Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by pickles1107 on 05/16/13 - 11:24 AM

Hello all,
I have a 1997 Dauntless 13 with a 2-stroke Mercury ELPTO 40 hp motor. I would like to get an auxiliary to have as a backup motor and have found locally both a circa 2005 Johnson 4 hp motor and a 2002 Mercury 5 hp. Both are long shaft motors.

I believe the mercury is a Tohatsu motor. I also believe the Johnson is a Suzuki. Weight is practically the same ~60 lbs.

Any real reason to go for one over the other? Are both equivalent from a reliability standpoint?

Posted by aeriksen on 05/16/13 - 10:21 PM

Why do you want a 4 stroke kicker? Your main motor is 2 stroke why not go that direction, 2 srokes weigh less.

Posted by RossP on 05/16/13 - 10:58 PM

The Merc ELPTO is a electric start, power trim oil injection motor, the same as mine. I do not use a premix fuel, my tank is custom that holds 20 gallons of fuel and so a kicker that canuse the same fuel system needs to be a four stroke.

Posted by Joe Kriz on 05/16/13 - 11:09 PM

Ross,

He said his has a 2 stroke motor.
And you say yours is a 4 stroke.

Not sure what you are trying to say here.

Some smaller kicker motors have their own built-in fuel tank or you could use another smaller external tank instead of the main tank you use for the main motor.

Posted by RossP on 05/16/13 - 11:37 PM

Hey Joe, mine is a two stroke, it is oil injection so my fuel tank is not a premix, the motor has an oil tank and it injects the oil into the cylinder so a four stoke kicker is optimal for using the same fuel tank.

Posted by pickles1107 on 05/17/13 - 6:32 AM

Yes, Ross has it right. 2-stroke but direct injected so no pre-mixing. Hence the desire for a 4-stroke kicker.

Any thoughts on the two motors available to me? I know the Johnson probably has a different fuel connection so will need to account for that fact.

Just looking for opinions on the motors themselves.

Edited by pickles1107 on 05/17/13 - 6:32 AM

Posted by Joe Kriz on 05/17/13 - 9:40 AM

Ok. Got it.

No, it doesn't have to be a 4 stroke kicker to accomplish that but would make it easier.

I have a 2 stroke main motor just like both of you and it is VRO so I don't pre-mix fuel which I hate and won't do.

I also have a 2 stroke kicker which I added Oil injection so I don't have to mix fuel for that either. My 63 gallon tank holds straight gas, no pre-mix.
See the last photo in this article:
http://www.whalercentral.com/articles...icle_id=48

Posted by Finnegan on 05/17/13 - 2:38 PM

I think a kicker should be the same brand as the main engine.

Posted by pickles1107 on 05/17/13 - 4:34 PM

Finnegan wrote:
I think a kicker should be the same brand as the main engine.

Why is that? Is it an aesthetics thing? If you get a new main motor then do you buy a new kicker to match?