Re: M_Boats: montgomery_boats Digest, Vol 212, Issue 7
Continuing my earlier email about finding the right motor for my M17. Does anyone have any experience with the Tohatsu 3.5HP 4 cycle engine? Is it powerful enough? Is its powerhead too big to tilt up completely on a fixed motor mount? (I did manage to do a complete refurbishing of my old Evinrude 4hp which came with the boat, and it is now running well. So I am not in a hurry to change; but this Tohatsu engine has caught my eye as a good choice.) Thanks, Andrei.
All 4-cycle motors will be a challenge to tilt up on the fixed mounts. A 3.5 hp is fine for a M17. :: Dave Scobie :: M6'8" #650 :: SV SWALLOW - sv-swallow.com :: former owner M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com :: former owner M15 #288 SCRED - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred/ On Mon, Oct 19, 2020, 7:15 AM Andrei Caldararu via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Continuing my earlier email about finding the right motor for my M17.
Does anyone have any experience with the Tohatsu 3.5HP 4 cycle engine? Is it powerful enough? Is its powerhead too big to tilt up completely on a fixed motor mount?
(I did manage to do a complete refurbishing of my old Evinrude 4hp which came with the boat, and it is now running well. So I am not in a hurry to change; but this Tohatsu engine has caught my eye as a good choice.)
Thanks, Andrei.
As Dave says the question would be whether it can tilt up on your fixed mount. If there's a Tohatsu dealer in your vicinity with a 3.5hp in stock, you may be able to test it out, if you haul your boat to their store. Having seen the motor in person myself, I'd say odds are not good it will tilt, but I've only seen pictures of your mount so couldn't be sure. Should be plenty of HP for an M17. As I said, if I wasn't a minimalist I would probably have bought the Tohatsu 3.5hp instead of the Honda 2.3hp. A guy I know bought a Tohatsu 3.5hp for his Potter 15 (another case of motor overkill...). He got a lemon from the factory unfortunately...turned out to be a defective carb. But other than that it was a nice little motor. Speaking of that, one thing to be aware of - if you buy online, in theory your local dealer is the one to provide warranty service, but some of them are cranky about providing warranty service for motors they didn't sell themselves. My friend had that problem...he bought it online and the only dealer anywhere nearby stalled him for months on taking care of the warranty repair. We took his Potter out at least one time using my Honda while his Tohatsu was waiting in the cranky dealer's shop. cheers, John On 10/19/20 7:15 AM, Andrei Caldararu via montgomery_boats wrote:
Continuing my earlier email about finding the right motor for my M17.
Does anyone have any experience with the Tohatsu 3.5HP 4 cycle engine? Is it powerful enough? Is its powerhead too big to tilt up completely on a fixed motor mount?
(I did manage to do a complete refurbishing of my old Evinrude 4hp which came with the boat, and it is now running well. So I am not in a hurry to change; but this Tohatsu engine has caught my eye as a good choice.)
Thanks, Andrei.
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
John brings up a good point about Tohatsu motors - they have a rep for being very particular about fuel quality. Issue is contamination clogging the carb jets and the idle float. Very small jets in order to meet EPA emissions standards. This isn't 'ethanol' contamination as these motors are designed to run up to E10 - it is junk, dirt and caramelization that ethanol is very good at cleaning out of a dirty fuel tank and fuel system. Run fresh clean fuel. Use a stabilizer, I use BOTH StaBil and SeaFoam; yes both at the same time. Any fuel older than a few months put into the car/truck and/or lawnmower and other gasoline powered yard tools. Run the outboard carb dry when concluding a trip. Keep the fuel tank full to reduce in-tank condensation. IMO run the motor monthly to keep things moving (in a bucket of water or using the hose adapter as motors 2.5HP and larger are water cooled!) - it is the long layup and being ignored in the garage or worse outside, that usually causes the problems. Again - not in itself ethanol, E10, fuel. :: Dave Scobie :: M6'8" #650 :: SV SWALLOW - sv-swallow.com :: former owner M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com :: former owner M15 #288 SCRED - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred/ On Mon, Oct 19, 2020, 9:16 AM John Schinnerer via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
As Dave says the question would be whether it can tilt up on your fixed mount.
If there's a Tohatsu dealer in your vicinity with a 3.5hp in stock, you may be able to test it out, if you haul your boat to their store.
Having seen the motor in person myself, I'd say odds are not good it will tilt, but I've only seen pictures of your mount so couldn't be sure.
Should be plenty of HP for an M17. As I said, if I wasn't a minimalist I would probably have bought the Tohatsu 3.5hp instead of the Honda 2.3hp.
A guy I know bought a Tohatsu 3.5hp for his Potter 15 (another case of motor overkill...). He got a lemon from the factory unfortunately...turned out to be a defective carb. But other than that it was a nice little motor.
Speaking of that, one thing to be aware of - if you buy online, in theory your local dealer is the one to provide warranty service, but some of them are cranky about providing warranty service for motors they didn't sell themselves. My friend had that problem...he bought it online and the only dealer anywhere nearby stalled him for months on taking care of the warranty repair. We took his Potter out at least one time using my Honda while his Tohatsu was waiting in the cranky dealer's shop.
cheers, John
On 10/19/20 7:15 AM, Andrei Caldararu via montgomery_boats wrote:
Continuing my earlier email about finding the right motor for my M17.
Does anyone have any experience with the Tohatsu 3.5HP 4 cycle engine? Is it powerful enough? Is its powerhead too big to tilt up completely on a fixed motor mount?
(I did manage to do a complete refurbishing of my old Evinrude 4hp which came with the boat, and it is now running well. So I am not in a hurry to change; but this Tohatsu engine has caught my eye as a good choice.)
Thanks, Andrei.
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
participants (3)
-
Andrei Caldararu -
Dave Scobie -
John Schinnerer