which small motor should I choose ?

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back4more

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Im looking for a new 2 - 2.5 motor for our canoe and would like some help deciding.

so far Ive found ....

2 hp honda $910 27lbs , (2010 or 2011 model)
2.5 hp yamaha $805 37lbs , (2011 model)
2.5 hp mercury $864 38lbs , (2010 or 2011 model)
2.5 hp suzuki $785 30lbs , (2010 model)
2.5 hp tohatsu $880 41lbs , (2012 model)


- suzuki sounds like the best deal since its the 2nd lightest and overall cheapest.
- honda is air cooled (dont know if thats a positive or not).
- yamaha is splash lubricated while the other have wet sump. is this a positive for yamaha, or negative?
- only salesperson I talked to said the honda cant compare in quality to the yamaha, and he sold both.

here's a chart I found on the suzuki website ...
suzuki.png
 
The Merc & Tohatsu are the same motor. I would probably avoid the air cooled, it seems like it would over heat easily (unless, like previously said, you are in shallow water). Hope this helps.
 
Of the ones named, I have had the Yamaha, got rid of it only because I no longer had a use for it, guess what, I wish I would have kept it, very good little motor. I know the Yamaha and Nissan/Tohatsu/Mercury (they are all the same just a different color) all have neutral and forward, not sure about the Suzuki and I am almost positive the Honda is always in gear, Neutral is nice to have. I have also been told the Honda is pretty loud when running wide open. Bottom line, most likely any of them would work for you, if it was me, I like the Yamaha from prior experience. I guess if I was undecided I would go with the dealer that is willing to work with me the best even if I bought it on-line. Just another thing to think about, on the N/T/M all you have to do to upgrade to a 3.5 hp is change the carb, something to think about later on if you need a little more pep. One other thought, unless you are positive you want a new engine and it has to be a 4 stroke, you might look around for one of the used 3 or 4 hp Johnson/Evinurude, they are twin cylinder and much smoother running than a one lunger.
 
Just thought of something else, depending on what type of canoe you have and how the motor will be mounted, stearn or side mount, you might need a long shaft motor. If it is stearn mounted I think you will be OK with a short shaft 15" but if you are mounting it side saddle you might be better off with a long shaft 20". Reason I mention this is because some of the motors you named are short shaft only.
 
I have a 2010 merc 2.5 and my bro has a 2011 honda 2 and we use them on 10 ft jons in the local creeks. The honda is way lighter then the merc but is alot louder. Ive used the merc on my 14 ft smokercraft before and was pleasently surprised with the way it performed. I trolled for 2 days and probably only filled up the tank 4 times. I dont think the Honda would have enough snuff for the 14 and I surely couldnt stand listening to the noise. Another nice thing about the merc is that you can replace the plastic prop with a metal one, I dont think Honda makes a metal although I could be wrong. In a canoe situation id probably go with the Honda though just because of the weight. 10lbs on top of 30 is alot of weight heading up and down banks when your loading and unloading.


Tips:
Find yourself one of the older one gallon gas cans without all the safety bs. The internal tanks on the motor are nice but trying to operate one of those idiot cans while stnding over the transom is a pain I can live without.

Dont fill the tank the whole way to the top. I try to be able to end the trip by running all of the gas out of the tank then running it dry. That way if I dont get around to using it again for a month or so I dont get ethanol anxiety.
 
thanks for all the input everyone, I appreciate it.

As of now I think I will go with the Yamaha 2.5 over other motors, bigger motors, and used boat/motor for price of new motor ....

- Yamaha comes with aluminum prop
- I want something new after two bad motor run ins
- it should work fine with my canoe & mou, canoe rated for 4hp, mount 3hp
- I plan to upgrade my canoe to a square stern canoe in the future. Buying motor first is the right way I think.

I do have one question fairly important to me for safety reasons, these small motors, when put in forward do the hooks release from the shaft to allow the shaft to raise if you run in to something?

Jasm2 , how fast do you think your merc 2.5 pushes your 14 footer, and is it a flat bottom?
 
I would think that there would be a lever or something that you would have to pull to allow the motor to tilt up (At least that is how it is on some larger ones).
 
My memory tell me that on my 2.5 Yamaha, there was no lock to keep the engine down as long as you were going forward, if you turned the engine past a certain point it had a built in catch to keep the engine from coming up. So if you were going forward and struck something the engine would ride up over it, but if you turned it around to go backwards it would stay down when revving up.
 
Thats actually a cool feature if thats how it works, and doesnt engage the lock too early, say, before the motor was turned 45 degrees or so from center.
 
The boat I had the 2.5 on was a fully loaded 14 ft Smokercraft Pro Mag Deep Vee. Im not sure on mph but id say 4-5 but enough to speed troll fror muskie. This is what I usually have it on.

_Preview_-13.jpg
 
Thanks again for all the great info everyone. After not being thrilled with the way the side saddle motor mount handled, i bought an Indian River Canoes - Outdoorsman square stern canoe. After springing for the new canoe, I thought I was out of the running for a new, small motor and thought I would settle for a used motor for about $500. After remembering my luck with used motors in the past, I've decided to spend the money to get the new $805 Yamaha 2.5 four stroke. I should be able to pick up the motor within the next week or two and will post results afterwards.
 

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