porkpie

At this point, I wouldn't be paying out of pocket to the tune of $2500 to fix a motor that has proved to be a dumpster fire so far. I'd either run the claim through because 4 dealers are telling me it's possible to damage like this or I'd cut my losses and buy a used honda kicker off Kijiji. That's just me

That will put a rod through the block.. ask me how I know! It involved my oldest kid, and his buddies and some waterskis! Never lend your boat to you kid!!!

Doug, Your unlikely to have any problems with that yamaha. I unfortunately had a one off bad Yamaha 2 stroke on my duck boat bought new up at the old Thomboy power sports in Owen sound. They didn’t do me wrong, but Yamaha Canada sure did. Like I said, most all of their product is solid as rock. It’s those one offs you have to worry about! I hope your paperwork gets sorted out quickly!

While I’d agree with you that Yamaha generally makes a good motor, and the majority are trouble free, if you ever have to deal with Yamaha Canada on a real warranty issue you might find yourself having an interesting time. I have a good used running 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke on my tinner, and I’d probably buy a good running used one again. I’d never buy one under warranty as the warranty is useless paper in my mind and I won’t pay for that privilege again!

NM

My thoughts are that boating on the ultra cheap usually yields disappointment. If you have a running 18hp merc at the moment, and a serviceable used 16 foot tin boat, then I’d be saving my money for a newer 30hp 4 stroke Honda or Suzuki. There is not a whole lot that can go wrong with a 16 foot tinner. If the transom goes, you can generally replace it quite easily if your handy. A small leak? Tip it over and get a buddy to help you bang some rivets tight. Flooring shot? Rip it out and replace. It the boats in decent shape it will last you for years. The motors have a finite lifespan. And while that old Johnny may run well, it will break down eventually or as someone else said, it’ll smoke like mad. If you buy once and cry once on a newer motor, you’ll be on the water trouble free for years.

Load off the side. Never at the ramp. 4am or 4pm. Stay the F out of the way until your ready to drop it in. I load my boat in the driveway at home. When I get to the ramp the only things I put in it are the keys, my sonar and my thermos. All else including the cooler was put in there before left the house.

Well, if the motor runs and the boat doesn’t leak an old motor can be replaced down the road should it give you grief!

Not especially no, and I owned a merc small motor from that generation at one time. I paddled home from several duck hunts, and I generally keep my equipment well tuned and regularly serviced. It would rank among my last choices of old motors from the 80’s, second only to a Chrysler. My first choice would be a 2 cylinder Johnston/evinrude from the late 80’s to mid 90’s.

A marina will charge you about $200 tax in. Their shop rates are $125 an hour most places these days. Terry is right it’s not hard on a small motor to do it yourself if your handy! Whenever I’ve sold a boat in the past I’ve always told the guy to replace the impeller. That said, I’ve never sold one without a functioning impeller either!

Thanks for both suggestions. Love that Costco logo too!

Your on the right track. I’ve been bleeding my fish for 30 years. Always better quality meat no matter the species! Can you post a link to this cooler you got? Even in an 18 footer the giant fish cooler gets in the way!

I really don’t know. I think I paid $650 for mine at the time in good used condition. With the sportspal wide transom you’ll have no issues. It will be a real nice rig to tour around in!

No, I ran one on a 16 foot sportspal wide transom and it was fine. I had the Tohatsu version, but the Merc 3.5 is the same motor. I think it will be fine on an 18 foot square back in my opinion, and it will go like hell too LOL. The only concern I could see is if you have one of those really narrow little square sterns, and even then I’d guess it’d be ok as they aren’t very heavy.

That may be what the US press is saying, but I’ve been closely watching our local markets for months now as I’m interested in a specific boat and there is a noticeable trend in price reductions, including a couple of quite recent dealer reductions. Things aren’t all rosy. I am quite certain that once I’ve bought what I want, I will be getting considerably less for my used boat than I would have last year. I’m also pretty certain I’m going to pay less for the one I want so as usual things work out. Your mileage may vary, but in my small town, houses aren’t selling overnight anymore and prices are dropping on luxury items. Some of us saw it coming, and some are still in denial!

