Best outboard you ever owned?

[fsskier]

The little twin cylinder OMC engines have a lot of fans, reliable for years, easy starting and an excellent cost/reward ratio.

My all time favorite though.... a 1977 Evinrude 75 hp, 3 cyl, 49 cubes. Enough power (on a 15 foot hull) to pull adult slalom skiers, both kids learned to barefoot... the doggone thing just loved to rev beyond 6,000.

But the best part: absolutely perfect starting, warm, cold, wet, full throttle run out of gas, switch tanks and an instant restart. My (then) 12 year old daughter would take it to the other end of the lake (14 miles), spend the day and return with no worries. One weekend we gave the battery to friends with a Mastercraft that had battery failure because even a young girl could rope start the 75 horse, first time every time.

Of course our new ETECS all seem to start and run like that, but it was amazing in the 70's.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: fsskier
The little twin cylinder OMC engines have a lot of fans, reliable for years, easy starting and an excellent cost/reward ratio.

My all time favorite though.... a 1977 Evinrude 75 hp, 3 cyl, 49 cubes. Enough power (on a 15 foot hull) to pull adult slalom skiers, both kids learned to barefoot... the doggone thing just loved to rev beyond 6,000.

But the best part: absolutely perfect starting, warm, cold, wet, full throttle run out of gas, switch tanks and an instant restart. My (then) 12 year old daughter would take it to the other end of the lake (14 miles), spend the day and return with no worries. One weekend we gave the battery to friends with a Mastercraft that had battery failure because even a young girl could rope start the 75 horse, first time every time.

Of course our new ETECS all seem to start and run like that, but it was amazing in the 70's.


Strange, As far as I know , those 3 cyl engines had the (then new) non-crowned pistons and relied on a loop gas flow to exhaust and charge the cyls, It was my impression from hearsay (never having had one) that they did not work that well.

 

[Blaze]

I remember back in the 60's and fishing with my grandfather and he had an outboard that said "Atwater" on the cover. I remember the name because when we were kids we would swim around the boat and laugh at the brand name thinking it was kind of strange or something. This motor was handed down to my grandfather by his dad. Not sure when it was built? but it started and ran great and remember my grandfather and dad saying what a great little motor it had been for our family over the years.

 

[fsskier]

Yes, the three cylinder in line was one of the first loop charged engines.... the 75 hp was the highest output version.

It started so fast that my son never learned that you had to hold the key over for a couple of seconds to start a car- when he got his permit.

The Evinrude had always started instantly, kind of like a push button start. He had never had to crank it in 4 years of using it!! Sadly, we outgrew the boat... my son grew tall and strong, and his required barefoot speed rose to 40 mph... about 4 mph more than the best efforts of the 75 hp, when loaded. Barefooters pull hard!

 

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted By: Blaze
I remember back in the 60's and fishing with my grandfather and he had an outboard that said "Atwater" on the cover. I remember the name because when we were kids we would swim around the boat and laugh at the brand name thinking it was kind of strange or something. This motor was handed down to my grandfather by his dad. Not sure when it was built? but it started and ran great and remember my grandfather and dad saying what a great little motor it had been for our family over the years.


That was a Scott. I believe it was Scott McCullough, then Scott Atwater, then Flying Scott. That was a long time ago so I'm not sure of the name order. They had a self bailing feature with a tube running to the engine that sucked water out of the bottom of the boat.
Their 3 cylinder 75, the first 3 cylinder I think, was a screamer.....when it ran.

Of ancient vintage the straight six 115 Merc was pretty bulletproof. My best ever was a Yamaha 150 Pro V two stroke, just one awesome machine that never ever screwed up in years of use and abuse.

 

[MNgopher]

Best is the 1974 (I believe..) Johnson 6hp. That little engine has pushed around a 14' aluminum fishing boat every year since it was bought with so little maintenance it isn't funny. Don't laugh at the stripped down fishing boat!

We also have a 76 Johnson 55hp that has been more troublesome as of late. My theory is it doesn't get used enough. Hard starts at times.

The 85 Johnson 20 hp has been a good motor as well. Running 50:1 in all three using regular (ethanol) 87 octane and whatever outboard oil is on sale (though there is a brand or two that seem to smoke more than others...)

 

[Warlord]

Picked up a 1984 evinrude 9.9 yesterday for my 1436 Jon boat. Should move good!

 

[Warlord]

I pulled the 1957 evinrude lightwin 3 horse out of the shed today. Plunked it in a garbage can full of water and fired it up on the first pull. Best motor ever.

 

[boraticus]

My outboard history and evaluation:

1977 - 2 h.p. Evinrude

Rough running and noisy but simple and reliable. I've only had to clean and adjust the carb as well as replace pull start rope a couple times since buying it new.

1963 - 3.9 h.p. Mercury

Hard starting and rough running even after carb/electrics work. Unremarkable at best traded it for a...


1959 OMC 12 h.p. Viking. Good engine until it bent a connecting rod five miles from home and getting near dark. Rowed the rest of the way back to camp. Fixed it and sold it for $200.00 to buy a...


1976 used Johnson 15 h.p. I always said it was a 15 going on 5 h.p. It was plain sucked out despite having decent compression, carb cleaned/rebuilt, fuel pump replaced, points and condensers replaced. I gave it to my neighbour at camp and we used his fuel tank and line. That seemed to have improved the performance somewhat. Now it's closer to a 15 going on 10 h.p. He's happy with it. Works better than his totally thrashed 1960ish Chyrysler 20 h.p.


