Should I change Dink Motor from 8HP to 2.5 HP?

quote:
Originally posted by Split Decision

We have a 310 Mercury inflatable (fibreglass panel floors, inflatable keel) that we use our 2hp four stroke Honda and our 9.9hp 2 stroke Johnson outboard on it.

We have used the 2hp the most due to its 28 pound weight and it will move myself, wife and 11 year old son around quite adequately for sight seeing and getting to places within reasonable distances. The 9.9hp is great if you are going to drop that engine on the dingy and leave it on for a couple days to explore, really makes a difference in the distance you can travel while on plane.

As mentioned above, really depends on how you want to use your inflatable and if you are willing to continue slugging with putting the 8hp on/off without some kind of assistance.

Click to expand...


this route makes sense, also the redundancy factor is covered.

The Lehr 2.5 eliminated my need to carry yet more gasoline on board my diesel boat, there are always some LP canisters along for the grill.

However there is a lack of service centers and parts for the Lehr and I am a bit concerned about long term reliability.

A 2.5 Yamaha, Honda or Suzuki eliminates that issue completely but now (specifically) do you manage the two gasoline containers/mixing/fuel issues in your situation with a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke?

RWS
 
"but now (specifically) do you manage the two gasoline containers/mixing/fuel issues in your situation with a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke?"

We only carry straight gasoline for use in the small dinghy 4 strokes as well as any jet skis and the larger dinghy outboards. We can fuel from a container of straight gas we carry or from the larger dinghy as we have a transfer pump on that one to share gas if needed.
For the smaller 2 stroke dinghy motor (3 Hp Merc) we carry small premeasured doses of 2 stroke oil which is put in a one gallon container and mixed to go into the 2 stroke motor - we mix it at 1 qt at a time premeasured since that supports the small motor for quite some time the way it is used. That Qt just about fills the 3Hp merc when it is down pretty low on premixed gas in its internal tank.

Hope this helps
 
quote:
Originally posted by RWS

quote:
Originally posted by Split Decision

We have a 310 Mercury inflatable (fibreglass panel floors, inflatable keel) that we use our 2hp four stroke Honda and our 9.9hp 2 stroke Johnson outboard on it.

We have used the 2hp the most due to its 28 pound weight and it will move myself, wife and 11 year old son around quite adequately for sight seeing and getting to places within reasonable distances. The 9.9hp is great if you are going to drop that engine on the dingy and leave it on for a couple days to explore, really makes a difference in the distance you can travel while on plane.

As mentioned above, really depends on how you want to use your inflatable and if you are willing to continue slugging with putting the 8hp on/off without some kind of assistance.

Click to expand...


this route makes sense, also the redundancy factor is covered.

The Lehr 2.5 eliminated my need to carry yet more gasoline on board my diesel boat, there are always some LP canisters along for the grill.

However there is a lack of service centers and parts for the Lehr and I am a bit concerned about long term reliability.

A 2.5 Yamaha, Honda or Suzuki eliminates that issue completely but now (specifically) do you manage the two gasoline containers/mixing/fuel issues in your situation with a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke?

RWS

Click to expand...


In our case the Honda 2hp is the four stroke, so when we use that engine with our inflatable we take along a small one gallon can of straight gas. This is the same one gallon gas tank we use to top up our 4 stroke gas push mower at home.

We only travel with either the 2 hp or 9.9 hp engine, never both at the same time, so when using the 9.9 it has it's own gas tank with fuel premixed at the 50:1 gas oil mixture.

For us it then just depends on which outboard engine suits us better for where we are staying, how long staying there, number of times we may want to take outboard on/off and distance we want to travel. It is nice to have the option of which size engine to use, since we do own both.

Mike.
 
I am thinking that since I have enough space onboard, that I would travel with both.

That way I have the luxury (if you want to call it that) of using the "fun" powered dink or the lame powered dink.

Regardless, I will have a fuel issue no matter what I do.

I don't like the idea of carrying double gas.

Otherwise, just throw a few extra lil propane canisters on board and get the Lehr.

The Suzuki at 27 lbs is appealing from a weight standpoint, the Yamaha at 37 lbs is appealing from a reliability standpoint and the Lehr is appealing from a fuel convenience standpoint.

Ideally, I would simply buy a NEW small two stroke.

Thank you EPA for limiting my choices.

RWS
 
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