Tohatsu Outboards...Any good?

[Blaster Bretty]

Hey bloke's + blokette's Im ready to buy a new outboard, got all the boat specs sussed, max power + weight recommended for my boat, Thing is after all the research ive found the tohatsu's seem to offer the best value for money and are winning the race so far. im looking at anything from 30-50hp and as said the tohatsu is the pick so far for the money the budget (mrs) permit's but im just wondering if there was any "issue's" with them, the boat's only gonna be used once or twice every 2 months for fishing and family fun, nothing offshore or the like's but I do wanna buy new to get the warranty etc. the current tohatsu im looking at is one of those 50hp thunder cat outboard's used buy them racing bloke's, they cant be that bad....surely? otherwise they wouldnt use them...right??? its just that a bloke from work rekons theyre no good...stay away from them he said...what shall I do?? the mercs's + e-tecs are just a wee bit out of reach.

Bretty

[squizzytaylor]

Truth be Known BB, I beleive a low tech 2 stroke is a low tech 2 stroke, Tohatsu (Australia) have been known to have warranty hiccups but this is a reflection on the importer and not the quality or workmanship of the motors. I have a Toey 60 hp 2 stroke and am very happy with it thus far, my previous motor was a Tohatsu made 30hp mercury.

Cheers
Geoff

[pursuit001]

hi mate i have owned both a 06 toey60 and a 07 115 toey there a great motor mate and if they wernt any good they wouldn supply them to surf rescue nore would pro fisherman use them on there boats still come with a 3 yr warranty like most motors and also all mercs in 2 stroke up to fifty are built buy tohatsu
cheers shane

[catfishkid]

I had an 18hp 06 tohatsu on a 12 ft tinny and now have a 40hp 07 tohatsu on a 14 ft tinny,cant fault either motor,sure they are older technology but at least it is proven and reliable.Go the tohatsu you wongt regret it.


Cheers Craig

[BM]

Tohatsu (Nissan) engines are very good and pitched at cheaper prices as they are less popular. Good, reliable performer.

In fact Tohatsu make most of Mercurys smaller engines and they are simply painted a differnet colour and rebadged.

Cheers

[Horse]

My brother has a 25 hp Tohatsu (Mercury 30 lightweight) which becomes a 30hp at the first sevice. Great donk that has good corrosion resistance and great reliability.
I have heard very few negative comments about the motors and they are common on surf rescue boats etc

[Blaster Bretty]

Great stuff guys ...keep the good vibe's coming,,, I may not be able to sleep tonight in anticipation of my new purchase! Thanks to all that have replied so far

Bretty

[finga]

Yep, good honest motors all right.
Mine was a ripper :)

[Gilli]

The reason why surf rescue use them is because the brackets holding the donk onto the boat are "apparently" found to be stronger than the yammies. A teacher of mine at tech said that is why they use the tohatsu motors

[snelly1971]

I used to hate them and think they were cheap and nasty, I have not had much do with Tohatsue`s over 90 hp but the ones i have seen here locally are still going strong and never had any major issues...

Mick

[reddybayfisher]

I have a 40Hp toey and can't fault it so far.....yes it's cheaper than other brands but like other things - sometimes you are buying the brand even though the product is very similar....
Others seem to agree that Toey build good engines.......
I would like to hear from anyone that has a lemon Tohatsu motor.....

[Nofishtoobig]

Hello,

I went through the debate of tohatsu when powering my rig , and chose against as the warranty debate has been posted on other sites at times, this one died after 20hrs http://www.fishnet.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=76632&highlight=tohatsu.

Nissan are of the top two asian engine builders and for smaller 2st out board seem like a great deal. Its all about service / parts and waranty backup that detered me but as in finding these type of stories you never know the full extent of why it died after 20hrs.

I still would hade felt confident if i went down that road, Hope yours gives you what your looking for with many fisho stories to come.

Nofishtoobig.

[snelly1971]

Hello,

I went through the debate of tohatsu when powering my rig , and chose against as the warranty debate has been posted on other sites at times, this one died after 20hrs http://www.fishnet.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=76632&highlight=tohatsu.

Nissan are of the top two asian engine builders and for smaller 2st out board seem like a great deal. Its all about service / parts and waranty backup that detered me but as in finding these type of stories you never know the full extent of why it died after 20hrs.

