Large lot of 70's and 80's Johnson and Evinrude outboards

[freeisforme]

I recently inherited a garage full of outboards. An uncle who I suppose was a believer in the thought that you can never have enough spare motors left me roughly 200 or so in his garage.
They range from 4hp up to 135hp with most being in the 40-115 range.
I think a lot of it was because he had a buddy who back then owned a marina and repair shop and he got deals on good used motors all the time. Plus he bought anything that ran so long as it didn't need much work.
Most have been sitting for 10 or so years, or more. Most are super clean for their age being from the middle of PA.
I would venture to guess that every one of them would need a water pump impeller and a carb overhaul, but that's just annual maintenance.
I went through a bunch of them and all have excellent compression and he didn't save junk. There area few parts motors but they're marked as such, and all of those are Chrysler or Mercury motors. There's also a handful of lower units and a couple of odd Mercury motors in the mix as well. I think I saw a couple of older Keikhaeffer 400's (40hp) in the mix, and a few 3hp singles from the 60's or so, but other than a few 10 and 20hp Chrysler motors and one West Bend, the majority are all OMC.
There was two new 9.9hp four stroke Mercury motors but those staying with me.
I'd keep them all if I had the room but we're talking about four garage bays full of motors, all on various racks and stands he had built.
As someone who runs only 14 and 16ft aluminum boats, I have zero use for the larger motors and those will get sold first.

A few that I've listed got zero attention, not even an email. If they're nothing but scrap these days I may be better of just digging a hole and pushing them in it. No matter what, I'll have to load them all up and haul them 300 miles to my place to sell them, its too far to go back and forth if I list them up there. What I may do is load the contents of the place into a couple of trailers and haul it all back to sell so as not to end up being forced to dump anything in a rush if the property sells.

I basically would consider most of these as 'viable' motors, needing the basic maintenance to put them in use again.
There's a few with repair issues, I saw a couple with missing tiller grips, one with a tiller arm removed but hanging from a zip tie, (59 40hp). one with a chipped skeg, a couple with the wrong color lower units, and a few with broken recoil handles where the rope is pulled through or the handle is broken apart from age.

Out of the whole lot, I'm keeping two Mercury four strokes, four 35hp Johnsons, and four Honda 100 four strokes, and I'm not sure yet if I want the Honda motors or not, but a few of them look new. There's also a newer, 2000 something Honda 9.9hp that needs some work, mainly the paint is falling off the cover and the tiller linkage is off the carb somehow, and likely a water pump and carb cleaning of course. It does have good compression, but I have no clue where he got that one, its far newer than most of these motors.
There's a mix of long and short shaft motors as well.

A few have told me that the only way to sell them would be to tear them all apart and list the parts on eBay, but that could take years to sell off and I'd feel like I'm parting out perfectly good motors.

 

[Stand Up]

That's a lot of outboards in one spot. It must have given you a "wow" moment. I hope you get to sell them and profit from this inheritance.

 

[Bailey Boat]

Was the Uncle mad at you for some reason?? Did you do something to piss him off, BIG time?? WHY would he do that to you??

 

[freeisforme]

I was the last surviving relative.
I was actually expecting there to be more than 200, way more.
He bought two of everything all the time, whether it was a car, a truck, a tractor, a toolbox, etc. he'd buy two. If he really liked something or if he got a deal, he'd buy enough to last him a lifetime. His thinking was what if they stopped making something and he wanted another new one? So his answer was to buy many and save them for future use.
I just brought a truck home that he bought 20 years ago and never drove, its got 900 miles on it. Its twin with 29 miles is still up there.
I brought the truck back because it had 9 Evrinrude and Johnson 9.5hp motors in the back and it could tow another trailer full behind it. Its like having a new truck other than its got brand new dry rotted tires and needed two new batteries to get it going. Surprisingly it did great on the drive home after its long sleep. I got home just in time for it to likely get wet for the first time in its life.

 

[airshot]

Sure wished I lived closer to you, would love to look thru your stock for a couple of motors. You won't get rich but you should get more than enough to make it worth your time. Gotta find some of us older two stroke lovers !!

 

[Billy H]

Pretty sure I’ve seen this posted quite a while ago on another site.

 

[freeisforme]

I haven't posted about these before anywhere, other than a few CL ads while we were cleaning out that got nothing but guys wanting to buy complete motors for $10 One guy even tried to tell me that old motors were useless and that it would cost me thousands to get rid of them. I played along and the BS got deeper the more he talked. He then offered me $100 for all the 9.9 and 15hp OMC motors.

