What's the scoop on Briggs & Stratton air cooled boat motors ?

NickR

NickR

Well-known member
I've been pondering the use of a Briggs & Stratton air cooled 5hp outboard for my MLB Zack Taylor Wigeon. I had never even heard of or seen these things until I was in the research stage of getting my sneakbox. Now I look at these motors every time I'm at L&M Fleet in Bemidji or Grand Rapids and I think an aircooled boat motor might be kinda nice for mucky backwaters.

I also recently saw a used one for $400.

Are these good motors? Good for a Minnesota duck hunter?

Thanks,

NR
 
Nick, I have one that you can try if you want to come on down when the ice is all gone. Just PM me if you would like to try one.
 
No bells and whistles on them, not very pretty looking. However its a lawnmower engine built by a company making small engines for EVERYTHING for years. Light enough to move around, cheap enough to work for most small boat applications. What more is there to really know?

Air cooled will get you into the muck a little without worry of burning up the motor due to a plugged impeller. They are also a little lounder then a comparable outboard.
 
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Nick,
I have owned one for about 3 years.I use it as a kicker on my 17' TDB it is short shaft but has saved me a lot of paddling in shallow water situations. I also use it on my MLB Chuck Huff with the motor tipped up you can get in tight places. The factory states it is not for salt water use. Being a single cylinder it does have some vibration,but i give it a thumbs up.
Bill.
 
What more is there to really know?
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Do they have any mechanical faults or are they pretty reliable? Any issues with starting? Starting in cold weather? Thanks for the feedback guys. More is always appreciated. NR
 
Nick, One concern that has surfaced here a while back had to do with running one of those motors tilted at a shallow water drive angle starving the engine for oil. I do know that on power equipment you can't run them tilted for any time at all. Don't know if it is a factor with this aplication or not. Just my $.002. I am interested in this thread for both professional and personal reasons, keep the feed back coming. I have seen old school "hybreeds" that married a Briggs or Tecumseh engine to an Eska lower unit but no real experience.
 
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Nick, One concern that has surfaced here a while back had to do with running one of those motors tilted at a shallow water drive angle starving the engine for oil. I do know that on power equipment you can't run them tilted for any time at all.
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Tom,
I'm sure you know this already but for those that don't; a lot of small 4 cycle engines use a "splash" oiling system rather than an oil pump which provides a pressurized oil system. Typically a splash oil system will not function well when tilted. I don't know what type oil system is used on the Briggs motor installed on their boat motors but most of the Briggs designs have used a splash system.

One would hope that the engineers that designed the Briggs outboard would have taken this into consideration when the designed the whole unit but,,,,,,,,,,,, well lets just say it would be an issue I would want to have answered before buying one. Tom, does the Briggs motor have a shallow water drive for running in a tilted position?
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Just checked with my mechanic,Dave was right the small briggs motors have an oil slinger for lubrication.They also have 6 tilt adjustments for transom angle they should be run as close to vertical as possible. Briggs can be run safely at a 10 to 15 degree angle without damage due to oil starvation. I think if one were to run with the shaft tilted too far up you would lose steering control anyway. Mine is easy to start in cold weather i use 10w30 syntech and 89 octane stabilized gas. Hope this helps.
Bill.
 
That's what I will be running this year for backwater situations - 5hp Briggs on an MLB Wigeon. For broadwater I'll likely be running a 9.8hp to get up on plane. I saw earlier posts of a gentlemen running a grayed out briggs on a wigeon - looked like a nice rig - search the posts for Wigeon and you should find it.
 
Dave, I think the "shallow water drive" in question involved a 2X4 stuck between the boat and motor not the trim pin holes. Now this really has me thinking the one I can use should really get some duckboat time. I also would hope the engineerss took the lubrication system into account, but well??? Inquiring minds need to know. I'll post more when I check it out.
 
Can always go this route. No oiling issues with these motors.

http://www.smalloutboardengines.com/

I know of one person who has purchased and used this on a boat similar to yours. He had good luck with it but had much better luck with the small weed eater mud motors some of us have built.

There is also links available on how to convert a weed eater into the Briggs type of outboard. Cheaper than the Island Hopper and cheaper than the briggs outboard.

Mark W
 
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Nick - I use one on my ZT and she moves her just fine. My only complaint is it sounds like a lawn mower engine. Down on the Illinois River we have the flying Asian Carp that leap into the air from the sounds of our outboards. That Briggs really makes those babies jump! And, those carp, gotta lead'em.. ;)
 
Nick,

I have the same set up.... a MLB ZT wigeon and the Briggs 5 hp motor. It is a great set up and does all I need it to.Motor has been very reliable including in the cold. 2 things I like for cold weather is no worrying about the pee hole freezing up. 2nd, is that if its cold I start the motor while still on shore before launching the boat. That way by the time I launch and get in the motor is nice and warmed up. I use a 30 inch tiller extension on mine. The combo you are looking at allows you to get into some very shallow water.

The only draw backs I have experienced are that top speed is between 5-7 mph so it can limit how far I go from the launch unless I really want to get out early to beat the guys with the faster boats. This is also not a powerful motor so don't think you will be blowing thru weeds or muck like you could with a mud motor. It just wasn't designed for that.

good luck with the setup.

Dave B
 
Hi Nick,

I've used the B/S 5hp for a couple yrs on 12 and 14 ft aluminum boats....works fine unless running through weeds as previously mentioned. It's kind of loud and alot of vibration. The only problem I've had is that after running mine in some heavy weeds, I no longer have reverse.... something slipped and the motor is in neutral when the shift lever is in the reverse position. I bought the motor used for $300. I really abused it by using it in VERY heavy weed beds. I think the motor was well worth the $$, even with my "reverse" problem. It does wt. about 50 lbs and seemed a little heavy for the 12ft jon I had it on 2yrs ago.

Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Donivan
 
Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

Definitely sounds like a good motor.

Paul T - the ZTW is a displacement hull, so I don't think you'll likely get it up on plane. It just ain't made for speed. I've run a 4hp and an 8hp on mine and it only goes a couple mph faster with the 8hp.

NR
 
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