I still would hade felt confident if i went down that road, Hope yours gives you what your looking for with many fisho stories to come.

Nofishtoobig.

I have know Yammies to have problems....with bearings ect...Suzukis breaking off fly wheels....Mercury had a problem with the injection unit on optimaxes, the list goes on...I believe there isnt much difference between them all these days, just a personal preference and Price at the time .....

Any one of the major brands sometimes has to have a dud built...just hope its not mine...

Mick

[hookinin]

I agree with Mick all brands can have problems and if you can afford the tohatsu in a 50hp or another brand in a smaller hp i think you would be better off with the tohatsu. Having said this i have never owned one just my thourhts. Gaven

[nigelr]

G'day Blaster.
I have a 30 Tojo, I love it. Has never let me down, good honest performer, cheap to own, run and service.
Our local outboard service gun offered me the opinion that the 50 Tojo is a great motor. His comment was, the Thundercat guys wouldn't use them otherwise.
So some common confirmation of your own thoughts.........
Given this guy is an Evinrude/Johno dealer, pretty good rap I reckoned.
I will be looking at a Tojo for my next boat, unless I can afford an E-tec.................
Cheers.

[finga]

Gees one Tohy let down over a couple of sites....must be a reliability record for any outboard over the entire spectrum of sizes.

Now how many Merc.'s have broken down??
How many Yammi's etc etc.
I won't ask about the Honda's because they just don't :)...I hope :D

[buggerit]

My last boat had a 2000 /70 hp toey and had a couple of smaller ones before that . Could never fault them . Current boat has a 90 hp Yammy if i had the spare cash would have a new 115 Tohatsu .

[Deepdiver]

Bretty i had a 140 hp tohatsu and was very happy with it.If i compare it to my 135 mariner it was a little slower getting on the plane but better top speed,as the tohatsu was a 4 cylinder and my mariner is a v6.The towy was very good on fuel and didn`t miss a beat.Just like many on this site have said,it`s the outboard dealer that makes all the difference.My local tohatsu dealer was very helpfull so that helped in my decision making.cheers Paul;D

[NQBoyes]

have a 115 tohatsu and couldn't be more happier. everything from service to performance has been top class. heavy duty no frills engines. heard a story and a 15 foot tinny was recovered from the ocean floor after 6 months with a 40 tohatsu 1998 model and after cleaning the carbys and re wiring the engine it is still running today. dont know if this is true or not but i'm going to run with it anyway

[croangler]

hello,

how much will it set me back for a 30hp 2 stroke
or a 40 hp 2 stroke tohatsu

[STUIE63]

Bretty buy a motor that has a good dealer in your area . any new motor is going to be good
Stuie

[Blackened]

how much will it set me back for a 30hp 2 stroke
or a 40 hp 2 stroke tohatsu

G'day

Why not ask a dealer this question?

Nu Marine on 32864137 are tohey dealers, based in cleveland

Daveis

[Mac_Attack]

I have a 25 Tohatsu with the restrictor removed so its actually a 30 but anyway it's going on about 50 hours right now and i have never ever had to pull it more than 3 times to start her and she has never had any prolems EVER!!! Tohatsu motors are really worth a look i recon. Are you thinking 2-stroke or 4?
Cheers Nick 8-)

[Mac_Attack]

I just love mine because she doesn't meet any emission requirements anywere and she revs up to 6000 I LOVE ME 2-STROKE!!!

[Poodroo]

Have a 2000 model 25hp Tohatsu on the back of the tinny and I cannot speak highly enough about that motor. Starts reliably and performs better than specification. Have no hesitation in recommending Tohatsu motors at all.

