and hp motors can have inherent weaknesses or problems. The recoil on the thing seems odd. The one of the 3hp works good, but it is a different mechanism, and is kind of a pain. The 6hp recoil, never seen anything look like that, is the recoil mechanism a problem on these motors? or some other common weak spot to know about?

 

[racerone]

That 6 HP is one of the sweetest running motors you can find.-----That recoil is common from about 1965 to 79 6 HP models.-----And a similar unit was used up to 1992 as well.----Beware of lower unit bushing above the pinion gear.-----Easily damaged if water got in.

 

[cyclops222]

At that age ? Use it until it fails. We have brand new motors waiting for brand new parts.
Mix the correct oil and oil ratio. Carry a NEW correctly gapped sparkplug and sparkplug wrench. Enjoy reliability. As you tow a new boat & motor to shore. It happens.

 

[film495]

I know an 8hp will plane a 12 foot rowboat with me in it. Will the 6hp do that, barely? I weigh about 270, so - I might try to scale up to an 8hp. If I remember correctly, it was slow to get up on plane, even with the 8hp. I might see about a boat, motor, trailer package that has an 84 8hp Johnson, 14 foot Mirrocraft.

I think the 6 might do it, but maybe not. With 300 lbs of person and gear, will an 6hp outboard plane out? How about 600 lbs? Guess it depends on the boat, but planing is planing, and it has to be strong enough to get it up out of the water, or they just drag and never plane. Would hate to lug an old motor around like that. It would be motor abuse ... lol If it won't plane, I'd just assume have a 3 or 4 hp motor, they are lighter and easier to carry and move around.