I'm getting ready to replace a 2 stroke 6 hp Merc kicker I had stolen off my boat a couple weeks ago. When getting the estimate for the insurance company I discovered that the difference in price between a 2 and 4 stroke is only a couple hundred bucks. So I've been thinking of getting the 4 stroke.

Any thoughts? Which is prefered by others?

BTW-- mine was stolen in the Graham/Spanaway area. Boat was parked in the driveway with the stern up against the garage door. Stealthy little ****ers. My grandfather used to tell me, "Locks only keep out the honest thieves." Guess he was right.

Go with a four stroke.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Personally think you can go either way. My Yamaha 8 is pretty quite for a 2 stroke and only weighs 59 lbs....which makes it easier on me putting it inside when I done fishing.

4 stroke!

goharley

I was going to email you, but did not see your email. Let me know what your price ranges are, Im in the market for a kicker for my dboat, I am borrowing a buds now, but would like to get a 8-10hrs.

Thanks

Coho

Coho,

Olympic Boat Center in Fife quoted me a price of $1500-something for a 4 stroke. I think it was $1300-something for 2 stroke. That's for a 6 horse long shaft.

Of course your mileage may vary depending on number of horsies.

Little Fish,
Good point about the weight factor, but my motor mounts right to my transom. I hate to think I have to take it off every damn time I come home from a long grueling day of fighting behemoth salmonids.

Think I'll start chaining my dog to my boat.... no, don't want to lose my dog, too. Chain my wife there instead..... (just kidding honey )

GoHarley,
You're funny. My dog would probably help a thief load the engine in their car (he's a golden). I does kind of suck taking it on and off every time out.
JMS

goharley,

Go with a 8 horse Yamaha high thrust, it's real quiet pushes my 20' super vee 5 miles an hour upriver on the Cow! The bonus is power trim and tilt & shifter both at back of throttle grip, oh ya electric start to.

Check out www.3riversmarine.com they are now a Yamaha dealer.

GH,
I ran the boat for a friend of mine this past Friday, He had the exact motor that River Liver is talking about. First time with a Yamaha and I was really impressed, not only with how much power the 8 horse high thrust had (did I mention it was on a 20' North River) and how quiet the motor was but also how fast the power tilt lifted and dropped the motor. The shift and tilt control was real accessable also. I have a 92 9.9 Rude' and if I was to change trolin' motors I would seriously check the Yamaha out.Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

RiverLiver, Jeffhead--

I've heard about that Yamaha high-thruster. But I'm running a 17' Stryker and think that an 8 horse is a wee bit much. Even with the 6'er I was kicking it in and out of gear constantly to maintain a decent drift with the current. Electric start does sound cool, though, but then again one more thing to go wrong. Damn you guys for giving me too many options.

First, congrats on getting your Merc stolen - probably the best thing that could have happened to you because now you can get the insurance company to pay for that new Yamaha First thing I noticed about my 4 stoke is that it trolls down way slower than the old 2 stroke Merc I had, so I wouldn't worry about having to power down. But either the 6 or 8 horse Yami will work great for you.

I bolted my motor on, spot welded the nuts to the bolts, locked the motor on the transom and also through a chain that runs through the floor and through my gas tanks. No problems so far.

Not to start another war amongst the dealers, but I got my Yami in Canada for $800 after taxes cheaper than I could find one down here. Yes, I imagine a US dealer wouldn't honor a Canadian warranty, but I have never heard of anyone ever requiring any warranty work on a Yamaha . And I could make a few trips to Canada and still be money ahead if I ever did have a problem. Exchange rate is great at the moment, I'd check it out.

gotta go with the 4 stroke 8hp. I bought a honda 4 stroke in canada for a total of 1550.00 usd. a couple of weeks ago and it is fantastic, idles down real slow ( much slower than my old 2 stroke) quiet, no oil to mix and I installed a fuel switch and T so I can run it staight from my main fuel tank, no more extra kicker tank and I am sure I always have fresh fuel for the kicker. Call Galleon Marine at 604 514 0460 in Langley BC. They sell both Yami and Honda and will save you some serious scratch. Make sure you need a high thrust before you spend the extra cash for one. My 17 Arima Sea Ranger does great with my 8 regular thrust.

