Used 40hp two stroke value?

[boatboss]

I had one of those 40hp Tohatsu motors, I think mine was a 1990 model. I acquired it on an old fiberglass Starcraft runabout about 10 years ago. The guy who bought it before me didn't realize you couldn't run anything larger than 10hp on the lake here and subsequently got handed a fist full of tickets using that boat to tow several water skiers. The boat and trailer were a mess.
The motor had been repainted with what I guessed was dollar store blue paint. It had dozens of coats of paint on it. The guy tells me he had the water pump replaced, the carb rebuilt, and new plugs put in it when he got it a month prior. My concern though was only if the motor was any good.
He backs the boat up to a cut in half oil tank full of water, drops the motor down and reaches in the boat and it fires right up. The thing ran flawlessly in the tank.
After some haggling, I ended up with the whole mess for $900, (He was asking $1,500 in the ad). I towed the thing home and yanked the motor off it.
I then strip out the boat, keeping the dash plate with the ignition switch, and controls, (the controls were OMC twin stick style), I also got a fairly new fish finder out of the deal. I hung the motor on the back of a 17ft aluminum bass boat which I had bought at auction with a 70hp Evinrude with a stuck tilt and trim unit and broken skeg. It wasn't going to be a permanent solution but it ran and I wanted to use the boat while I tinkered with the 70hp in the garage.
The motor completely surprised me, it was as fast or faster than the 70hp that was on that boat before and far better on fuel. It didn't have t/t, but it pulled like a team of horses. I ran it that way for that year, then over the next winter I took the OMC controls from the 70hp and wired those to work with the Tohatsu. All it took was two universal cables to make them work. I cut the plug off the OMC controls at the motor and just hardwired the ignition, starter, and choke wires. I ran that boat through 2019, I sold it last April like an idiot when someone made me a good offer for it. A little more than a year later, with anther boat, I really wish I had kept that motor.
The 4 stroke Mercury on my current boat is a mess, its slow, heavy, and a constant headache and even when its running right, its not half as strong as that old Tohatsu.
If that one in the link above wasn't four hours away I'd dump this Merc and run that.
Used motors for some reason here have been scarce all year, there's not been more than a handful listed all year.
I see mostly older 2 strokes on the water here, most people I talk to say 2 stroke is the way to go, its lighter, cheaper, and faster. Plus, most simply can't afford what they want for a newer motor these days, maybe I'll see more of them when they get older and cheaper but I doubt it, I don't see them being worth fixing up after they get dumped for a replacement. Two strokes are just so much easier to get and keep running. It took owning a few to convince me but I'll likely never buy another four stroke.

 

[JimS123]

Its just sooooo funny how things differ, not only from people to people, but from one area to another.

In my area, 4-strokes are the new wave. Two-strokes are a thing of the past, partly because the boats they are on are all rotten, and partly because the local mechanics won't work on them any more.

Personally, I like to fix the old girls, but its just a hobby. After running a 4-stroke I ended up buying 4 more. Surely, I can fix the twos easy, but the problem is they always NEED fixing. My local 2-stroke mechanic seems to have the same boats in his yard week after week. I KNOW he's an awesome mechanic, so his customers must be breaking down continuously.

When I bought our new Searay in 2009, I was steered away from OBs in favor of an I/O. SeaRays come both ways. They finally ordered what I wanted. I had some custom work done, thus I had to deal with the Service Manager. He also lamented on the fact that I bought an OB 4-stroke. He said that they prefer to sell I/Os because they make most of their money on service, not boat sales. He said the OBs rarely come back, so they in effect lose money on them. They are a Master Mercury Dealer for all products.

But once again, its just awesome that so many different products are available so we all have a choice. When I was younger I had all 2-strokes. Now that I can afford it I have upgraded. I prefer to be out boating, rather than at home working on the motor.

My favorite 4-stroke is my 3.0 liter 150 HP Mercury outboard. Powerboats did a test on it and their conclusion (google it and read it) was that it had the acceleration and power band of a 2-stroke, while providing significantly better fuel economy. Compared with my old 3.0 liter I/O on a lighter boat, there is no comparison.

That's my opinion. If yours is different, go with it....
We should all have what we like.

 

[boatboss]

My first boat was an I/O, and it was my last. It was nothing but problems from the day I got it. bellows cracking and leaking, shift cable issues, saltwater damage to the block, and constant issues with the steering, shift cables, and wood rot.
I soon moved onto aluminum boats, no more fiberglass, no more stern drives.

Its hard to say whether the lack of newer motors here is by choice or just a matter of budget issues. For me, I can't afford new motors or boats, most of my boats were free or close to it. Most of my motors are mostly built out of junk parts or motors I found at estate sales or auctions. Certain motors seem to be really sought after here, the 9.9/15hp OMC motors are at the top of the list, then probably older Mercury 50hp four cylinder two strokes, then the 18-20hp OMC motors from the 80's. Force motors are still pretty common as well, I own several myself and run a 15hp Sears Gamefisher in the upper river. You can't beat how light they are.
Other than ethanol induced issues, I haven't had any motor issues with my two strokes.
The few used four strokes I've seen have all been big motors and most are in need of major repairs.

