Yammy 20 Or Tohatsu 18?

[tiny_tinny]

Gidday,

I am thinking about replacing the 1997 Yammy 20hp 2-stroke outboard on my 12 ft tinny. I was just going to trade-in for another Yamaha, but I was wondering about an 18 hp Tohatsu instead. I don't think a drop of 10% would make much difference on a 12 ft tinny. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with Tohatsu 18hp in particular?

Thanks,

Mike

[pjbink]

The Tohasu 18 is sweet little motor and heaps of power for a 12 ft tinnie. You should save a few hundred as well compared to a Yamaha 20hp.

[Geoff]

I recall some years back Tohatsu used to rate their motors at at the prop where as all others rated th HP at the flywheel. If that is still the case the Tohatsu may well be 20HP at the flywheel.

Check the engin specs , in particular the capasity to see if they are the same or is one larger than the other.

If the same then the Yammie could be a rebadged Tohatsu.

At the end of the day , it may not matter as both are good motors but as billfisher mentioned the Tohatsu may be a bit less expensive.

Shop around , it is not uncommon to find a dealer who is running a special on this size motor

Geoff

[tiny_tinny]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Geoff, I have heard that some smaller Tohatsus are rebadged and sold as Mercs. When time comes to buy (not too soon, I hope), I will certainly shop around.

Thanks again,

Mike

[a boat]

Hi Mike, Mercury owns 50% of Tohatsu Motor Comapany (TMC) so yes some of the smaller Mercs are rebadged black Tohatsus.

Ever since the mid 1980 all outboards have been rated at the prop. A more important aspect is the cubic capacity of the outboard in relation to performance. Manufacturers are allowed to be within 10% plus or minus of the HP indicated on the cowl. This is why some brands of specific HP outperform another brand of the same HP. A great example is the V4 Johnson/Evinrude (1726cc) which produces more than 90HP but can be still called a 90HP, where say a 3 cylinder 90HP Merc(1386cc) or Yamaha(1140cc) would be below the HP rating on the cowl but not less than 10%. The old saying "there is no replacement for displacement" is very tru when it comes to outboards.

As for the question, all else being equal I would rather the 20HP Yamaha, unless there was about $500 difference between the two, which I doubt.

Hope this helps,

Huey.

[ko76]

Mike,

If your ' 97 20hp Yammy has done some hours then its probably putting out less than 20Hp due to wear & tear so you may not notice any difference if you buy an 18hp.

As for Tohatsu, I own a 30hp black 2 stroke and think its quite a good motor. I bought a tohatsu because they were cheaper than most other brands and got a good trade-in from the tohatsu dealer. (If I had the money I would have bought a 4-stroke Honda $$$$$ though!)

Yamaha have proven themselves as a top quality motor over the years but if the tohatsu works out a fair bit cheaper then I dont think you've got anything to lose.

[njsconst]

Yamaha for me!

Yamaha are tried and proven to be reliable and robust. Look at what most pros are running these days. You don't see many pros running Tohatsu's.

[domza]

Yamaha for me!

Yamaha are tried and proven to be reliable and robust. Look at what most pros are running these days. You don't see many pros running Tohatsu's.

thats probably because other manufacturers offer a better sponsorship, because tohatsu isn't a very big company like yamaha..

[reel_success]

Yamaha for me!

Yamaha are tried and proven to be reliable and robust. Look at what most pros are running these days. You don't see many pros running Tohatsu's.

when was the last time you went to a boat hire outlet, because not may have yamaha's they stick to the Merchatsu (tohatsu built, merc decals) Sorry to say but yamaha ain't my motor of choice. a cheap tohatsu does a better job for me.