The biggest problem I've got now is that since I had to move them, I had to store most of them where I work, and I can't bring people there to show them the whole lot of motors. I can only bring home a few at a time to sell.

I also don't have the room at the house to store all of them inside. At the present time, I've got about 20 or so here, mostly the older 18-25hp OMC motors, (Big twins), and a few of the 15hp omc motors.

I see a few that are in fairly rough shape listed here but most are $1,500 or so and listed as-is, untested. Those ads come and go with no way of telling if or how much they sold for.

My biggest concern is getting the larger motors sold, those that are too heavy to handle by by hand. I don't plan to or intend to ever own a larger boat again so right now they're only taking up space.
A few are pretty nice motors, I did test run the one 110hp V4, and one of the mid 80's 70hp triples, both ran and started with ease, they even pumped water. But there's a half dozen of each, (V4 and three cylinder 70hp motors).
Back when I had a a few larger boats I'd likely not part with them but these days if I can't manhandle it onto a trailer myself, I don't want to bother with it. I also don't need 200 spare motors.
The actual count is more than 200, but I figured there's 200 really sound motors there. I didn't count the non-OMC motors, or those that may have missing parts or maybe were being worked on. For instance, there's a pair of 1979 6hp Johnson motors, one has a broken skeg, one has a broken tiller arm. Tagged as parts, there are two more of the same motor with notes as to why they're there and which parts are for which motor.
There's also a few boxes of older ignition parts, early distributor caps, boxes and boxes of controls, teleflex cables, etc. Today I dug around and found several loose power heads for 9.5 and 9.9 OMC motors and I found four more 1977-79 35hp motors, one 2hp Mercury, and five brand new in the box 15hp Force motors, each one is minus its lower unit, but there's four new earlier, white painted, Chrysler lower units tagged as being for those motors. So basically, when assembled it ends up being a brand new black motor with a brand new white lower unit and prop. None of the OMC 9.9/15hp or 9.5hp motors appear to need a powerhead, all of them I tested so far have excellent compression and are super clean. The power heads are either new, or maybe taken from motors that got parted out. I can't think of any other reason why he would have stripped down the motor to a bare block and tagged each part on the shelf. We're also talking about a man who never owned a computer and likely never browed the web.
I have no idea how he managed to find and match it all up but it looks like he spent more time finding the parts then putting them together. I found packages of parts all over the garage, boxes of impellers, new spark plugs, etc all over, some were with the motors they fit, others were just sitting on benches, or on shelves all over the place. As i gather up all the parts and ID them, I've got two full plastic tubs of just wp kits and impellers, one full of spark plugs, and another full of new and used parts which are tagged as bought for particular motors, many I've not found in there.
The randomness of all the stuff there has made me delay selling a lot of things because I keep finding more parts for or fromt vairious motors and such.

 

[freeisforme]

Sure wished I lived closer to you, would love to look thru your stock for a couple of motors. You won't get rich but you should get more than enough to make it worth your time. Gotta find some of us older two stroke lovers !!

I just had a guy and his wife drive from Port Clinton to buy an old 6 wheeler ATV, they said it took about 8hrs each way towing a small trailer.

 

[newriverrat]

What are you planning to do with these motors as far as selling? Definitely be interested in smaller ones

 

[flatheadsteve]

I'd be interested in a couple. You mention Central PA I venture into PA pretty often ( Harrisburg, Shippensburg, Chambersburg) buying farm equipment

 

[LaqueRatt]

There is a lesson to be learned here folks. A lot of us collect........stuff. We think these things are wonderful and who wouldn't want them, right? The reality is NOBODY wants this stuff unless you collect old muscle cars or gold bars.

Sadly most of our "collections" will be a burden on our families if we keep them until we die. Then usually some scallywag will get it all for next to nothing or it goes into a dumpster. When we know our days are growing short it is smart and really the right thing to do......to get rid of this stuff!

 

[thill]

Wow!
Sorry about the loss of your uncle.

What area are you in? What area was your uncle in?

Are you interested in selling a truck? My 17 year old nephew is currently looking to buy his first truck. He went to see one yesterday, but it was way too rusty.

Don't worry, it will take a little time, but you WILL sell those motors. There is somewhat of a shortage of good motors for a reasonable price right now.

Even if you sell them for a $500-$1,000 average each, 200 motors will add up. You just need to do it in a way that doesn't suck up a huge amount of your time.

 

[mirrocraft16]

There is a lesson to be learned here folks. A lot of us collect........stuff. We think these things are wonderful and who wouldn't want them, right? The reality is NOBODY wants this stuff unless you collect old muscle cars or gold bars.

