Re: small 4-strokes
Howdy, Alan. I don't think any one of the leading suppliers makes a bad motor in this range. Your choices, then, should be, 1. Two or four strokes? and 2. What supplier offers the best and most available service and parts in your area.<br /><br />1. Two or four strokes? Two strokes will usually be lighter, less expensive and accelerate better than same-hp 4 strokes. Everything else favors the 4 strokes. They will be smoother, quieter, cleaner, use less gas, be easier to maintain and more reliable. They are also easier to start, operate and control.<br /><br />Good fishing four strokes are offered by Honda, Yamaha, Tohatsu and Suzuki. Mercury sells Yamaha made units, Nissan sell Tohatsu made units and Evinrude sells Suzuki made units.<br /><br />Yamaha has the best dealer/service network and the best reputation, but their parts are VERY expensive. Tohatsu and Nissan dealers are rare and often don't offer service. Suzukis are very reliable but dealers aren't plentiful. Your best bet there would be to buy the Suzuki-made Evinrude. There must be Evinrude dealers on the moon, and they've had their wrenches trained by Suzuki trainers. Honda has been around for quite a while, but there aren't dealers on every corner and their reputation for service and parts availability is not up to the Yamaha/Merc/Evinrude gang.<br /><br />I have been VERY impressed by every 4 stroke outboard I have seen in operation. . . from 4 to 130hp. I now have a Suzuki DF70 EFI 4 stroke on Sunshine III.<br /><br />The above is almost all opinion, and some knowledgable people will disagree with parts of it. That's why we have so many choices.<br /><br />Have fun shopping.<br />JB
