what boat motor should I buy

[gilby]

I can"t decide if I should buy the Johnson Four Stroke or the Evinrude E-Tech.Another Question, is it as exspensive to change oil on a four stroke as I keep hearing.

[Mark Christianson]

I cant help on your motor decision.
Well, maybe I can.
I have a Honda, and between my Dad and I, we have had 4 of them.
I will never buy anything else.

Changing oil is pricy due to the Oil Filter. The darn things are over 10 bucks a piece for the filter.
I use straight old Valvoline for oil, so thats not an issue.

Put it this way, if you compare it to dumping oil in your 2 stroke to keep it going all summer, it may not be that different.
I have never thought about it until now for comparison on oil usage for 2 stroke vs 4 stroke.

[Xplorer]

No motor advice, other than the johnson is really a suzuki painted white, unless things changed this model year. The E tec is new, and personally i opt to wait a few years til new technology has an actual user-based track record to compare.
Changing my 4 stoke (90hp honda) is 10 for the filter and 5 quarts of oil. Depending on what oil you use will be the only variable (synthetic vs regular) The recommended change rate is every 100 hours, which is about 1 years worth for most folks. I would say that any difference is negligible in a years cost of fishing (plus, my not breathing the smoke of a 2 stroke is worth 10 times any extra cost to me )
Xplorer

[LundExplorer]

Tips on 4-stroke outboard oil changes:

Engine Oil: My yamaha 50hp takes plain old 5w30, I run castrol in it, I think it takes 2.2 qt??? Cheap!

Oil Filter: The OEM filters are expensive ($10-$12 a filter), the yamaha filter used on my 50 is cross-referenced with a Fram cycle filter. The Fram is about half the price.

But realistically, how much would you change engine oil in an outboard anyway? Based on the condition of the oil when I drain it, I could probably get by every 2 years, and I use my boat quite a bit.

[gilby]

Everbody, that is sales people keep saying that this E-Tech is just as good as a four stroke, lower emissions, better fuel economy than a four stroke,uses less oil. But I to is a little leary of something this new, without talking to fisherman who have this motor on the back of their boat. For now I"m leaning more toward the four stroke. Anymore comments would be OK with me.

[Xplorer]

gilby,
One thing that you may want to compare on 4 stoke models is if they are fuel injected or not. If there was one thing i could change about mine, it would be that it be injected. In general your enigne performance/response will be a bit better and shouldnt be cold-blooded in cold weather.
In my case, i had had such a good 3 year experience with a 30hp honda, that i really wanted to stay with the brand on my 90.
The other thing to compare is weight. You can get all this off the specs pages on the brands websites.
Xplorer

[kjgmh]

If you do get a 4 stroke I would recommend using the rcommended oil in it. Regular car oil is not made to be run at 5000-6000 rpm that the 4 stroke outboards turn. Most people only change their oil once a year so it ends up costing a extra $10-15 a year. Another advantage is if you do have a oil related failure after the motor is out of warranty the motor company may help you out if you have always used thier oil.

jsut my $.02

[Little_Bones]

here's my .02 After having 2 strokes forever I finally broke down and bought a 4 stroke. The oil filter is $8.99 and I use Mercury oil, which is $4 quart. Change it once a year, so cost me about $30 a year to maintain it. The gas mileage is unbelievable, I get almost 3 times the mileage going from a 40HP 2 stroke to a 75hp 4 stroke, it's quiet, no smoke, and no mixing of gas, or buying injector oil. Since 2 strokes will not be manufactured after 2006 I believe the resale on the 4 stroke would be better than a two stroke.
Just my thougts.

[marine_man]

Are you sure about the 'two strokes not being made after 2006?' I believe the way it is written, only the newer, cleaner 2 strokes (like direct injection (HPDI, Optimax, Etec, etc)) will be allowed to be manufactured... can someone else confirm that?

Thanks!

marine_man

[Xplorer]

As long as they meet the 2006 EPA standards they should be fine. I believe that all the direct inject motors do, and actually perform very similar to a 4 stroke's in emissions tests (at least n the larger hp motors tested)
Xplorer