I run a 6hp Yamaha four on my 17 Stryker. While this will give you the power you'll need in most situations, I would do the 8 hp if I were to get a new kicker. The reason is that because of the stairstepped transom there are times that the prop just isn't deep enough in the water to be effective. I think more power would cure that. Other than that, I love my Yamahas... great mileage, no smoke, and the quiet is very nice.

There are reasons other than just warranty for the Canada motors. You have also not done the dealer in Canada any favor by putting their name here for all to see. Yamaha and Mercury
are both working on stopping this across border sales. You have now only giving Yamaha the proof they need for this. And Yes Yamaha's do need warranty work done, as all motors do sometimes. Support your locale dealers or move to Canada.

I had a 9.9 merc 4 stroke stolen off the back of my North West jet this year. It was parked exactly the same way you described. My home owners insurance paid for it, but they told me that it was a one time claim. If the new one gets stolen also, then I'm on my own. It sucks taking the thing off every time you park the boat, but it sucked even worse taking the trash out in the A.M and seeing the motor gone. Locks can't stop bolt cutters. I still can't believe that I did not hear them. That motor is pretty heavy and it was right against the garage door. Anyway, got a 9.9 Merc to replace it for 1800 bucks out of Oregon. Good luck. I like the 4 stroke because I can run it off my main tank. No hassels with premix and an extra tank etc.

TM,
Supporting local business is good policy especially if you are getting some form of benefit from the relationship that can't be quantified in monetary terms (i.e. advice on engine repairs or fishing related information). However, it seems reasonable from a consumer's standpoint that a local dealer would price match if given the opportunity to compete for the business. In most cases this is sound business practice. When doing my research the local dealers would not match prices I was quoted up North even when asked to do so. Not trying to get into a debate, just my $0.02 worth.
JMS

Price match to the canadian $ cant be done, Do hotels in downtown Seattle give the same rates as they do in Vancover? No they dont. As for service advise etc give us a call and we are allways willing to advise you on what you need.
also if you look at our ad on Washingtonlakes.com (king Co page) you will see that we are offering 10% discount on parts when you mention the ad. This is on services performed at our shop. I make my living working on and servicing boats.

I would go 4 stroke , no oil mixing etc. Alittle more maintance than the two stroke though.

A few thoughts on outboards purchased in Canada. First I have no idea how a manufacturer can stop a dealer from selling a motor to a someone across the border and I don't know why they would try. They could be voiding a sure sale in canada in exchange for a possible sale in the usa of the same motor. Not a very sound buisness practice. As for comparing Seattle and Vancouver hotel prices well the comparison is not valid. One hotel is in Seattle, one in Vancouver. If you wish to stay in Seattle you will need to pay Seattle prices. Here we the same product in 2 places at different prices. It is just a matter of where you wish to purchase the product. If the canada option was not available I would also check into going to Oregon to purchase to avoid the sales tax saving almost 9%. It basically comes down to good ol competition in buisness. Weigh all the pros and cons of each option and make a decision you think is best for you.

Baddog what kind of buisness are you in? Do you buy other items up in Canada? This is to stupid to keep going on. Buy it all up there.

Just going to the buisnesses that provide the best value for my money. The fact that someone is local does not mean they deserve my buisness. If they wish to have me spend my money at their buisness it must be because they offer the best value, that value includes price, service and convenience among other things. I am in a buisness that has competition from all over the world. If the products and service we offer in comparison to our competition do not measure up our customers will and should go elsewhere.

Just remember that the "high thrust" motors are designed to push a big boat slowly.

If you are planning to use your kicker to also power a small boat you don't want high thrust.

