New Guy-first outboard?

[safj]

New to the forum. Never had an outboard, always been a small lake human power kind of guy.
Now am older and had some hand and arm injuries that aren’t going away so had to get away from that.
Finally sold the canoe this year, but still have a 12′ aluminum boat on a trailer though, so that is more doable than hefting the canoe.
Been using just a trolling motor on the 12 footer in past years.
May upgrade to larger ‘luminum sometime down the road.

What would be an easy to work on, easy to find parts for, and easy to heft, user outboard under 10hp?
Under 10hp as the small lakes we go on have that size limitation and the rougher water does not set well with the hand and arm stuff anyway.
Wouldn’t have to remove the motor on the boat as I have indoor storage room for the boat so the hefting thing may not need to be a big consideration.

Am mechanically inclined so not afraid of working on older stuff.

Thank you ahead of time for your input.

[frankr]

3hp Evinrude or Johnson from the mid to late ’50’s or early ’60’s Or a 5.5hp. The motors that defined reliability and great running. And there are plenty of them available.

[Doug Wilson]

I would say Johnson or Evinrude either 5.5 or 10 up easy to work on parts are easy to find if needed. Once they are cleaned up and adjusted very little trouble and generally start on 1st or 2nd pull. The two motors I fish with most often are a 58 10hp or 59 5.5 would trust either of them any day of the week and in any weather. The 6hp and 9.8hp mercury from late 60s are just as good but parts are a little higher.

Doug

how is it motors multiply when the garage lights get
turned off?

[safj]

quote FrankR:

3hp Evinrude or Johnson from the mid to late ’50’s or early ’60’s Or a 5.5hp. The motors that defined reliability and great running. And there are plenty of them available.

’50s works, plenty of other stuff from then and earlier.

Would the 3hp be able to push a larger boat should that come down the road?

quote ddwilson:

I would say Johnson or Evinrude either 5.5 or 10 up easy to work on parts are easy to find if needed. Once they are cleaned up and adjusted very little trouble and generally start on 1st or 2nd pull. The two motors I fish with most often are a 58 10hp or 59 5.5 would trust either of them any day of the week and in any weather. The 6hp and 9.8hp mercury from late 60s are just as good but parts are a little higher.

By parts do you mean used parts, or just new plugs? Are new carb parts like gaskets, floats, needles and seats available?

Ah yes the pull start. One or two would be good, but a bunch of pulling would be out for me. When did electric starts come about and how do those work? Is that a lawn mower battery kind of thing?

[outbdnut2]

I agree with the others on the 3s and 5.5s, but let’s not forget the 6 HP Johnsons and Evinrudes that replaced the 5.5s from 1965 on up for several years. These are great little motors too! …and very, very, easy to pull-start. For more trouble-free operation, I’d go with the 6. I have one of these 6’s and several 3s and 5.5s – all good. The 6 is somewhat lighter than the 5.5, but the 3 is, of course lightest, 35 pounds with the gas tank empty. Keep in mind the 5.5s and 6s have gearshift and tiller-throttle,but need an external gas tank in the boat.

For a bigger boat, it depends how big and how fast you want to go. I like the 9.9 Mercurys (or it’s 15 HP cousin) that began in 1986 – these, in my opinion are much quieter, and more trouble free than the 9.8s they replaced. I’d avoid the 9.5 Johnsons/Evinrudes and the 9.9 and 15 Johnsons/Evinrudes made prior to mid 1980s, but later 9.9 and 15 Johnsons/evinrudes are good too.

Commonly needed parts are very available for all these motors from about 1954 on up, both from the factory and aftermarket parts from Sierra Marine – from both, you can get carb kits, coils, points, condensors, water pump impellers, gaskets, lower gearcase seal kits, and the list goes on. Note that Sierra parts are also sold (with same part numbers) branded for NAPA auto parts, O’Reilly auto parts, and probably others.
Dave

[safj]

Okay now it’s getting to be work keeping this all straight, but that’s okay I’ll chart it all out. So please chime in if you have some tidbits or preferences.

Good to know about the parts availability and sources, and the exterior tanks.

[Indian Group Leader]

My suggestion is to attend a local wet meet and see all of the different motors that show up. Each owner will have a story to go with it. In a short time, you should be so addicted that you will not be able to help yourself; however, I am sure that you will find at least one old outboard that will "float your boat" (pun intended). Then join AOMCI and have fun for the rest of your life like many of us have. As an old man of 63 and a member since 1989, that’s my 2 cents on this subject. Welcome to AOMCI.

[frankr]

You asked: Would the 3hp be able to push a larger boat should that come down the road?

Well now it seems the basic specifications are suddenly changing. You originally asked for a replacement for oars and electric motor. And light weight. And easy to start. The 3hp fills all those needs. Actually, I hesitated to suggest the 5.5 because now we are increasing the weight. Heck, a 7.5 or 10 would be fine also–again with more weight and starting effort. Speaking of starting effort, depending on model, they started using a pinion gear starter at some point. They are easy enough to pull, but the nature of the pull is decidedly different. Again, what are your needs?

So, you gotta decide just what your goals are. Replace the oars & electric motor, or go zooming around the pond. Yes. a 3 will push a larger boat—slowly. Are high winds, river currents, tides etc a factor here? Those could be a factor. But you did mention oars and stuff, right?

The smallest electric start motor would be the 9.9hp. Think weight.

[westwind]

There isn’t one motor that will fit every need. I have an electric start Mercury 7.5hp that may suit most of them though…..

One thing to consider is that some of the older motors take a pretty good tug on the rope to get them to roll over. The recoil design was improved in later years to make them easier to start.

The Johnson/Evinrude 3 HP is a great choice, plenty of them around and super easy to work on.

[steveh]

On my 12′ aluminum I usually run a TD-20 or TN-26, 5 HP. They are cheap to find, easy to work on, plenty of parts available, will troll all day and have enough power to move you around the lake at a fair clip. And weighing in at 44lbs, easy to carry.

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