1960s “Mini” Outboard

[Waunaboat]

Reading The Old Outboard Book, I came across a description on page 152 for a motor from the 1960s called the “Mini” .  Does anybody have any information or pictures of this motor that are not in The Old Outboard Book?  Based on the description, this motor might contest the Cub and Mate for the lightest outboard at less than 9 pounds. Being a nut for ridiculously light and under powered outboards, it would be interesting to know if any still exist.

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[Tubs]

I wonder if you could have been reading about the Clarke Toller? Not at home so I can’t check. If not, and don’t know of them, you will find it to be of interest to you, being into The “light and under powered”. Expensive also applies to the description. Do a search on You Tube.

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

[Waunaboat]

It is definitely not the Clarke Troller, which I am rather familiar with.  In The Old Outboard Book, in the section titled “The Big List” about all of the outboard brands, there is a section about an outboard called the “Mini” in which it says Quote:

“One of the most fact-filed leaflets in 1960s outboards advertising indicated this tiny motor was ideal for senior citizens.  Weighting less than 9 pounds, the Mini outboard motor came as a “Result of many years of testing and designing a multitude of combinations to achieve the smallest, lightest, most economical, least expensive, yet practical outboard motor attainable.”  Knight Distributing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, was proud to acknowledge its air-cooled product as 100-percent manufactured and assembled in the USA.  Because Americans relate to empirical data, the model 10-S Mini outboard motor’s “unbelievable propelling power” was verified in an ‘actual speed test.”  The pint-size kicker was “Clocked at 4.2 mph with three men in a twelve-foot aluminum boat.”  For some long-forgotten reason, however, the photo captioned with these statistics showed a man and a woman in a sailing dinghy named the Two-Teds.  The craft was inching a long under power from an engine with no rewind starter or plastic powerhead cover (unlike the one prominently featured on the front of the informative brochure).  The single-cylinder, 2-cycle Mini outboard motor featured an adjustable shaft length and a 14-millimeter ‘Shorty” spark plug.  Its polycarbonate, semi-weedless propeller had a lifetime guarantee against breakage.  Exhaust excited the cylinder through a piece of flexible gooseneck pipe before traveling to the water via a little rigid tube.  Customers purchasing the small motor had a little time to try it, and if not completely satisfied, return it within seven days.  “any damage or misuse of the product by the customer would be deducted from the purchase price.”  At $99.95 the 1-hp (at 6.300 rpm) outboard cost about the same as the garden weed whackers that its powerhead resembled.”(Hunn)

Source:

Hunn, Peter. The Old Outboard Book. International Marine, 1994.

 

The description of this outboard sounds quite interesting, but it also could have been some sort of scam during the 60s.  If they were actually produced, I wonder how many are still around, as it sounds like an even poorer built version of the Cruise n’ Carry outboard.

 

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[Waunaboat]

The description sounded so bizarre that I wondered if any were around.  I was not able to find anything on the internet on them.

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[Waunaboat]

I have found that this motor may also have been called the OttoMatic outboard based on the 10-s in the description from the Old Outboard Book.

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[Waunaboat]

link to that forum:

 

https://www.aomci.org/forums/topic/ottomatic-mini-outboard/

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[Sam M.]

Yes they do still exist, so no, it was not a scam.  I saw one for sale yesterday, but the add has since been deleted.  If it were still up or simply marked as sold I could have sent you the link.  The motor was in nice condition too.  Appeared to have an Ohlsson and Rice powerhead with the tip of its air-cooled cylinder poking out from a small cutaway in the port side of the plastic or fiberglass cowling.  This one had a black and yellow colour scheme, and the signature Ohlsson and Rice recoil starter handle shape.  The plastic fuel tank cap was interesting.  It looked like there was a square tube that folded into the cap, or up, sort of like what you’d find on top of a plastic bottle of Rapid Tap cutting fluid with the “highly toxic to aquatic life” warning on it, only the square tube on the motor’s cap looked longer – like it might extend over halfway across the cap in the folded position.  The gearbox (dark gray) looked plastic as well.  On the back of the motor was the writing that said ‘Mini’ in big letters, and a few other words, and a letter ‘K’ near the bottom.  I forget if the K was in a word or not, but it made me think of the “Knight” mentioned above, however I don’t think it did say Knight.  Too bad I can’t quite remember, as the words were clear and easy to read too!  There were also non-symmetrical chevronish shape as a decal on the side of the motor.  (I think both sides??)  This was also black with yellow.  I believe it was mainly black, possibly with a few dark gray highlights (possibly triangular shapes??) and it had a thin yellow pinstripe near the edges.

Also, there is a picture of a different Mini motor in Peter Hunn’s book, The Classic Outboard Motor Handbook, which is another great read I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

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Waunaboat

[Waunaboat]

Thanks for the info.  I will have to look into that book.

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

1 user thanked author for this post.

Sam M.

[Sam M.]

Do a web search for “Ohlsson and Rice Outboard” and you should see pictures of similar motors.  I just did, and while the results weren’t of the exact one in the for sale add, they were certainly close enough to give you more of an idea. 😊

[seakaye12]

Peter Hunn is a Member here!  Hopefully he is  seeing these posts.

[Author]

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