Sadly most of our "collections" will be a burden on our families if we keep them until we die. Then usually some scallywag will get it all for next to nothing or it goes into a dumpster. When we know our days are growing short it is smart and really the right thing to do......to get rid of this stuff!

I never considered anything I may leave behind when I'm gone a burden, if they have any common sense, its all worth money. Anyone who says otherwise is having the wool pulled over their eyes.
When I'm gone, they're gonna need a huge crew to sort through it all. Old cars, old trucks, boats, motors, model trains, slot cars, vinyl records, fishing rods and reels, a few hundred tackle boxes, 15 trailers, four campers, four houses, dozens of outboards. Wood working tools, a full machine shop in the basement, dozens of large stereo speakers, amps, etc.
I subscribe to the theory that he who dies with the most toys wins. That combined with the fact that I refuse to lose money on anything I own, I'd rather die with it then give it away for less than its worth. I'd rather have an expensive item then have thrown away the money I paid for it.

It never ceases to amaze me how relatives of someone who has passed away will rush to throw things away with never thinking or checking what they're worth.
A guy who lived next to me here passed away a few years ago, he was an avid wood worker and motorcycle enthusiast.
They had a huge yard sale and they dumped everything he owned out on the lawn for sale. They overpriced things like old clothes and kitchen items, but all but put $20 on things like is near new Stihl saw, Rototiller, mowers, etc. None of it sold even for cheap. When it was all over, they piled it all up at the curb and left. I got a new saw, rototiller, Honda mower, and two wheel barrows full of Williams tools. Then over the course of the next week, they started dragging his wood working equipment out to the curb, plus two metal lathes, a drill press, and more tools. They emptied the basement and left. I had to guard the pile so the scrappers didn't grab it all. One by one I hauled it all into my garage. They even through away a new Harbor Freight tool box he had just bought. I sold the one lathe last month for $1800, it wasn't listed for more than a hour when I had two people fighting over it. I kept the other one but sold my old drill press and kept his, that too brought more than it sold for new.
Why on earth they felt the real value was in his old work clothes I'll never know. I had figured they were just looking to empty the house to sell it for fast cash but it was empty for a year and finally sold for cheap. So cheap I probably should have just bought it but they never offered it or mentioned selling it. The new owners are good for a new mower every two months or so, somehow they keep breaking the spark plugs and buying a new mower each time. Most aren't even broken in when they hit the curb.

I keep both of my boats way back behind my garage, almost completely out of view of passers by. They're covered with two huge tarps and blocked in by several large trailers when I'm not around. I started doing that when a few neighbors had their boats stolen and sold for scrap when aluminum was high. now they just steal motors and winches.
Even still I doubt I go a week or so without someone knocking on my door asking if I want to sell those two boats.
They're always persistent despite getting a firm "NO, they're not for sale".
A few even take it upon themselves to go investigate after I tell them NO.
A few were dumb enough to make ridiculous offers trying to tell me they're junk and things like 'Boats are going to be banned, two stroke motors are illegal, etc.
It got so bad that I started chaining the two trailers together and leaving my rottweiler run free in the back yard. He likes to sleep under the one boat.

Take a look around, and you'll find a ton of junk, corroded, blown up, worn out motors that need everything.
I don't worry much about saltwater use if its been taken care of, but I do worry about compression.
Any lower unit will bring upwards of $200 each, some larger models far more.
Any 9.9/15hp OMC or even Merc, will bring closer to $1k, sometimes more in the spring and summer if it simply has good compression. The rest is all an easy fix and for someone not looking to spend $3k on a new motor, getting on the water for less is a bargain.
For me, I love the simplicity of the older OMC motors, they have very few issues and are easy to work on. I also prefer 2 strokes, mostly because they weigh less and make better power. Especially on an older boat.
The OMC V4 and triples were rock solid motors, the loop charged triples punched way above their weight even back then. I've run many of them and they run forever. I don't think I ever had one fail.

Even blown up motors have value, parts are expensive and since OMC is now long gone, over 20 years now, some parts are a matter of finding used only. (Used is also often all many can afford as well).

From past experience, the larger motors don't bring any more than the small motors. and the fact that they're so darn reliable usually makes them a lifetime motor on most boats.

I run a 35hp on my Mirrocraft, its the motor it came with new, and the compression is likely still nearly the same as when it was new. I thought about a four stroke upgrade but I simply can't justify spending money on something that don't need it. Don't fix what isn't broke.

