Best 40 horse for tiller

[reivertom]

I’d go for simple, easy to fix….and cheaper. I see mid 50s to early 60s 35hp motors for sale pretty regularly and they many times don’t cost as much as the smaller motors in the same condition. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been tempted by such an animal in my area, but I see them all over. IIRC my buddy had a tiller Johnson 40hp manual shift from the early 70s. Just try to find out what fuel mix the PO used if you can. 24/1 is the magic number on the earlier 35s. I saw an electric start tiller not too long ago that made me look at my wallet. :^)

[outbdnut2]

quote BwanaDon:

I keep tripping over electric shift models. Are they really that bad?

I’ve never seen a Big Four on CL. They are 50 hp? I may be 2-3 miles out on Lake St. Clair, I need 30 mph (min) and something that starts every time.

I’ll add Gale to the list. Thanks all.

The V-4’s weigh approx 100 pounds more than the 30-35-40 HP twins, coming in at around 250 pounds. The V-4s were 50 HP in 1958-59 and after that various HP models from 60 to over 100 HP were made. The 50s are arguably the biggest gas pigs ever made, but 60s and 75s used less due to a few refinements, notably a thinner/sleeker lower unit. If your boat is a very deep, wide boat, I’d go for a 60 V-4, but if your boat is not oversized, I’d go with a 35 or 40 like some others here recommended. Back in the 1950s -1960s, tillers were rare in the 30 and up Hp range, but they are out there, I have two 1957-58 35HP tillers in my collection. What ever you get, be sure to adjust tension into the steering so the motor doesn’t jerk into a turn if you lose your grip on the tiller or you will likely end up in the water with your boat going in circles – I’ve seen this happen three times. Do you need long or short shaft? V4’s in short shaft versions are fairly rare, but they are out there.
Dave

[20mercman]

One motor that does not get much attention, but it should is the early Mercury 350 starting in 1964. Mercury built this power head as a test engine to run and test lower units. The power head ran so well, that someone got the good idea to put it into production for the consumer. These all have the modern Phelon magneto and were great performers and very dependable. A lot of them were short shaft tiller motors, and they shared the same lower unit/tower assembly as the larger 4 cylinder motors. The later 400 and 402 were not even close to the motors as the earlier motors and they had issues with crankshafts. I am sure this was worked out by 1980 when the motor became a 35hp again. (These are pretty good motors also.) As was stated, the 35 Johnson from the late 70’s was a great engine also. Easy on fuel and good performance.

Steve

[Author]

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