I think they are starting to dip. I’ve had my eye on a particular model of Starcraft tiller boat, and I saw my first dealer reduction in pricing on an in stock new boat today. I’ve also noticed Corona boats aren’t selling and I’ve marked a number of rigs on kijiji and almost all of them have had price reductions unless they where a smoking deal already. Facts are facts, and people are starting to notice they have less disposable income, and rates rising means a lot of people are less inclined to slap a boat on their HELOC or other credit vehicle. I wouldn’t either, as a matter of fact if I had any debt other than a mortgage or car payment I’d be looking to clean it up ASAP. There is an air of hesitation from a lot of people, many wondering what their finances will look like in the next couple of years.

I mean people park at the town docks in gravenhurst and take up space all day. On some of the smaller lakes from time to time they’ll leave their tinny for a week at a time. I don’t mind the docking for the day, but a few times I’ve been tempted to tow the week long tinny being stored at the dock across the lake. They can really tie up space especially on the weekends. I don’t really know the circumstances. If it’s just for a day I’d say too bad. If your planning on leaving for a couple days and spending that time on the next lake, I’d say learn how to safely beach your boat and properly secure it.

I had a 55lb thrust with ipilot and no foot pedal on my 16 foot Lund. It was fine for me because I'm primarily a troller. I have an 80lb terrova on my boat now, and I have only taken the foot pedal out one time when my remote failed. It really depends on your fishing style. I cast occasionally and I just use the remote. It doesn't bother me overly. Maybe if it was a daily occurrence I'd want a pedal? The PowerDrive itself, I've owned multiple variations of over the years. The only problems I've ever had where related to the foot pedals on non ipilot motors. Each time it required a new pedal. Take that for what it's worth. If you troll a lot, I wouldn't think twice. I don't even mind the deployment of the PowerDrive V2. While the Terrova is better, the PD isn't nearly as challenging to deploy as some make it out to be.

Always set up a tarp. Even if it’s just over your picnic table. You’ll appreciate it at some point!

What he said…. Top of Nippissing area anyway lol.

I used some regular simple green on my boat today. It was quite amazing. Thanks for the info!

More and more I’m going to be parking my boat at our place up by Nippissing. I’ll do the early spring fishing, and the fall stagers but for the summer months I’m leaving it up there where the launches are free and the fishing is good.

This. I believe I’ve done it by accident also. Sorry if I ruined your day

I hate to parrot, but that's almost certainly a short!

I've had experience with a number of small motors over the years. My conclusion to date is that there is no point going with a 2 stroke motor unless your boat won't support the weight of a 4 stroke. Everything about a 4 stroke is better. That said, I've had honda, suzuki, yamaha, tohatsu, nissan and merc over the years. The honda is the king as far as I'm concerned but you'll pay for it. The yamaha four stroke electric start that I'm currently running on my tin boat is pretty darn good so far. It's been quiet and reliable. I bought is off a guy here for a good deal and i'm pretty happy. Although I did have a heck of a time with a brand new yamaha 2 stroke on my duck boat. I finally resolved the hard starting issue no thanks to yamaha canada warranty, and then moved it on as I had little faith after that episode. I would not buy a new yamaha. Their warranty isn't worth the paper its written on as far as I'm concerned. That said, most of their product is good and you probably won't need it! Tohatsu's work well. I had a great 9.8 as a kicker on my big boat until my oldest kid borrowed the boat, left the kicker down and blew a piece of the rod through the front of the block. It only had about 100 hours so that was an upsetting loss. I now have a merc 8hp as a kicker, also made by tohatsu. Every spring it is a bear to start, and requires a bit of messing around. I winterize it properly, so I'm not sure what the issue is, but after screwing around for 30-60 minutes, I get it running and don't have a problem for the rest of the season. All of the small mercs are tohatsu engines. I had a 2 stroke nissan that was also a tohatsu build, it was a great motor and only 60 pounds. That is the one 2 stroke I'd consider buying if I found one in good shape. Otherwise 4 stroke all the way. Happy hunting! You could try The Marina Guy up in Priceville north of me if you wanted Tohatsu. Ron and Mia are good people and that's where I take my boat for service when needed. 519-369-3892. I imagine his prices are competitive and he may have something used in good condition available!