 

[freeisforme]

There is a lesson to be learned here folks. A lot of us collect........stuff. We think these things are wonderful and who wouldn't want them, right? The reality is NOBODY wants this stuff unless you collect old muscle cars or gold bars.

Sadly most of our "collections" will be a burden on our families if we keep them until we die. Then usually some scallywag will get it all for next to nothing or it goes into a dumpster. When we know our days are growing short it is smart and really the right thing to do......to get rid of this stuff!

I don't think its a matter of no one wants the stuff, its a matter of no one wants to pay for anything.
The cost of fuel these days doesn't help.
Every trip I made up there was another $150 out of my pocket in just fuel up and back in the truck. More if I was pulling a trailer. By the time I got all of the motors and parts back here I've got 8 or 9 trips total. PA being so hilly didn't help much either.

If I thought I'd live long enough to use them all, I wouldn't be looking to sell them, because we all know the minute you sell or throw something away, you need it and have to buy one.

 

[freeisforme]

Wow!
Sorry about the loss of your uncle.

What area are you in? What area was your uncle in?

Are you interested in selling a truck? My 17 year old nephew is currently looking to buy his first truck. He went to see one yesterday, but it was way too rusty.

Don't worry, it will take a little time, but you WILL sell those motors. There is somewhat of a shortage of good motors for a reasonable price right now.

Even if you sell them for a $500-$1,000 average each, 200 motors will add up. You just need to do it in a way that doesn't suck up a huge amount of your time.

I hauled all the motors and parts back from just outside of Walnutown.
For now the trucks are staying, I need them to deal with all this. I sort of wish they weren't all diesels but the power is nice with a trailer in tow. I was never a fan of newer vehicles or trucks with leather seats and carpet but I likely can't get anywhere near what a decent 1/2 ton with the same miles would cost these days. Having two right now also helps when i can't unload one right away, I simply take the other truck.
At the very worst, I have my next two new trucks ahead of time. They just happen to have been built 22 years ago.
If I got $500 to $1000 for each motor I'd be doing just fine. The problem is it seems that only $100 motors sell around here. I wasn't going to keep both of the 9.9hp Mercury four strokes since I really only have one boat with a short transom, but I listed it for $1,000 about 11 months ago and got noting but scam offers and a couple guys who thought they could buy it for $200. Its a 2010 motor and likely was never used much, if at all. It was on FB and CL from 11/22 to 4/23 and only two came out to actually see it, both heard it run and looked it over but both wanted to steal it. I solved the problem though and found a '99 Starcraft SF14 to use it on.
I'm not looking to get rich, I just need to get fair value for what was there to cover my trouble and expense.
Its become almost a full time job over the past few years.

 

[mirrocraft16]

I had to look that one up on a map.
For those interested its near Reading, PA

I noticed something earlier today about CL and FB, I was at buddies place and mentioned a car that was for sale to him, when he tried to find it, it wouldn't show up in his searches, yet the same search on my computer at home puts it at the top of the page, and less than a mile from him. I've had the same thing happen before with eBay, I'd list something and get only west coast buyers, then find out someone was interested in it nearby but never saw it. So I relisted it but they couldn't find it unless I emailed them a link. The ebay search completely left out all of my items in a search with three or four of the actual words in the title. Its almost as if they block things from being found from nearby sellers. I rarely find items that are for sale locally, only items thousands of miles away or in China.
It made me wonder if they did this on purpose to collect more due to higher shipping or to avoid any possibility of someone meeting in person and bypassing eBay?

When used motors turn up they rarely sit around long, especially 70-75ho triples and the V4's. The rivers here are full of them all summer long.
The fact that they're getting older just makes them harder to find and more valuable. Those of use who run older boats do so because we can't afford a new $15k outboard or simply can't hang all that weight on an older boat.

If you decide to cut loose any of the 35hp motors, drop me a message, their one of my favorites too.

I may know someone who's looking for a 15hp tiller short shaft as well, (two stroke only but I think he's down in FL till March.

 

[LaqueRatt]

You guys are really getting $500-1000 for motors? If so let's talk. I can pick em up all the time for under a hundred bucks. Especially this time of year.

 

[flatheadsteve]

You guys are really getting $500-1000 for motors? If so let's talk. I can pick em up all the time for under a hundred bucks. Especially this time of year.

Location is everything in used outboard and boat pricing. In areas with hp restricted lakes a lightweight 2 stroke is a hot commodity.

