Northwest Fishing Reports

I grew up in a boat, and have owed Johnson's and Merc's. Last Aug I bought a new boat and found out that Tohatsu is making Merc's 4 stoke engines under 15hp, the only differance is the color of the cowling and $500 more for the Mercury name. I bought the Tohatsu and absolutely love it. Anyone else running one?

I don't know about them too much...Tohatsu's actually score higher in some tests (from some boating/fishing magazine if my memory serves me right) then Merc's, but actually from the prices on the Tohatsu's I've seen are actaully more expensive then some of the Merc's..>Sounds like you got a great deal nonetheless and thats good it working great for you...

I just bought a 15 Yamaha....Love it so far

Yep, the smaller Mercs are indeed Tohatsus. I have a 6hp Merc version for my kicker. Only complaint I have is from the single cylinder thumping, but I can live with that. I seriously considered replacing it with an 8hp Tohatsu (smallest twin) but decided to live with the one I already have. Besides, I didn't want to have mis-matched motors on my boat. Hey, it's still ike new so it matters. ;-)

Tohatsus can be bought for much less than their brand name counterparts, and Merc isn't the only one putting their colors on them. I shopped around when I was thinking about replacing the 6hp, and I could have bought an 8hp shipped to my door for just $1400, and the 8hp with Merc stickers and color was almost $1800.

Are you using your Tohatsu in the salt?
Mercs/Tohatsu's aren't as good as Yamahas...

Sam Kafelafish wrote:Are you using your Tohatsu in the salt?
Mercs/Tohatsu's aren't as good as Yamahas...

What makes the Yamahas better than Mercs/Tohatsu's Sam?

A few weeks ago I was in the market for a 15 horse outboard...I had an old 9.9 evinrude which didn't power the new boat enough...So I went around to a bunch of dealers and marina's and boat shops trying to figure out what the best outboard is these days since I haven't been paying much attention to the small outboard market since I've been set with the old evinrude for a while...

Most of them said Yamaha's are better...

Why?
Made better
Better gas mileage
Made from more salt corrosion resistant parts


I'm not saying that I know for 100% sure that a Yamaha is better and worthe the little extra money, but that is the feedback I got...Who knows, maybe in 5 years it craps out on me and I end up kicking myself for it...But for now I'm confident with my purchase and that's what I was told...

Ya, Sam your right Yamaha makes some pretty bulletproof stuff. I am a boat insurance adjuster, and worked in a outboard shop when I was in school. Yamaha is making arguebly the best outboards now.

My engine is the 9.8 4stroke. Wide open throttle it only burns 1 gallon an hour. Thats hard to beat. I have trolled for 6 hours before the it has used less than .25 gallon.

Yamaha makes VERY good stuff. I have 3 Yamaha snowmobiles, one is a 1982 that was left out in an apple orchard for 10 years and it still starts on the 2nd pull. I grew up in a "buy american household" but was turned to the darkside due to the fact you can't hurt them.

Honestly salt water dependabiliy is all up to the engines owner. If you are not keeping up on your zinc or flushing your engine after use no brand we stand up over time.

Hewesfisher http://www.internetoutboards.com/default.asp it a really good Tohatsu dealer that will ship engines to you direct and there prices are pretty hard to beat. They also have a ton of parts as well

I flush out my outboards every time...Our old evinrude is a late 80's 9.9 horse and it still starts up second pull...95% saltwater usage on that motor, flushed every time...Works like a champ...Not hard to stick a flusher on and get out the salt...

I went with a 2 stroke Yamaha to save weight cause I take my motor on and off too much and the 4 strokes run like 115 lbs and I'd rather be picking up a 79lb two stroke...Saved me money too and a two stroke is less maintenence...

jmay wrote:Hewesfisher http://www.internetoutboards.com/default.asp it a really good Tohatsu dealer that will ship engines to you direct and there prices are pretty hard to beat. They also have a ton of parts as well

jmay - IIRC, that's where I had priced the Tohatsu twin. Since I only do freshwater boating/fishing how well a motor stands up to salt is a non-issue.

I will say this, if I were to buy a new boat (plan to someday "when" we move to AK) it will be Yammie powered. The guys on the Hewes forum in AK swear by them and that's good enough for me - someday.

jmay wrote:I grew up in a boat, and have owed Johnson's and Merc's. Last Aug I bought a new boat and found out that Tohatsu is making Merc's 4 stoke engines under 15hp, the only differance is the color of the cowling and $500 more for the Mercury name. I bought the Tohatsu and absolutely love it. Anyone else running one?

jmay, my buddy in Montana just bought an 18 horse. He absolutely loves it, his boat is a 14 foot aluminum. He was a little skeptical, he wanted a 25 horse. He found a dealer just outside of Bigfork that rented boats and motors (actually it is an engine... motors are electric - but now I am being too technical) He took a test ride with the guy in his 14 foot boat - he described him as "a very large gentleman" so it would be a good test. He was sold! He said the 18 horse works great.
The 15 and the 18 are the same bore & stroke, but the 18 is piped and carbed different.

Love my Merc 9.9. best small outboard I've ever had. The best thing about it is the shifter and throttle all in one on the tiller.
I saw a list not long ago of who they were mfg for. Pretty much covered the small outboard market except for Honda as I recall. Throttle, shifter.... those were the only differences.

Mine pushes my 19' Custom Weld with no problems. My neighbor has a 20' and says the same thing. It's a good get home moter if needed. It'll do a lot better than just trolling. Knock on wood...... no junk in the intake.