Motor Size for a Typhoon

[Riptide]

Hello All

I'm looking for a little input on what size motor I need to move a Typhoon to hull speed not accounting for tide etc... Any suggesting as to what motor works best is appreciated.

Thx,
Riptide

[Gary M]

Riptide,

Years ago when I had a Typhoon my 4 HP long shaft worked great but I wasn't dealing with many currents or tides.

Before the Johnson I had a Sea Gull 3 HP that worked well too.

Both motors had no external tank so on long trips I rigged a external tank with a "jack rabbit" hand pump to pump fuel to the onboard tank once every hour and a half.

Gary

[Riptide]

Thanks Gary, just the kind of info I need. I want to find a light outboard with enough kick to get the Ty moving if necessary. Any recommendation regards 4 or 2 cycle? Brand: Merc or Honda, or T??? I see a lot of smaller boat have Tonoska(?)

Thanks again.

[Appleton68]

I have a Tohatsu 3.5 with long shaft & it works great.

[Dick Villamil]

I have an older Mariner 4hp long shaft and it works fine - usually don't even put it on the boat unless I am going for a longer trip.

[Oswego John]

Hi Riptide,

I have a Merc 5 HP, 2 stroke on my Ty. It's more power than I normally need. It's perfect when going up river or against strong wind, tidal flow, or both. On flat water, I hit hull speed at 1/2 to 3/5 throttle.

If weight is a factor to contend with, a 4 stroke engine, HP for HP, generally weighs more than a 2 stroker. You probably realize that a 4 stroke takes straight gas, whereby a 2 stroke engine has to use premixed gas and special 2 stroke oil.

I think that I would still be in the ballpark if I stated that a 2 HP engine would be at the extreme low end of the HP scale. A 2 1/2 HP is safer. I personally feel that 5 HP is as powerful an engine that is practical.

The only reason that I bought my 5 HP is because, at the time, it was the only motor I found available that had F-N-R gears. I understand that reverse gear is much more common today in a small outboard motor. A remote shift linkage is a lot better than hanging one's bod out over the fantail and rotating the engine 180° trying to back the Ty out of tight quarters.

Hope this helps a bit.
O J

[Riptide]

Again just the info I'm looking for. I live in Minnesota so much of my time in spent on mid sized lakes. I am looking to go to Door County, Wis. and up around the closer islands of the Apostel Islands near Bayfield, Wis.

App - that's the name of the engine I was thinking about, Thanks.
Dick - that make sense to me - why have it on when only on my local lake.
Os - if I had tides I might want 5hp - plus I'm not getting any younger - hauling a 3hp v a 5hp has got to be easier. I've had Lawnboys before so am very familiar with 2vs4stroke engines. R-N-L is very important - Ty's don't maneuver very well shall we say.

Thanks All.
Riptide

[Gary M]

I remember my Sea Gul had no shift lever, no retractable starting cord and I couldn't spin it 180 so there is no way to go in reverse.

When I pull the cord off I'd go.

I hated it at first but looking back I always found my way through any situation.

My Johnson had forward and neutral, and I really didn't mind that it lacked reverse and I had to spin the engine.

Is it true that a 2 cycle engine needs less maintenance then a 4? Mainly a new spark plug now and then.


Gary

[RIKanaka]

If you search the archives I think you'll find that this discussion has come up quite a bit in the past.

I've used a Honda 2hp 4 stroke and a Seagull model 55 2 stroke (same as the 40+, which is said to be about 3hp). Both are longshafts and have a neutral gear. Neither has a reverse gear, but the Honda does rotates 180 degrees.

The amount of thrust that I get from the Honda seems a bit more than 2hp worth, probably equivalent to the Seagull, so I wouldn't count it out based on the low hp number. I bought it new and it has been very reliable: smooth running, always starts on the 1st or 2nd pull, even with gas that has been sitting in the tank for a month or two (I sail off a mooring and don't motor much at all). It weighs about 28#.

