don novicki
Active member
Greg those Yammy 2 stroke were one of the best motors ever made. I'd never get rid of it either
Tohatsu vs Suzuki
- Thread starter ChadW
- Start date
Yeah, best most reliable motor I've ever had was a 77 Johnson 30hp two stroke. Never left me stranded.
No sir.. too scared of the knockoff stuff to even consider. With no local dealer support it's too big of an unknown for me.
Awesome, I need to do some research on lightweight batteries. I saw on a YouTube video where Tohatsu has said no lithium batteries, something to do with it burning up the electronics and causing fires.
I would love to have power tilt/trim, but this motor is already too much weight for my little Chuck Huff. The reason I went with the 20hp is it's the same weight as a 15hp and 9hp is just too small. I did spring for electric start but that only added 9lbs.
My dream, is to build an aluminum Bluebill some day, and I believe this 20hp will be the perfect marriage if that ever happens.
It was really no contest, Mercury every time.
I need to recheck, but pretty sure that's old info on the lithiums and that Tohatsu is good with them, now. @William Reinicke put me onto Redodo - they have some really good prices, and specifically mention Tohatsu as I recall.
LOL! Agreed, every time I towed someone home over the years, they had a Merc on the stern.
William Reinicke
Active member
Lithium recharging was the issue. My buddy who is in the MLF actually had a boat fire a few years ago when everyone was going to lithiums trying to get an edge in weight. The onboard chargers just werent right for lithium recharging. That was his issue, woke up to his 90k bass boat on fire at 1 am at the airbnb he was staying at. Was able to get some tackle and rods from the front, but everything from the seats back was toast. All he could do was pull it to the 2 lane hwy, away from trees, and unhook from the trailer and wait for the fire dept to get there as it was already toast at that point. He said a fire extinguisher was touching it as he had about 32 gallons of fuel still on board.
The other issue was lithium energy didnt play nice with outboards. For a long time, everyone was running lithiums for the electronics and trolling motors but still using AGM and lead acid for their outboards. I still know a few guys that dont quite trust it, but lots of lithium companies have it figured out. Redodo actually markets in a way that is fishing based (TM battery, starter battery, electronics battery etc etc). I also know quite a few guys on the bass scene using these batteries with very happy results. Lithium is scary though, 90% of fires in the drag racing world are due to the lithium battery catching fire. Lots of the early bass boat fires were related to the lithium batteries. I think they have finally come far enough along that I will even give them a shot and will likely have 4 of them in my bass boat by summer of 2026 and one in my duckboat by this fall. Just know, every tournament bass angler has lithium batteries at this point. I would always say follow the recs of the owners manual from the outboard company. But even that is sketch because tracker at one time said they wouldnt warranty their boat/motor if there were lithium batteries but when you build a boat on their website, they literally have it as an option to choose now and they are making their own version of a lithium.
I'll do some more digging.. my motor should arrive mid-week, next week so in the meantime I downloaded an owners manual and read through it. It didn't say anything about the lithium batteries, but I'll wait to see what the manual that comes with the motor says. I also reached out to the dealer I bought the motor from. I'll post up their response.
I'm really hoping for lithium as they are so light.
Thanks for the input! Wow! Sorry to hear about your buddy's boat.. nightmare scenario.
I always disconnect my batteries from the motor before charging. It's inconvient, but I had a $1,500.00 ECU burn up on my prodrive a few years ago. After diagnosis, Prodrive told me it was likely my charger and to disconnect the motor before charging..so that's what I do now. That was a trickle charger on an AGM.
Obviously I would do something different with a large battery bank buried in a bass boat, but isolating the battery in my little duckboat isn't really an issue for me.
William Reinicke
Active member
NOCO NOCO NOCO.... All I am going to say. I put a 4 bank Gen 4 pro NOCO on my bass boat. Its legit, and you can charge multiple different batteries all off the unit. Each run of wires has its own battery option. I put in my bass boat last year, in hopes lithiums would come far enough along to not have to change out another onboard charger and if they never did, it still was very capable of charging AGM's I run. I liked it so much, i put in a single bank Gen5x1 on my duckboat. That thing is so small and convenient, I could literally stick it in my pocket if it didint have wires coming out of it. I have never unplugged any of my batteries and never had any issues with anything charging. I also carry a NOCO jump starter in each boat and NOCO actually markets these to jump lithiums. Ive used NOCO for a very long time and never been let down. Ive never had to use their jump starter though, so I cant even give an honest review of that, but that should speak to how good their onboard chargers are in both boats. A link to the 3 products I have.
