Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | tolle141 - 6/4/2020 1:02 PM
Honestly all the modern 4-strokes (Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Merc) are substantially easier to live with than any 2-stroke on the market.
Winterization - the differences you're looking at are having to change engine oil (easy), and generally not needing to fog. I hear mixed messaging on the fogging bit, but unless you're hanging her up for 2 years I don't believe it's necessary. I run Seafoam all year long and have never had even a hint of a hiccup firing up my honda or yamahas for the first time every year.
Maintenance/Longevity: 2-4K hours is to expected from modern 4-strokes. I don't know a single person that's had anything close to reliability issues with a Yamaha or Honda.
Giddy up - up for debate. You don't see Mercury investing in their 2-stroke designs. If there is a gap in performance, it's narrowing rapidly.
I'd bet good money that once you go 4-stroke, you'll never look back
I'd take that bet...
Lets see...I've got an etec. I put gas in it, fill the oil reservoir and go fishing....all year, and when it comes time to winterize, I follow the procedure that winterizes the engine on it's own in about 2 minutes, and shuts off automatically...stabilizer in the fuel for the last tank of the year and it's good to go until spring.
My fuel mileage is maybe not as good as a comparable 4 stroke at full throttle under full load, but it's not far off...trolling though...could do it all day and it sips fuel just like a 4 stroke.
Father has an old 1973 Johnson 2 stroke that when was still used, probably upwards of your 2K to 4k hours over it's 40+ years of being in service. Never had the carb rebuilt....had the points replaced at one point...somewhere around 1985 or so, and has been flawless since... Old school...put a couple of tablespoons of oil down each cylinder after running the fuel out of it (which was consistently done after every trip) and compression was still rock solid and consistent between both cylinders. Still starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull cold, and on the first with barely a pull when warm. It's amazing how well those engines last. Look at how many 15hp Johnson/evinrude motors you still see out there that were from the 70's and 80's. They were, and still are rock solid motors.
The way things are going, the only option will be a 4 stroke so...true....may never look back because there is not viable option. Sad to see evinrude going under. It's great technology and many many many people ran those engines...why? Because they're good!!
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