easy to start small outboard motor

[jen1722terry]

Hey CDers,

We're back at our usual mooring float in Northeast Harbor, Maine for another summer. It's been nice to see so many lovely CDs come thru.

We have a small inflatable dinghy with an inflatable floor. Works for us but the Honda 2.3 is an issue. My wife can't start it. She doesn't have a lot of heft and lmuscle mass and she just can't seem to get enough snap on the starter cord to get the motor to fire.

Thinking about a different motor. The dink can take up to 6 HP, but we're also weight-conscious for we carry the dink on davits. Can't go to a larger motor with electric start.

We see that the Yamaha 4 hp is very popular here at the marina. Anyone own one and how easy does it start?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Happy sailing for the rest of the summer. Hope the storms spares all of you.

Jenn and Terry

[Jim Walsh]

I checked the specs. and they don’t mention the compression in the owners manual. If there is an outboard dealer in your neck of the woods that carries multiple makes you may have the opportunity to give the competition the “pull test” to determine if one make is easier for Jenn to start.
I’ve had Elgin’s, Merc’s, Tohatsu’s, and my current Honda 2.3 over the last decades and the Honda seems easier, or at least no more difficult, to start than any outboard I’ve owned.
Glad to hear you are back on your mooring. Enjoy the season.

[bottomscraper]

I have the Yamaha 6hp which is essentially the same as the 4hp (same displacement, same compression ratio). I really like the engine but it is probably significantly harder to pull start than your current Honda. It does reliably start on the first or second pull.

[casampson]

My 6 hp 1998 Evinrude is very easy to start. I wonder if an older two-stroke would be easier than your Honda.

[Dick Villamil]

try a new plug gapped properly and use only fresh non-ethanol high test gasoline - should be easier to start.

[shavdog]

I purchased a new 2.5 Suzuki for a typhoon I just sold....36pounds and it started first pull every time and easy.....4stroke and $750

[moctrams]

I bought a 1974 Evinrude and a 1974 Johnson 2hp, 2 cycle outboard motor. Converted to solid state ignition and start right away, even when there has been rain.

[fmueller]

Some of the small motors have a compression release just to facilitate starting, its sometimes called "anti buck".. The little Honda 2.3 does not and often really yanks the pull cord right out of your grasp.

[wikakaru]

Another solution would be to switch to a Torqeedo. They are more expensive and have limited range compared to gasoline ouboards, but it would absolutely solve your pull-start problems.

Smooth sailing,

--Jim

[John Stone]

Hey CDers,

We're back at our usual mooring float in Northeast Harbor, Maine for another summer. It's been nice to see so many lovely CDs come thru.

We have a small inflatable dinghy with an inflatable floor. Works for us but the Honda 2.3 is an issue. My wife can't start it. She doesn't have a lot of heft and lmuscle mass and she just can't seem to get enough snap on the starter cord to get the motor to fire.

Thinking about a different motor. The dink can take up to 6 HP, but we're also weight-conscious for we carry the dink on davits. Can't go to a larger motor with electric start.

We see that the Yamaha 4 hp is very popular here at the marina. Anyone own one and how easy does it start?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Happy sailing for the rest of the summer. Hope the storms spares all of you.

Jenn and Terry

It is unlikely a strength issue. It is almost all technique...as you surmised. Chasing down different 2 and 4 hp engines is unlikely to solve the problem. My recommendation is mount the engine on a stand in the driveway with “ears” connected over the intake pick-up and a garden hose running. Demonstrate the technique. And let her practice starting it wearing gloves so she doesn’t hurt her hand. It will put her arm and shoulder at a better height and with her feet on the ground allow her to use her weight. Once she gets it figured out it is much easier to transition to the dinghy. It’s technique.

I have used the four stroke air cooled 2.5 Honda. I also have a 3 horsepower two stroke Nissan. I’m not sure I can tell the difference. Same between my two stroke 9.8 tohatsu and four stroke 9.9 Honda.

[tartansailor]

I purchased a new 2.5 Suzuki for a typhoon I just sold....36pounds and it started first pull every time and easy.....4stroke and $750

There's Suzuki, then everyone else. IMHO.
Dick

[David Morton]

My Yamaha 2.5 has been a very reliable starter, but after over 10 years the lower end is giving me trouble. Weighs about 30lbs and am able to move it from my stern rail mount to the dink by myself. has internal fuel tank so you don't have to haul around another tank. I would recommend it if you are going the fossil fuel route. There is also the Torqeedo. Expensive but very portable. I am replacing the Yamaha with one of those, expecting that it will also serve as an auxiliary for my H12.

[John Stone]

Not to be a contrarian but I vote for a hard dinghy and a good pair of oars. Solves all these issue just like that. I was forced to purchase a 2hp for my 9’ Fatty Knees last time I was in the VI. The marina, where the primary dinghy dock was located, and near my free mooring, thus my reluctance to move, would not allow rowing. It was nuts. It’s the only place I have ever been where I could not row.

But rowing a good hard dinghy is a pleasure. I have done it in some pretty ugly conditions and truth be told got less wet than when powering with an outboard. I have made dozens of new friends while rowing which would never have occurred had I been under power. There is great pleasure to be had rowing through the anchorage in the early morning or early evening listening to the sounds of easy living and chatting with your neighbors—something that never happens when you strap an outboard on your dinghy.

If interested, you can read more on my run-in with the Crown Bay Marina here.

https://farreachvoyages.net/2019/01/21/brave-sweet-pea/

[Neil Gordon]

Another solution would be to switch to a Torqeedo. They are more expensive and have limited range compared to gasoline ouboards, but it would absolutely solve your pull-start problems.

Smooth sailing,

--Jim

I bought mine used for about half the cost of a new one. Range hasn't been an issue... keep the speed down and you can go a long way, and I can recharge well enough when motoring. Recently, an accommodating harbormaster let me recharge in his office while I was ashore. (Plugging in doesn't feel the same as giving someone free gas, I suppose.)

Much depends on how you use the dinghy and your access to recharging.