NOCO - 1-Bank 5A On-Board Battery Charger - GEN5X1
The GEN5X1 is a 1-bank 5-amp waterproof on-board battery charger for lead-acid and lithium batteries and rated at IP68.
NOCO - 4-Bank 40A On-Board Battery Charger - GENPRO10X4
The GENPRO10X4 is a 4-bank 40-amp waterproof on-board battery charger for lead-acid and lithium batteries and rated at IP68.
NOCO - 1000A Lithium Jump Starter - GB40
The GB40 is a portable lithium-ion battery jump starter booster pack that delivers 1,000-amps for jump starting a car, boat, trucks and more.
That was fast. Here is the correspondence with the dealer:
Chad:
When you say charging, are you talking about the motor charging the battery or an actual battery charger? If I charged the battery while disconnected from the motor, does that make any difference?
Dealer:
Both - battery potential, temperature and charge rate can all affect the battery life expectancy and warranty. If you decide to use a lithium battery, we absolutely recommend that you disconnect it from the motor when not in use, store/charge in a heated/cooled environment, and use a 120V battery charger/tender that is designed for use with Lithium batteries.
Chad:
Dealer:
Chad:
When you say charging, are you talking about the motor charging the battery or an actual battery charger? If I charged the battery while disconnected from the motor, does that make any difference?
Dealer:
Both - battery potential, temperature and charge rate can all affect the battery life expectancy and warranty. If you decide to use a lithium battery, we absolutely recommend that you disconnect it from the motor when not in use, store/charge in a heated/cooled environment, and use a 120V battery charger/tender that is designed for use with Lithium batteries.
William Reinicke
Active member
The only thing I would say is be careful doing this. You know if a mercury negative and positive touch and they have just enough charge in them still, you will blow up an ECM. Lots of this documented on the interwebs. I dont ever unhook anything. I just plug it in and let it sit. I dont leave it plugged in for long periods of time though, just plug it in the night before I am going to use them.
I'll wire up some appropriately sized DC QD connectors. One on the battery, motor and charger.. can't mess up.
Thanks for all the input/advice!
If you're using a battery switch, I'd think the QD would be unnecessary. I'm planning to use a blue sea switch, and a yandina combiner for charging batteries when off the water. Will allow me to use a single bank charger to ensure both get topped off periodically.
Greg those Yammy 2 stroke were one of the best motors ever made. I'd never get rid of it either
You know what else Chad? It's a pull start and never fails. I admit at 66 I wouldn't mind having an electric start, but then I would have to put a battery in my AA Blackjack and would be looking at the same problem as you. Somebody earlier mentioned using a motorcycle battery and I would look into that with the weight and space you are describing. I think you'd never have a problem, but if you did you could always pull start a motor of that size. And it's a new motor, it's going to be easy to start. You're owners manual should tell you what kind of CCA you need and that should be a guide to how much battery you really need for it. The options for you today vs a few years ago are much wider
You know what else Chad? It's a pull start and never fails. I admit at 66 I wouldn't mind having an electric start, but then I would have to put a battery in my AA Blackjack and would be looking at the same problem as you. Somebody earlier mentioned using a motorcycle battery and I would look into that with the weight and space you are describing. I think you'd never have a problem, but if you did you could always pull start a motor of that size. And it's a new motor, it's going to be easy to start. You're owners manual should tell you what kind of CCA you need and that should be a guide to how much battery you really need for it. The options for you today vs a few years ago are much wider
I have been following this thread with great interest. My next build will be a Bluebill and from what I've gathered here I need to start shopping for a used Yamaha 2 stroke to lessen the weight. As an avid snowmobiler, while 4 stokes have made great progress, it is hard to best a two stroke for light weight and performance. I believe a 15 hp Yamaha may even be sufficient for my purposes. Richard
roy brewington
Well-known member
You need to be real careful on battery selection as most new 4 strokes require a high C.C.A. battery. Something you might not achieve with say a lawnmower , motorcycle or snow mobile battery as someone mentioned. Even my Tohatzu 25 requires high C.C.A. battery.
roy brewington
Well-known member
Some 15,s were built on 20 blocks and some on 9.9 blocks. Check that before buying. The Merc 15 2 stroke on my Ghenooe is on a 9.9 block which makes it only 2 lbs. heavier than the 10hp that its rated for. 72 lbs. Ran that motor on a A.A. Blackjack for a few years.
Both motors will do the job.Had good luck with both.Buy the one that you can get serviced.