chinese air cooled outboards

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I have a 12 foot aluminum hull that I use to run jug lines in the bayou near my house. I normally use a 2.5 Mariner water cooled, but the bayou has gotten full of lilies lately and I dont want to run into problems overheating. I was looking on ebay and saw they have some 2.5-4 hp air cooled 2 stroke and 4 stroke outboards, chinese made and pretty cheap, for 200-500 bucks. Does anyone own one or have any experience with one? would I be better off with the 2 stroke or 4 stroke?
 
I would use what the locals are using, imho. Lots of folks down there have the right equipment...
 
This is crazy.

With a boat you pay twice, you buy the boat, then you buy the motor! I would only buy Chinese from a known brand. What about service? Such a bad ideal.
 
Honda makes an air cooled outboard motor. It isn’t close in price to the Chinese outboards of course. I would not want to be out in gator country with a boat motor of unknown reliability.
 
Many years ago I had a 12 foot "tin" boat powered by a 5 HP Eska motor. The Eska was air cooled, two stroke and dead reliable in shallow, weedy areas. The Eska was USA made and really well made, probably no longer in business.

If a Chinese 2 stroke is available cheap enough to gamble on, I would try it. I have a little Horrible Freight 2 stroke generator that gives amazing service for only 90 bucks. I have gotten 15 years of reliable service out of 2 stroke OPE using Amsoil Saber oil. Other synthetic oils may do as well, I started using Amsoil cause my Dad liked it.

As far as getting stranded, I took my little tin boat camping 30 miles across Rehoboth bay without a thought. Cell phones had not been invented yet, but I always carried food, water, tent, and a CB walkie talkie.
 
Well aware of the equipment the "locals" are using, all you hear down here during duck season are Gator Tails and Pro Drives screaming. I was born and raised down here, 100% Cajun.

While I am in Gator Country, this particular bayou, Bayou Lafourche, runs 100 feet from my front door so if I were to break down its an easy paddle back to the wharf.

My reason for not wanting to spend a lot is the boat is an old riveted aluminum hull that we found floating in the bayou, we fixed the leaks with flex seal, its full of dents. It just an old rugged boat that we use in the bayou, never go more than 3 or 4 miles from the house.
 
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Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
This is crazy.

With a boat you pay twice, you buy the boat, then you buy the motor! I would only buy Chinese from a known brand. What about service? Such a bad ideal.


500 for a new engine that almost surely won’t last then where will you get any parts? Just don’t do it! For the same and less you can get a good older 2 stroke like Suzuki, mercury, evinrude , Johnson. You can get parts got any of those unlike the HF special. Hit Craig’s list and don’t buy anything that you don’t see running. Also check compression and lower gear case. For some reason no one changes the gear Oil year like there supposed to
 
I second the craigslist suggestion and look for Eska, eska also made Sears,Ted Williams,JC penney,Sea King outboards.The larger ones are Tecumseh power heads.You can find 2hp up 7.5hp for anywhere from 50-250 dollars.Air cooled for a lot of them,others water or hybrid versions.Good Luck
 
Originally Posted By: mobilaltima
I have a 12 foot aluminum hull that I use to run jug lines in the bayou near my house. I normally use a 2.5 Mariner water cooled, but the bayou has gotten full of lilies lately and I dont want to run into problems overheating. I was looking on ebay and saw they have some 2.5-4 hp air cooled 2 stroke and 4 stroke outboards, chinese made and pretty cheap, for 200-500 bucks. Does anyone own one or have any experience with one? would I be better off with the 2 stroke or 4 stroke?


Perhaps you have at this point, but there's a bunch of Youtube videos of these eBay Chinese outboards in use. Some water cooled 2-strokes, some air, some 4-strokes. Typical China cheapo issues that you'd expect for the price. For just a backup or fun motor, I wouldn't have an issue owning one at all. Heck, they come with a spare recoil assembly and water pump impeller! LOL. Parts are available mail-order.
 
I'm with the OP. Found boat. Only a few miles to go one way. Why not?

I'm not a friend of the Chinese, but hey - this is an application for a throw away motor
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This stuff about all the HF OPE is that it's poorly lubed. My neighbors get that stuff and complain when it quits... I pull the drain plugs and some real yuck comes out. For those in the know, we now just flush and change to USA lubes, and the HF Chinese stuff runs and runs.

You can get a 4-stroke Lifan 7.5 HP ball bearing crank engine with a starter motor for $200. Son is doing a generator project for a friend and we have been all through that engine (new). It's really well put together.

I had a USA Clinton 2-stroke air-cooled 5 1/2 HP outboard back in the day. It was not much to write home about. Ended up in the dump in 2 years. I'd say the Chinese motor will prolly be at least equal to that Clinton ... I'd do it for what you want.

OBTW - leaky old tin boats do real well on bed-liner. Scrub them up real good on the inside. Bang out the big dents and spray them with an Al's kit (eBay). I like the gray. Non-skid and easy enough to do. Makes good tight work-boats that are quieter on the water and easy to move around in
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