The Seagull has been reliable as well, easy to self-service, simple in design. It came with steel fuel tank that had rusted, clogging the fuel line and carburetor. I replaced the former with a brass tank and cleaned out the latter 2 and have not had a problem with it since. It does tend to leak fuel from the carburetor after tiliting it up out of the water or in storage if I don't let the motor run dry after shutting off the fuel tap. And it is a bit noisy and smoky, due to the 25:1 mix, causing a few heads to turn when motoring out amongst other boaters. It's about 10# heavier than the Honda.

Neutral gear is useful, reverse is somewhat useless in a lighter outboard on the Typhoon's aft deck-mounted motor bracket. I've found that using reverse gear (or forward gear in a motor pivoted 180 degrees) with any significant amount of throttle causes the motor mount bracket to simply pivot on the deck mount, raising the lower end and the propeller out of the water. It's actually quite amusing to watch, from the shore or another vessel. Apparently, as OJ has communicated previously on another thread, this does not occur with a heavier 4 - 5hp-ish outboard. This also would not be a problem with a transom-mounted motor bracket. I've found an oar or paddle to be more effective for moving the TY in reverse.

Here's a link to a previous posting of mine on the Honda that may not be readily accessed by a search of the archives:
http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... t=15#94030
If you need a copy of the referenced Boatworks Mag review let me know and I'll look around for the issue and scan it.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Wainfeld]

I was going to answer the long shaft Yamaha 3hp, but its been discontinued. Mine has been running like a top for the past 10 yrs (knock wood), and at 38 lbs is the best, imho, compromise between weight and power-you don't want too much weight hanging off the stern. The replacements, a 4 stroke 2.5hp is not long shaft, and the long shaft 4hp weighs more than 48 lbs.
There are now some electric outboards which look interesting, but I don't know if the thrust is adequate. That may be the way to go in the future.
Mike(stuck at work on a beautiful sailing day)W
CD Ty "Regalo"

[Mike Wainfeld]

From a brief search-all long shaft-4 stroke

Honda 2hp-28lbs
5hp-61lbs

Mercury 3.5hp-38lbs

Nissan/Tohatsu 3.5hp-41lbs

So....the Merc or the Tohatsu may be the way to go, if you want more than 2hp.

Mike W

[Riptide]

Hello All

Great information. I think I've narrowed down my selection. Pound for pound the Merc appears to have the most thrust in the 4cyl's. So I'll give it a good look. I'm not opposed to a 2cyl. I'll take a look/feel of the Honda - 28lbs definitely is appealing.

Bob the Sea Gull would be my choice if I was a purist - I like the look of those old styled motors.

Thank all for your input.

Mike
aka Riptide

[RIKanaka]

...don't know why there's a 3 lb difference, unless it's a long shaft vs short shaft.

Taking the Typhoon out today, I actually used the Honda, for a change. I don't keep it hanging off the back of the transom in between outings, so pulling it out of the cabin and hanging it off the motor mount in today's 20 knot wind-driven chop made me really appreciate its relatively light weight. I haven't dropped an outboard into the drink yet, but today would have been the perfect conditions in which to do so. Oh, there was a Small Craft Advisory? Doh!

[mashenden]

I have a Ty and have used both a Honda 2 hp, 4 stroke and an electric trolling motor (when calm).

Advantage of Honda in comparison to other options is no mixing oil, reasonably light (but probably a bit heaver than a comparable 2 stroke) and air-cooled (less moving parts and if up on the bow and the motor lifts out of the water - no panic, except on the unavoidable clear signs that point to my weight gain – oh well).

I initially had concerns with reliability because, while it is only a few years old, the carb got gunked quickly (possibly neglect by previous owner, possibly because the orifices are pretty small). After cleaning the carb I omitted a gasket (how important could it possibly be?) which added some episodes of intermittent flooding. Point being that I think the problems were mostly human in nature, and since correcting them, the motor starts every time, first or second pull. Love it.

I also liked the trolling motor for its stealth-like quietness. Gliding out to the river was in harmony with the actual sailing experience, but once the gas motor problems were ironed out, I retired it because of concerns that the trolling motor would not handle a strong wind and the extra battery weight.