1986 Suzuki 15 h.p. two stroke

This is one fantastic engine. Its more like a 15 going on 20 h.p. Very strong runner but not a very good trolling engine. Very lumpy at low rpms. I bought it new and have used it every season for the lat 25 years with absolutely no problems. I have since relegated it to my 14' aluminum for guests to use. I replaced it with a...


2004 Yamaha 20 h.p. two stroke

Other than the weight, this is the best performing engine I've owned. Lots of power, smooth running and very quiet. Trolls way better than the Suzuki and it's much easier to pull start.


2006 Yamaha 8 h.p. two stroke

I picked this engine up used for a song. It's in near mint condition. My neighbour at camp has a couple kids (boy 12, girl 10) who love to fish but are too young for the bigger outboards so I bought the 8 h.p. just for them. I bought in January and I've yet to run it. Not sure how it will perform. However, being a Yamaha, I'm certain it will be a fine engine.

 

[Michael_P]

What????? No Force outboards????

 

[nomochevys]

My family had a 1969 Evinrude 55 hp in line 3 that we ran the guts out of on a 16 ft Cobia boat. Never had the first problem with it. Not fast but it would pull one adult slalom skier. I skied hundreds of miles behind that boat.

I had a 88 merc 100 that was a dud. It was the first year for that motor. I had a 88 merc 200 that was a good motor and it had the stew run out of it.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: Michael_P
What????? No Force outboards????


Nope.

No Honda, Tohatsu/Nissan either.

I do have a buddy with two late 80s Force outboards. I think they're 50 h.p. and Force/Mercury products. One runs. The other he bought dirt cheap for parts. He was told that it had a burnt cylinder. He pulled the head off and there is no indication of cylinder damage at all. It looks like it could easily be a runner too.

 

[gotnogunk]

I,ve owned two of the 3 cyl design,one Evinrude and one Mercury both 70 hp,both were very dependable, the Evinrude was a little smoother at idle.I think the 3 carbs vs 2 different size on the Mercuty was the reason. The mid 50s 15-18 hp were great old engines.

 

[callbay]

Had two favorites.

An old white straight 6 cyl Merc. 85 HP. I started it all the time with the recoil starter. Skied a ton with it on a 15 1/2 foot Carver wood boat. I saved a brass two bladed prop I now use as a "prop" at home.

#2 was a new 200HP Johnson v/6 about a 1978 on a 17 1/2 foot Invader deep V. It was only rated for 150 HP so it was very fast and fun.

 

[nitehawk55]

1958 35HP Johnson on the back of my Giesler 18' cedar strip runabout . Moved the boat well and you could troll with it all day......purred like a kitten

Towed it with my 58 Impala coupe.....looked great !

 

[Slick17601]

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
1958 35HP Johnson on the back of my Giesler 18' cedar strip runabout . Moved the boat well and you could troll with it all day......purred like a kitten

Towed it with my 58 Impala coupe.....looked great !


I would loved to see a picture, hitched up and ready to head to the lake.

 

[FZ1]

1996 9.9 Evinrude 2 stroke. Very robustly built. Very powerful for the rating. I prefer a 4 blade Solas to the oem prop. Cool down here,today,think I'm Gonna wash,wax,then grease it up. I Luv my little motor.

 

[[email protected]]

I had a Nissan 9.9 two-stroke that was just the bees knees...

Would get my 11' Inflatable on plane with 2 people in it. Super quiet, little smoke, very very smooth.

 

[lars11]

A 30 hp Mariner from ca 85. Made by yamaha, still kept outdoors. We use it like 5 hrs every year. Starts easily all the time since we bought it used in 1990. Incredible engine.

 

[NHHEMI]

I bought a new 30HP Evinrude 2-stroke in 1997 that was a great motor. My main use of my boat is waterfowl hunting so 95%+ of the use is Oct-Feb. That 2-stroke fired right up with no more than 2 pulls ever needed and ran great even when it was well below zero. No issues at all in the 5 years I had it. I only sold it as I moved to a bigger boat and it was not powerful enough.

Replaced it with my current 2002 Mercury 40HP EFI 4-stroke and until last fall it was the best motor I have ever had and even bested the 97 Evinrude. I had to replace a thermostat and a waterpump( my fault - lots of low tide running sucks up sand and mud )but otherwise nothing but routine maintenance.

Last fall however the motor [censored] out on me during a hunt and I had a horrible time getting back to the launch( rowing a 1500+ lbs boat when you have MS is NOT fun! ). It was an electronic control on it( ECM )that failed and it cost me $1200+ to get it fixed. I almost passed out when I got the bill. The entire motor only cost $4300 new and a brand new 2011 is only $5100.

That right there just knocks it way down. $940( part )for a little electronic box smaller than my wallet is unacceptable. Add on that it took 2 months for Mercury to get the part to the marina and I just have a sour feeling for the motor now. While it is fixed I now question how reliable it will be? I worry that the same issue will crop up and cost me another $1200.

I went from having complete and total faith that no matter how nasty it is out( i.e. cold, snow, sleet, etc... ), no matter how rough the water may be, etc... that my motor wouldn't let me down. Now that it has I can't help wondering when it will do it again? I hate to sound crazy but when you use your boat in the conditions I do reliability is a must. A coastal tidal marsh is no place to get stranded in the middle of Jan or Feb trust me.