Hi all,
I have just bought a 8 foot fibreglass dinghy.
I am considering buying a three and a half horsepower Toshiba motor, 13 kilos weight for $950.
What do you think of my choice?

i put a 5hp on mine, overkill but gets you there fast :)

I've got a Mercury 3hp on my fibreglass dinghy. Pushes it along with two of us in it, no worries. Know nothing about Toshibas.

Presuming you'll hang your OBM on a bracket on the push pit sometime, I'd buy the weight motor you can confidently and safely lift from tender to yacht, and visa versa, while standing in the dinghy in choppy water and 10-20 knot winds... The 3.3-3.5 range of mercs, tohatsu's etc are all the same and generally fit this requirement, plus they're the smallest motor with neutral/drive lever which also greatly contributes to safety when starting or if kids are involved.

I have the Merc 3.3 not supper fast but reliable. Also as bush dog has said it is easy and light to transer from dinghy to boat. A mate has the Suzuki and is not happy with it another has the Honda is very happy with it if you want 4 stroke.
I am pretty sure the mercury and tohatsu are the same motors.
I am thinking of getting a bigger inflatable about a 2.9 with a 10hp to use when travelling something a bit bigger and faster if I want to explore a bit.

I want to thank all contributors for their help.
Sound like I am not making any big mistakes with this choice

Hi

I have a 3 hp Yamaha on a 8 foot tinny and it does ok

I wouldn't mind trying a 2 hp Yamaha instead of the 3 to see how much difference in performance there is as the 2 is a fair bit lighter to carry at 10kg as opposed to 17kg for the 3

Regards Don

8ft is pretty small. A 2hp would be more than enough. I am very happy with my 2.3 hp Honda 4 stroke. Air cooling makes less hassles for flushing. 4 stroke means easy to dump old fuel.

Yep would agree 2hp -parson is what I use. As I am on a mooring weight was key factor as the motor lives in the back of the Ute and I think the 2 weighs in at around 9.8kg. Dry
only issue it has no gearbox so you need to be aware of starting in gear and pulling up to a boat or jetty.

Learn to row!!
Seriously we have a heavyy 10ft glass dinghy which is stored at the club. It is a good rowing dinghy but its a good 300m to our mooring and love the quiet and lack of hassle in rowing.
Even with 4 people and gear for tge weekend, still row !!

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rumblefish said..
Learn to row!!
Seriously we have a heavyy 10ft glass dinghy which is stored at the club. It is a good rowing dinghy but its a good 300m to our mooring and love the quiet and lack of hassle in rowing.
Even with 4 people and gear for tge weekend, still row !!

The thing to note is you have a heavy tender most of the light weight tenders are really hard to row I have always found heavier boats are easier to row especially in wind or chop.

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Bundeenaboy said..
Hi all,
I have just bought a 8 foot fibreglass dinghy.
I am considering buying a three and a half horsepower Toshiba motor, 13 kilos weight for $950.
What do you think of my choice?

I bought a 1973 Johnson 2hp Seagull for $40 at some markets. Best $40 I ever spent. Recoil spring was broken but an easy fix (took the temper out of the end, bent a new hook), new plug and oil in the lower unit (impeller was fine). Pushes the 8' with two people and gear fine. These things seem to be bullet proof and collectible, there are Youtube videos about restoration.

Tim

When the wind is up and it's too hard to row, I power my 8 ft fg tender and 8 ft inflatable along with a 2hp Yamaha. This motor is fantastic - always starts on 1st or 2nd pull unless I've stuffed up somehow. It is nice and light at just under 10kg, which is really good when my late 60's frame has to hump it into/out of the dinghy at anchor when I'm away on a cruise. And very simple to service.

Cheers, Graeme

If you're just day sailing then rowing or a small outboard that just gets you to the boat would be fine.

If you're cruising then a larger outboard lets you go and explore that creek or reef over there in the distance or that spot that might be a better anchorage or load up with fishing gear and come back with a feed. What's the point of spending days traveling to a spot and then be restricted to a small area around the boat?

My 2.4m RIB came with a 2 hp Yamaha that weighs 10 kg, so really easy to throw around runs really well but is under-powered for two people and gear. Last year I bought a 5 hp Yamaha, it is 20 kg but still manageable for me and makes quite a difference to carrying capacity and being able to travel a bit further. I also like the fact that is has an integral tank or can be connected to to an external tank and reverse and neutral are a bonus too.

i have a 3hp Yamaha 2stroke and a mercury 4hp 2stroke , the Yamaha is my preferred outboard its much easier to carry at 16kg and still planes my inflatable . they have about the same top speed around 12knots but the 4hp will plane the dinghy with more weight aboard i cant get the 3hp to plane when i have a full 20L jerry can board but the 4hp will no problem . neither will plane with 2 people aboard
check out my short video comparing the outboards

Kool video Kurt.. Their is a big difference in power between the 3 and 4..

Another few features i really like about the Yamaha 3hp is the swivel steering friction is easy to use, the cowling is a clip of system so easy to clean or work on the motor (not that its a big issue), but it makes seeing the fuel tank easy.

Also has two handles, front and rear that make it easy to grip and hold..

Also i think from memory the 3hp has small vents to flush still on the gear box, (i Cant exactly remember that one sorry).

i like the ones with the handles on them they don't run out of fuel never hard to get on the dingy and are nice and quite come in different lengths and colours to match also reasonably priced

yeah the Yamaha is much better made and more refined and almost 10kg lighter than the 4hp
i used to have a mercury 3.3 it couldn't plane anything i put it on, felt more like a 1.5hp.
will be looking at replacing the 4 mercury with a 8hp Yamaha soon only weighs 1kg more

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kurt88 said..
yeah the Yamaha is much better made and more refined and almost 10kg lighter than the 4hp
i used to have a mercury 3.3 it couldn't plane anything i put it on, felt more like a 1.5hp.
will be looking at replacing the 4 mercury with a 8hp Yamaha soon only weighs 1kg more

An 8 hp will be alot more the 1kg heavier then your 4hp merc.
Agree the little yamaha's are great motors though.

merc 4hp with full tank of fuel 24kg. Yamaha 8hp 2 stroke 27kg (thought it was 25kg ) + external tank so a little more than a kg , but a good trade of for the power

Yeah, the yammie 8 will also be alot smoother being a twin as well. If its power to weight you are after the tohatsu/merc 9.8hp is also a little ripper. On the right hull they fly. Its a shame we wont be able to get these little 2 strokes for much longer. I think they are miles ahead of the current 4 stroke we have at present in the small motors Nev