Tohatsu 30hp 4 stroke fuel injection V.s Tohatsu 50hp TLDI

[malvizzu]

Wow 95kg is definitely light for a 50HP 4-stroke. My 50HP ETEC is 110kg and when I bought it, it was the lightest in it's category. So there must have been a lot of changes in the 4-stroke industry, at least by Tohatsu.

[kris]

If you guys want to take a look at the specs of the Tohatsu 50hp 4 stroke then click on the following link: http://www.tohatsu-italia.it/?do=prodotto&id=306
At the bottom there is the technical data

It is in Italian, BUT for those who want it in english...open it in google chrome and click translate from the pop up that shows Funnily enough the only official tohatsu page to have updated their info regarding the new 4 strokes are the Italians.

Wow 95kg is definitely light for a 50HP 4-stroke. My 50HP ETEC is 110kg and when I bought it, it was the lightest in it's category. So there must have been a lot of changes in the 4-stroke industry, at least by Tohatsu.

Yes malvizzu! That is why I am now seriously considering the 50hp 4 stroke! As before...the 'only' advantage the 2 strokes direct injection had over the 4 strokes were the power-to-weight ratio!

[ganni]

The lightweight design usually comes from much lighter material, which usually is at the expense of the material's strength. There is surely a price to pay for this.  A friend of mine hit the vertical fin of the lower unit of his honda outboard and xplahh, the fin broke and it can't be fixed, every time he fixes it, with the slightest hit its off again.  I found some other similar cases for honda online, very prevalent in lake fishing where logs get caught between the lower unit and the prop.

I wouldn't really buy an outboard over the other for the sake of a 15kg difference, there are many more important things.  Some years ago when the E-tecs got out a lot of the leasing and Commino boats moved to this new technology, look at the same boats nowadays, you will notice that they have once again moved to Yamaha, with some of them opting for Suzuki.  The most prevalent problem was injector failure.  Most of you guys only put some 100hrs a seasons on your engine, if not much less, talk to these guys and get their feedback.

[kris]

Yes true enough ganni, your reasoning crossed my mind too! That is why I am still considering all available options But then again...it's like buying a car...one must buy according to the person's best needs and no product beats all the other competitors in everything

[baghira]

This got to be a very interesting topic for everyone of us...
Feedback from more members would be nice to hear...

[kris]

Yes baghira that's what I was thinking   Some feedback from members which are owners of all the brands concerned would be nice.

Some more info on the new Tohatsu 50hp 4 stroke (again it's in Italian)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjqGGtIcpDY

What do you think guys? 

[malvizzu]

@ganni - but what was the reason of changing from ETECs to Yammies for these boats? You have to verify how they were handled and the amount of hours each season and years used. ForTuna has his ETEC for 8 years now and I'm sure he makes more than 100 hours each season (not like me ) and still engine is going strong. Maybe there was too much wear and tear on the engines after hundreds of hours in use and owners might have bargained a better price for the Yammies.

[baghira]

I think you're mis-informed malvizzu...
Fortuna barely makes 100 hours a year.....
We have been going together quite a lot lately, but before the boat spend many of the time on dry land.. (correct me fortuna if I am wrong)...

So there is no comparizon between the two...

[EmicMalta]

The yam 50hp is 4 cylinder and that s the difference in weight. I heard that there are yam 40hp (4 stroke) that can bring it up to 50-60 with some modifications, but still it will be a 3 cylinder engine and will never be with an efficiency of a 4 cylinder.

Hight the revs, higher the problems

[kris]

@emic why do you think that a 4-cylinder is more fuel efficient than a 3-cylinder engine?

[The_Gaffer]

I did a lot of research and shopping around before I decided on the ideal outboard for my new Petecraft 16.  I needed economy, speed and reliability, + after sales of course.  When it came to choice, I also considered weight to HP ratio, since the rule of thumb has been until recently, the more HP, the more weight.  I opted for the Yamaha F70 midrange 4cylinder outboard.  The latest model weighs in at only 117KGs.  This particular new outboard weighs in at 40Kgs less than its main competitors.  Less weight, more fuel efficiency.   If compared to other Yamahas in the midrange type, this is how it fares:  Yamaha 90HP - 169Kgs, Yamaha 75HP - 166Kgs, Yamaha 60HP - 113kgs.  Suzuki 70HP weighs in at 155Kgs, and Mercury 75kgs at 188kgs!.  These are all 4 stroke engines.  In the 2 stroke category we have Compared to  a Tohotsu TLDi 75HP - 152kgs, and Evinrude ETEC - 145Kgs.
Yamaha's reliability does not come into question, so does after sales.  The rest was easy!

[EmicMalta]

I m not talking regards fuel, but just here every one is saying regards weight, but not considering what does the extra weight means and where is being used. Personally dont see that just 10-15kg will make so much difference on a boat performance. I prefare to have a good engine that is in safe limits and reduce problems that having an engine that is used to it s limit.

I think 4 cylinder is more stable compared with a 3 cylinder especially when used with high revs.

In pervious msg i said that I used 19€ of fuel for that day, but i was on just 4000rev, alone, on a 13ft boat, and the sea completely flat. If i use it with a 4000rev but with 4 people onboard, it s not a problem, but for sure the fuel will make a difference.

[ganni]

@ malvizzu, some of them only lasted for 3 seasons.  When the injectors failed they were too expensive to fix that they opted for a new outboard.  Its irrelevant on how many hours you put on an engine, an engine should last way longer than that.

How they were handled? Exactly the same way the yamahas are being handled.

In the light that all of them have swapped after such a short time, the conclusions are very easy to reach...

[malvizzu]

Good to know ganni. I hope I haven't made a wrong decision than when buying my ETEC.

Apologies baghira but I assumed ForTuna does plenty of hours as I always thought he is a fervent fisherman

This thread is proving very informative and good to know certain details. Gaffer's research gives a lot food for thought. Thanks to all

[malvizzu]

@Gaffer - why so much difference between the Yamaha F70 (117kgs) and the Yamaha 75HP (166kgs) both being 4-stroke engines?