Poodroo

[Blaster Bretty]

hello,

how much will it set me back for a 30hp 2 stroke
or a 40 hp 2 stroke tohatsu

G-day croangler... When I as in Neptune marine in springwood on tuesday there was an electric start 40hp tiller steer for $3500...there was no 40hp manual start but im pretty sure these motors are about $3000,,, usually $500 more for an electric start. the 50hp manual start tiller steer (thundercat motor) was $3800.. They didnt have any 30hp motors in stock but the owner (john) said he can order them in quick smart! He was very good on the fitment of the motor too...saying he would only charge me the labour to fit.. he also said I could even fit it myself in neptune marines yard for free and they would help and give advice.... now theres a good bloke EH!.....But theres more!!! down the road in springwood marine the suzi 30hp electric start cost $3700 and $3200 for manual start, 30hp too so go figure on those prices...im sold on the tohatsu's now.... thanks to all that have helped me out,,,

Bretty

[eimeo]

i have never had a tohatsu- have only heard that they are a great motor-the only downside is that they have a terrible reputa tion with warranties-i have seen a few osts on this on various sites and it wasnt just one retailer i think it was a company problem
beware
dave

[nipsta]

i have a 25hp 2007 model and i love it it has a 1 star emmision rating and uses less fuel than my 15 hp i can go from the ramp at monduran to h and back on 1/4 tank i t goes well and i will also up it to a 30 hp after 12 months. if you read you warranty book they all say the same thing certian parts are only covered for the 3 years and others parts 12 months. The only thing i can fault with mine if it has sat around for a while it takes a 3 or so pull after choking to start once started in the morning it will start first pull every time after that oh yeah someone said pretty basic yep just like the kiss factor it works every time

[Moonlighter]

Hi Blaster

I've got a Tohatsu TLDI 90 and had it for over 3 years now. Never missed a beat. No dramas with servicing, in fact have just had a service by an excellent mobile mechanic.

Same as you, did the research and everything looked good but wanted some first-hand recommendations before I purchased. Spoke to many people in the industry and couldn't find anyone with a bad word for them. Reputation for reliability and being very robustly built. Maybe a tad noisier than some of the new tech motors, but not by much.

One other factor: they are MADE IN JAPAN. Means quality. Tohatsu opened a brand new factory around 2 years ago in Japan and as others have mentioned many of trhe smaller Merc 2 strokes are made by Tohatsu, and also most of the 4hp or smaller motors by some others are also Tohatsu's in disguise.

If you're looking at around 50hp, why not have a look at the TLDI? Not as expensive as a 4st or e-tec last time I looked, maybe a middle ground worth considering?

To give you an idea how good they are, my 90TLDI replaced a 70 Yammy - the Yammie was a great motor, ran up nearly 500 faultless hours and averaged around 2.2km per litre. On my 100 litre tank = 220km to empty.

The TLDI 90, however, averages around 3.25 km per litre! Can now safely do 325km on a tank!

Plus, no smoke, smooth idle, instant starts every time and they have a nifty feature (if you're into trolling) where you can shift the idle speed from 600, 700 to 800rpm just by pushing the ignition key in.

Also I have a friend with a 30hp Tohatsu 2 stroke on his tinny and he swears by it - had it for 5 hard years and never any problems.

Good luck!

Grant

[tin can marlin]

Mate they are a good motor just make sure you were a gas mask because you will need it with all of the fumes.

[deadbeatloser]

Mate they are a good motor just make sure you were a gas mask because you will need it with all of the fumes.

yeah youd no wouldnt ya ? wat you sell your stinky smoky s/h 15 year old two stroke...............................

[Alchemy2007]

I got quoted up last month for a 70 hp 2 stroke Tohatsu for about $7500 with electric start,tilt trim ect.
The price went up about another 2 grand icluding all the other bits and peices that I was interested in (Hyd Sterring ect). This quote was from Mid Coast Marine at the Gold Coast. I rang around most Tohatsu dealers in the SE QLD and found that the majority of them didn't seem to have time fielding your questions and couldent get off the phone quick enough, being a first time boatie I wanted to ask alot of questions concerning 2 strokes,2 stroke injected and 4 strokes.
Out of all the dealers I rang, Peter from Mid Coast marine will have my buisness as he showed genuine interest in my position and offered alot of additonal advice being a first timer, his pricing was also competitive as the others but I am prepared to pay a little extra for genuine service and attitude towards customer sales and satisfaction.

[Coontakinta]

Poor after sales service seems to be a fairly common thread when discussing Tohatsu along with poor resale value. After owning a TLDI90 for the last 3 years, I wouldnt let one owners misfortune on another site deter me from buying another. Only disappointment I have with mine is that it lacks the punch of the
e-tec otherwise its its equal in everything else!

[Mac_Attack]

yeah youd no wouldnt ya ? wat you sell your stinky smoky s/h 15 year old two stroke...............................

Here Here!!!!