2 Or 4 Stroke Dilemma

[mr_grumble2003]

I'm confrunted now with a decision to either go with a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke engine to power a 4.3m foward steer tinnie.

Am looking towards either

- Yamaha (for 2 & 4 stroke)

- Honda (for 4 stroke)

- Tohatsu (for 2 and 4 stroke)

I have only ever operated 2 strokes and am not sure what advantages (or even disadvantages) there are to using a 4 stroke engine. I only want it to push me around fishing and the occasionally tow and am not sure whether the extra $$ for the 4 stroke can be justified in my situation.

Im looking at a 40HP capacity.

[Whitto]

Hi mr_grumble,

Any 4 stroke will add value to the resale and ease of use for you. Service will cost you $$ every 6 months.

2 Strokes are great for power and performance, but suffer from bad fuel economy, pollution and lots of noise ... you may still need to premix your fuel/oil too.

I have an Evinrude Etec and being a new generation 2 stroke, it has all the good stuff from BOTH types of motors and none of the bad.

If I had to have any other motor it would be the Suzuki fourstroke.

Good luck with your decision

[Geoff]

Until a few years ago I had a 4.5mt Quinnie with a 30hp 2s. It used to fly. Suggest a 40hp is a bit of an over kill.

My recomodation 30 hp 2s with elect start & power tilt

For the usage you describe the difference in fuel between 2s & 4s is very minor

4s are more expensive to buy & to service. In essence what you may save in fuel will go on servicing

Noise wise , place a new 2s against a new 4s & it is difficult to pick the difference. Most comments regarding noisy 2s is comparing a 20 YO motor against a new 4s

Hope this helps

Geoff

[mr_grumble2003]

Well after some research into this, Im not so sure Geoff.

Consider 2 and 4 stroke in the Yamaha range, between them there is a 3.5L/h consumption difference.

Over a 100hr service period, that comes out to around a $400 saving in fuel.

And from what I've been able to gather from our local Service agents, 4 stroke servicing is at the most an additional $90-$100 over the 2 stroke.

Taking into account my usage, it'll break even in 3 years, and still with the benefits of the 4 stroke.