 

[mirrocraft16]

Good older motors can be scarce here. In an area where most motors live their life in saltwater, combined with owners who do nothing to clean or keep them from turning to a corroded mess, and new owners buying cheap used boats and motors who burn up their first few motors not knowing any better about 2 strokes or maintenance, the number of used motors that are worth owning dwindles fast.
Add in the fact that most boaters simply cannot afford a brand new motor making a used motor their only option.
The most I've ever spent for any boat or motor over the years was never more than I was carrying in my pocket at the time. Just the same, not many were turn key, but most took little more than a water pump and some basic maintenance to make them good boats and motors again.
A good many boat owners don't know a spark plug from a drain plug, those type of owners probably should never buy a used boat because every aspect of owning that boat is going to cost them a ton of money. Most marinas these days are well over $150/hr.

A neighbor of mine got quoted $2k at some dealer after his 2019 Mer 25hp sat through the pandemic and wouldn't start. He brought it home and parked it. He told me he was saving for a new motor because he couldn't see spending $2k on a motor he only paid $3k for new. He said he bought it new in early 2019, used it twice, then it sat for three years and wouldn't start.

I told him to grab a carb kit, fuel filter, and impeller for it and I fixed it for about $60. If I hadn't intervened, chances are he'd have dumped it on some phone ap for cheap. The dealer had him convinced it was likely best to just buy a new motor. They may have been hoping for a clean trade in and a big sale but he didn't have the money so all they got was the $100 minimum charge for checking it out. I picked up a 15hp Yamaha last year that some dealer told the owner the motor wasn't worth fixing because it had sat for 8 years. It woudn't start.
I found two cracked spark plugs and I went through the carb and replaced the water pump impeller and it was fine. I got it for $100 on CL. and spent $70 on it. I sold it for $1,700 just before Christmas to a guy who drove up from VA. He said his options were buy used or nothing, a new motor would have been double and the one I sold was super clean and likely hardly ever used. (Most boat motors see very little actual running time, most die sitting not running. My boat is a 1979, I've owned it since 1985, its got an hour meter on the dash, and in 45 years its got only 460 hours of run time on the 35hp motor. Its lost no compression since when I bought it and sat four or five of those years over all that time. The reality is that most boats don't get out more than a few times a year, and when they do they're not running 100% of the time. For me I launch, run out to where I fish, anchor up then maybe move a few times over a few mile area, then head in at dusk. I only run if the weather and wind are favorable, and its not my only boat so the hours are low. On average, most people work during the week, and get one day on the weekend to take the boat out, then, in much of this area, the boating season is mainly late March to June, then Sept and early Oct. Maybe five or six weekends a year, then figure in how many of those weekends get rained out, or other things arrise and most are lucky to get out 5 or 6 times a year, and most don't go far. If your lucky, they put the boat away property, but most don't, the boat gets parked after June, the summer it too hot to fish for many, and if they don't get out in the fall, it just sits till next spring. About half are then elminated when they won't start, they can't afford to pay someone to fix it, so it sits until they realize they'll never be able to afford to fix it and the back registration is more than they can sell the boat for. Unless a cheap running motor falls into their hands, they're done.

Those of us who fix our own boats and know how to put a boat to bed for the winter, don't realize how so many boats get into the shape we find them in. I hear it all the time, We used bought it and used it until the the first kid came, then they were broke and couldn't afford it, or they bought it when the retired and their health went bad and it sat, or "It looked like a good deal but it died the first time out and they wanted $3k to fix it. so it sat".

The number of motors that survive in any sort of usuable condition is slim, most end up seized, either from sitting for decades, or from unknowing new owners who don't know to mix oil in the fuel.

Usually when you find a guy who has accumulated a load of motors though, they likely knew what they were buying and either saw that motor as an easy fix or good runner as it sat. I've gotten some decent deals off that type of owner, if and when they finally decide to sell off their hoard of motors.

For me, if I need a motor, I'd gladly spend $500-$1000 for a motor that may need even a few hundred dollars in parts to be $100% because its far cheaper than anything I can buy new or from a dealer in turn key shape.
One dealer I was at back in June had a 1983 50hp Johnson on the showroom floor for $2,200 plus installation. The hang tag said that shop installation was required to get that price, carryout was not an option.

 

[thill]

Yes. I can get $500+ for almost anything that runs well, even an old 70's motor. 15 HP always outsell the 9.9's, of course.

A good-running 2010 Mercury 9.9 would quickly sell for $950 around here! More like $1,200, if it was in cosmetically good condition.

This area (Mid-atlantic region, between Richmond and Washington DC) seems to have higher prices than others. I sometimes have to travel over the mountains to get a good deal. Over there, (W. VA in particular) prices are much lower as well as southwest VA.