 

[slowleak]

I think the lack of newer motors or four strokes isn't completely due to any of the above, I think most people here will buy what ever is cheap. A few may well prefer a four stroke but unless it comes along to them for less than a two stroke or simply within their budget, they simply don't have the money to spend.
I was watching an ad for a Mercury 9.9 four stroke, the ad said it belonged to the seller's father who passed away. The motor looked like new, he had no clue how to start it, had no tank, no fuel line, just the motor. In the pic it looked like a new motor, he was asking $350. The ad was up for 9 weeks that i know of. I thought about going to get it and flipping it, but didn't have $350 to gamble on a motor I didn't need. I finally told a buddy about it and he went and got it this morning for $300 cash. He just stopped by with it, and my guess is the thing is brand new, maybe never saw gas through it. It still had the tags on it from the dealer showroom. I bad part is that it weighs more than my 25hp Johnson 2 stroke.
My buddy said it started up on the second pull when he put gas to it, it ran find and pumped water. He said the seller told him after he bought it that he was the first person to actually show up and look at it after dozens of emails and low ball offers. It turned out that the guy really didn't know anything about motors, and didn't care, he just wanted it gone.
I think if it were 10 years ago, that motor, or any motor would have been gone in hours, now its as if no one boats or wants anything to do with boats or motors these days.

 

[JimS123]

Go to any marina and all of the new boats come with 4-strokes. That's partly because the govt outlawed 2-strokes.

Also, at all those marinas the pickins are slim. With boat loans out to 15 years and covid changing what we do, boats are in high demand.

I/Os are not in favor any more either. Mercury Marine shut down one of their I/O lines and opened another OB line.

My 2 local marine dealers are just about out of new OBs. With new boat manufacturers having priority, a good percentage of the production goes there first. These dealers won't even take a 2-stroke in trade, nor will they service one.

I'm sure that SOME people are looking for cheap, while others want what they consider is best because they can afford it.

Based on the crowded waterways in my area on weekends, to me it appears that EVERYONE boats and wants to buy one.

 

[slowleak]

The one dealer I was at here last week looked like it was dying, they had left over motors from two years ago and the place was empty.
Just about everyone I know fishes and has a boat, or three. Only I and one other guy ever owned a four stroke, and those were small motors.
I'd venture to guess that the average boat owner around here has never bought a new boat, me included, and never will. The way we all got our boats is to find a cheap hull, fix up a trailer, and find a cheap motor that runs or can be made to run for cheap. There's is absolutely no way I'd ever spend what they want for a new motor or new boat these days, I'd fish from the shore instead or give up fishing first. Spending a couple grand on a new motor is not an option, I drive a $500 truck, and live on a minimal fixed income. Its all I can do to afford gas and registration for the boat and trailer these days.
Most guys I know are in the same situation. There's either no work or they're too old to work, taxes and expenses exceed what they make and its getting worse.
For the most part there's been two types of folks at the boat ramp lately, its either families with some old battle scarred stern drive bowrider loaded up with a dozen toys and a half dozen kids, or its old men with patched up fishing boats and and what ever outboard they could patch up to get them there and back.
One buddy runs a home made 4hp on a 17ft flat bottom jon boat, he bought the boat for $100 wrecked, he hammered it out and patched all the holes, and hes got a 4hp Briggs & Stratton motor rigged atop an older Yamaha mid and lower that he found at the junk yard. It goes about 10 mph if there's no wind. He's been using that motor for at least the past 15 years. He thinks my Starcraft is too fancy and that my 35 year old Force 15hp will never last. We both carry spare motors, I've got a 4hp Evinrude tucked under the bow just in case and he's got a 3hp Gale from the 50's that he can use if the main motor won't start. (The fuel tank on his Gale is cracked and every patch he's tried has failed, so he abandoned the onboard tank and took a paint thinner can, soldered a bracket to the side, and it hangs off the side of the motor with a piece of copper tubing sticking out of it going to the motor. Its been like that longer than I've known him). If all else fails, there's always the oars. Theres one guy who has an old glass skiff from Sears, its only rated for something like 7.5hp or such, he runs the original Ted Williams motor it came with but it loses spark when it gets hot, so he carries a second Eska 2hp which he uses while the other motor cools down. When it does, he switches back to the 7.5hp. We offered him a good used 5hp Johnson but he prefers to keep doing what has worked for him for the past 40 years or so.
You can't change how guys like that think, and them, nor I, will ever be buyers of new motors, and from what I've seen lately, their the only guys still out fishing these days.
I'm sure there will come a point when there's nothing left but old four strokes to fix up on the cheap, but that day isn't here yet, and from the way things look around here, it won't likely happen in my lifetime.