best 40hp for repower?

[oomph]

Helping a buddy look into re-powering his boat with a 40HP

What would be a good manufacturer to look into for this? It's going on a 16ft boat. Preferably something that will get him good miles per gallon and on the lighter side.

Been looking at Evinrude E-techs and comparing them to Tohatsu's, but he's open to other options. Looking for a good price / performance / warranty.

I'd appreciate feedback from anyone with more experience on these motors.

 

[turbotodd]

Yamaha. I base this on 2 things. One, where I fish at lot, there are private and commerical guides everywhere. Almost every one of them has a Yamaha 40hp on it. I had the fortune of working on one of the guides' boat recently and asked him why they liked the Yamaha. Guy asked me if I'd ever run an ETEC 40, Tohatsu 40, or Mercury 40. I have not. Then his response is "buy one, run it a while, and then come ask that question again".

These guys do it for a living, so there must be something to it?

The Tohatsu TLDI 40 is popular with some of the duck hunters in this area, or I should say "boat racers"-as the speed seems to be a priority to some. But I've never heard anyone recommend to buy one, for whatever reason, after owning it for a while.

Merc is just a Tohatsu. Worked on one this last winter. I was not impressed with it. Couple gaskets were leaking on it and I was surprised; in that it was a 2013 model motor. I would have thought that it should have lasted longer before showing problems for a recreational angler-only used rig.

 

[skipper123]

Just sold my trouble free 4hp Tohatsu after runninh it thru the stumps and sand bars in our local creek for two years great little motor. Just picked up my new 30hp Tohatsu hard to beat if your looking for the most bang for the buck. Tohatsu started back in the 1920s and has been a working mans boat ever sense. May not have all the hype but a good solid motor.