Troutmaster, since I seem to have started a dealer war even though I didn't want to I do have a business and sell my bagpipes all over the world, and yes even to Canadians, they are my second largest country for sales behind the US, and Scotland, the land of bagpipes, is third. I bring this non-fish crap up to demonstrate that I 'm willing to live with the free market system and compete on a price and quality basis with anyone. I bought my Yami from the Canadian dealer mentioned in this thread after doing a lot of research in Washington, Oregon, and BC. All dealers I contacted had the opportunity to offer their best price, and the best price is what I went with. I spend plenty per pound of salmon harvested already, mostly in Wahington - however, you dealers lobbying for a restriction on cross-border sales may well make me reconsider that

This is not only a dealer thing but rules set by Mercury and Yamaha. We are also not to sell outside of our area , Ie. I cant sell a motor to a customer in Arizona. And same with the dealer in Arizona. This is all stated in our dealer agreements with the manufacture. A small dealer has a hard enough time keeping going after shelling out the big $ for the motors and then trying to sell them at a profit.
So when someone wants the same price as they can get in Canada we cant compete as they sell below our cost! So baddawg you do the math! This is a very difficult buisness when it is so seasonal around here. We make our $ by giving the customer service.And we do good service at my shop.Enough said. Anyway buy a 4 stroke.

Also one more thing,baddawg said they are the same motors! In some ways they are and in some they are not. Some models are different in Canada then here. Some parts are also different. So be sure you are willing to support their economy and not our local one.

Another example.......Chevrolet will not honor warranty work done in the US on a truck originlly purchased in Canada. Canada's cars may have the same makes and models as US cars made by Chevrolet but have you seen some of them? Some Canadian cars look totally different than what we have in the US.

troutmaster, what are the significant differences in the motors? I don't mean part numbers, but actual differences? As for supporting the local economy, well I try to do what is best for my financial health. Buisnesses are not charaties, they are for profit and therefore must compete with other buisnesses for that profit. As for dealer restrictions you mention that you do not sell a motor in Arizona, but I am sure you could sell a motor to someone from Arizona if they walked into your shop with cash in hand. Shipping the motor may violate your agreements but the sale in your shop would not. I personally think that were I a retailer in this buisness I would approach my manufacturers and seek a wholesale price that would allow me to be competative with the other dealers in my area.

Badawg, I honestly dont know the differences in the parts. Anyway this subject is closed as far as I am concerned.

i had a brand new honda 4 stroke stolen off the back of my arima. chained and cabled down. boat parked in the front yard. only used a couple of time but it was the best darn motor i have ever owned. you could barely hear it when it was running. it also was electric start so it would re-charge batteries as well.

It appears that this discussion about US residents purchasing Yamahas in Canada is pretty much a standoff between loyalty to US dealers verses the almighty COST factor. The continued practice of Canadian dealers to sell (export) to US residents is a non-compliance to the recent information that was sent to all Canadian dealers by Yamaha Motor Canada LTD. There are a couple of issues that are involved when units are sold to US residents. These include the inability of Yamaha Canada to contact the owner in the case of a Factory Modification Campaign or a Recall for a safety related issue. The next is the fact that the Canadian warranty is not valid in the US. Owner would have to return the unit to a Canadian dealer for repairs. Yamaha USA and Yamaha Canada are two separate sub-corporations of Yamaha Japan and fall under different rules and regulations. My statement to US residents purchasing a unit from a Canadian dealer is that once you make your purchase, do not bad mouth US dealers when you can not get service support. US dealers are under no obligation to service Canadian units. Also remember that specifications of units manufactured for sale and use in Canada are not always the same as those for the US. This means that emission standards may not be the same for both countries. Canadian models do not have a "Manufacturers Certificate of Origin" which may be required for registration and licensing. I am surprised that Canadian dealers continue to expose themselves to the Product Liability possibilities that US citizens enjoy as a result of the US judicial system.