2s V 4s

[wayno60]

ok so 4 strokes have been around for a while now and im wondering what the general feeling for them. Apart from 2 strokes being phased out and one day fours will be the only outboard you will be able to buy, has anyone had probs with them, is the weight difference a hassel.
whats the fore and against of them.

cheers

[Jabba_]

2st wont be phased out.. The Di 2st (evinrude / Mercury) are every bit as clean as a 4st. In fact the Evinrude E-tec 2st is one off the cleanest outboard motors you can buy.. The top two cleanest, least polluting motors are Evinrude and Honda, both producing much less carbon monoxide then all the other brand off outboards...

The 4st are proven for their reliability and economy.... The 2st have caught up with the economy, and are very close to them in reliability..
In a few more years I doubt you will be able too tell the differance as the 4st are trying to get lighter and faster too match the 2st, and the 2st is trying too get quieter, smoother and more economical..

[Noelm]

I kind of suspect that in the not too distant future, we will see a whole range of light weight high HP 4 strokes (and possibly over stresssed motors too) and this lght weight and salesmens blurb (and forums like this) will spell the very slow decline of the 2 stroke, I see that in the near future, the US market will influence our market to such a degree that ALL carby models of anything will just vanish (we are talking new here, not existing motors)

[Noelm]

OH, and I guess I should add, there is plenty of faults appearing in 4 strokes, just as there was/is in 2 strokes.

[propdinger]

i prefer my 4 stroke over a 2 stroke cause i get a hell of a lot more km's per tank after that its all the same to me. i go away fishing for a week and take 220ltrs for a week away (2009 60hp suzuki 1300cc) i would need over 300ltrs and couldnt fit anything else in the boat after the fuel


jeff

[Jarrah Jack]

DI 2 strokes generate far too many column inches in forums to be allowed to be phased out, although they phase me out.

[Noelm]

Something that i find rather interesting in the US forums, is the GOOD reports e-tecs are getting now, it was not that long ago that the mere mention of an e-tec sparked 10 pages of crap, both here and OS, there is lots of threads recomending them now over the much more fancied brands (especially Yamaha) why??? well that's anyone's guess.

[Booya]

I'm begging and pleading with my missus to let me get one.....

http://www.seven-marine.com/

[LittleSkipper]

What an absolute "WEAPON" of an outboard, you would be the envy of every boater with that strapped to the back of your boat, as long as the transom can accommodate such a "MONSTER 475KG" :o
And that's "Dry Weight only" :o


I'm begging and pleading with my missus to let me get one.....

http://www.seven-marine.com/

[Stuart]

I would hope that in the near future we will see gas as a fuel for 4 strokes just like there cousins on the road enjoy. I cant see why this would be an issue considering the safe record of gas tanks on cars. It would be easy to mount underfloor.

[Dan5]

For Gods sake do a forum search............my popcorn machine died an early death years ago.

Dan

[myusernam]

I would hope that in the near future we will see gas as a fuel for 4 strokes just like there cousins on the road enjoy. I cant see why this would be an issue considering the safe record of gas tanks on cars. It would be easy to mount underfloor.

you could buy a yamaha saltwater series v6 on LPG not that longt take off. ago. Obviously didn't take off.

[Sevric]

I went from a carby 2 stroke to 4 stroke and found it very quiet, economical and reliable compared to the carby 2 stroke. The downside was hole shot was terrible. Driving the boat in any sort of chop or sea was a real problem as the 4 stroke never had the torque to maintain a reasonably even speed. The boat was not under powered just not enough grunt from the motor. I have since gone to a DI 2 stroke and have found a happy medium for me. Loads of toque plenty of both grunt and speed and super economical compared with both other variants. I have had no reliability issues to date at 12 months. The only down side as i see it is that they do not appear as quiet or as smooth at idle or troll speed as a 4 stroke although huge improvements over the old carby models and very nearly as quiet at the 4 stroke. Despite much criticism concerning them they are the way to go for me.

[Spaniard_King]

I am finding less and less good people in the marine industry with the ability and want to spend the time setting up a boat properly for it's intended use, i am refering to engine instalation here.

Way too many boats are simply assembled and pushed out the door under the cloake of a $$ value. Many things can add or change the way an engine/hull performs, get one/some wrong and the rig will under perform. Does anyone question this or simply blame the hull or more often the engine. You can guarantee a new owner is blinded by the new paint job on his boat to pick the finner faults.

Appart from the self taught who knows what an alarm means on their boat.....what type of alarm is there?

Engines have evolved and the good people in the industry are thinning out.....where to from here?

[Boat Hog]

I would hope that in the near future we will see gas as a fuel for 4 strokes just like there cousins on the road enjoy. I cant see why this would be an issue considering the safe record of gas tanks on cars. It would be easy to mount underfloor.

There's a couple of companys in the USA developing "propane" powered outboards. Here's one



http://vimeopro.com/derema/lehr

I like the idea of the disposable (recylable) gas cartridge to run the outboard or the option to hook it up to a 9kg bottle.

Sounds like a great alternative to petrol, no more ethanol worries! 8-);D

Back to the topic ..... best thing I ever did on the old Haines Hunter was upgrade from the OMC packaged Johnson 130 to a Honda 150. The hull was rated for 175 HP and with the (weight of the) 150 it performed sooo much better.

Of course it helped to have a dealer who tested it out to check the engine height was right, propped right etc ... not just slapping it on to get a sale.

Of course the extra range (nearly doubled) was fantastic and also not sitting in a pall of blue smoke at the ramp in the morning was an advantage too!

Cheers,

[Nathan Tuskes]

I am finding less and less good people in the marine industry with the ability and want to spend the time setting up a boat properly for it's intended use, i am refering to engine instalation here.

Way too many boats are simply assembled and pushed out the door under the cloake of a $$ value. Many things can add or change the way an engine/hull performs, get one/some wrong and the rig will under perform. Does anyone question this or simply blame the hull or more often the engine. You can guarantee a new owner is blinded by the new paint job on his boat to pick the finner faults.


Appart from the self taught who knows what an alarm means on their boat.....what type of alarm is there?

Engines have evolved and the good people in the industry are thinning out.....where to from here?


as someone that’s about to go through a brand new outboard installationwhat things( 10 commandments) are their to look for in a quality jobconsidering ill be doing 70% of the work myself
cheers nathan

[For Steve]

I am finding less and less good people in the marine industry with the ability and want to spend the time setting up a boat properly for it's intended use, i am refering to engine instalation here.

Way too many boats are simply assembled and pushed out the door under the cloake of a $$ value. Many things can add or change the way an engine/hull performs, get one/some wrong and the rig will under perform. Does anyone question this or simply blame the hull or more often the engine. You can guarantee a new owner is blinded by the new paint job on his boat to pick the finner faults.

Appart from the self taught who knows what an alarm means on their boat.....what type of alarm is there?

Engines have evolved and the good people in the industry are thinning out.....where to from here?

Exactly right. It appears that knowledgeable and skillful people in the marine industry can be hard to find. That's one of the reasons why Ausfish is so helpful. I understand that consumers need value for money, but by searching out the right people to work on our boat can save you in the long run. And it's usually not the biggest and best marketing businesses that offer the best service.

[Jarrah Jack]

Spaniard King has really hit the nail on the head. I've just brought a 520 sig that had a 27 hour yami 115 4 stroke. Its max weight and power and is showing a tendency to porpoise. I'll work through the issue but I wish the installer had done it. I also wish he didn't cut corners with the wiring and the new trailer setup.

[johncar]

Spaniard King has really hit the nail on the head. I've just brought a 520 sig that had a 27 hour yami 115 4 stroke. Its max weight and power and is showing a tendency to porpoise. I'll work through the issue but I wish the installer had done it. I also wish he didn't cut corners with the wiring and the new trailer setup.

Geez I don't think it's just a recent thing, dodgy boat boat setups I have seen from establishments as far back as I can remember. I would say that if anything the industry has improved to some degree and in particular with trailers. They used to put the flimsiest thing they could find 20 years ago and at least we have stamped rated trailers now so owners at least know it's capable of carrying the rig or should be.
Engines are so much nicer in many ways, but I have to say that I thought the pre Ficht OMC engines were among the most robust and reliable. But yeah gootta love the smell of 2 stroke at 5.00 in the morning lol. They were a bit thirsty too but then fuel was 50 odd cents a litre when running my 200HP ocean pro. Quite liked that smelly old noisy engine though, a ton of great fishing trips together and never let me down.
Running a DF250 Suzuki 4 stroke now and it seems indeed a nice engine and it just does everything better and when I get up over the 500hrs trouble free, I will also be considering it to be showing signs of reliability.

I guess as manufacturers try and get these things 2s or 4s more efficient, lighter, faster, lower tolerances, higher stresses etc failures are bound to happen. I only hope that it is kept sensible with reliability always at the highest priority, last thing we want is more engines blowing up.
I agree, both designs are great and we are lucky to have a choice and in time they should just get better untill there is a viable alternative.

Not sure whether LPG and boats go together unless you can keep the gas totally outboard which may be quite impractical, not keen on driving something that could explode with one little spark. Bit different in a car where a leak would disperse into the surrounding air but a boat would contain the leaking gas until it reached flashpoint, ouch!!

[stevemid]

I've been shopping for two motors for a cat I'm building and was also only looking at 4 strokes. However Joey's comment on another thread above had me take a look at the Tohatsu 50 TLDI review. Then I did a search for the price: Two dealers showing $6799. That's 13,600 for two vs. 11,500 for one BF50. It does get ya thinkin.

[joey_1987]

Am glad my info helped someone else :). As far as the 2s vs 4s debate goes I think it depends. I have a caby 2s 30hp, have been on boats with fancy EFI 4s motors and at idle they're nice and quiet but seem slow. I like the concept of DI 2s but have heard a heap of horror stories over the years..although I haven't heard any horror stories about the TLDI's and they have been around for a long long time. Also the 4s/other DFI 2s manufacturers must not see them as a threat? If I had a bigger boat I would consider them. Still nothing beats the plume of smoke from a 2s early in the morning.