Best lightweight 50 HP
 

Been looking at a ton of 50 HP 2 strokes for a 14' Mckee I am redoing and was hoping to pick everyone's brains. I have been looking for a late 80's on up 50 Johnson/Evinrude 2 cylinder mainly because I have had good luck with OMC and haven't heard anything really negative about them (once VRO is removed....obviously) or a Yamaha 50 cylinder. The 4 cylinder Merc 50 I had on there dropped a cylinder and was the old school mercruiser trim system so I parted it out. I wasn't planning on going back to the 4 cylinder merc but I am open to all ideas. Bottom line is what's got the best repuation..

4 Cylinder Merc classic 50
2 Cylinder OMC 50
3 Cylinder Yamaha 50
3 Cylinder Merc 50

Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

-Svence

I had a Merc "Classic 50" on a Basstracker one time, it was the best 2-stroke motor I ever owned.

I have heard that people dont like the 2 cylinder OMC's but I dont have any experience with them.

For lightweight and toughness you'll be hard pressed to beat the 50HP OMC engine. They are by far not the fastest 50HP engine as the big 2 cylinder engines just don't have the grunt to them that the 3 and even 4 cylinder engines have to them, but they are tough and time tested designs. The YAMAHA is a good engine as well, but parts cost more and I believe they are a bit heavier and more difficult to work on wit hthe electronic ignition and primestart carbs. They run good when there right, but they can drive you nuts if your not good with multi-carb set-ups. I believe the older MERCURY engines(not the 4 cylinder ELPTO's) were also good engines, I don't have any real experience with the newer 4 cylinder ones though. For the most HP for it's size though, the 3 cylinder SUZUKI's will outrun the rest IMHO. I had a 25HP SUZUKI that would outrun most others 40 horse engines. And my grandfathers pontoon boat has over 1K hours on it's 85HP SUZUKI and still runs STRONG. It needs a set of carbs as the throttle shafts are worn out, but other than that it is all origanal and is still using the oil injection system.

For low cost and brute strength though, my vote goes to the 50HP OMC. Or if you want a good cheap screamer, step up to the 3 cylinder OMC 60HP and have one of the finest outboards ever built.

What do you mean "older" and "newer" 4 cylinder mercs? I thought they were all pretty much the same throughout the years.

-Svence

I know at one time they offerred a 50HP in there old design cross flow I believe that was a 2 or 3 cylinder, then later on they had the small 4 cylinder models.

i have a 40 hp tohatsu and have not been as happy as thought i would be with it. it always runs ok, but not great. and i bought it brand new 03 model. before that i had a 25hp mariner made by yamaha. it was a great motor, but no trim & tilt. i think they only went to 40 hp and then merc built the 50hp and up. 4 cyl merc run sweet and idle & accelerate real nice,2 & 3 cyl always seem like they don't like to idle to me.

i like the 60 3 cylinder on my Mckee, its probably the smoothest 2 stroke I've ever run. Weak issues on the 3 cyl Mercs is the charging system(make sure it has the red stator, mine does), Check the trim system, in salt, they become an expensive item to replace, and the lower unit, if the upper drive shaft seal leaks, it pumps water into the upper bearing, you don't realize it till you go to start hte engine and it acts like its locked up. Later model 60s with the CDM ignition are nice, they are also a bigger cubic inch version than I have. Get the big foot model if you can find one. The OMC 2 cylinders have a rep of blowing up lower units and throwing rods, I've seen plenty around here. My friend that does T-Tops has 70 Johnson on his, it runs real good, the 70 was a fresh water unit that I had recently tunes up, it was one that had fully adjustable carbs and I deleted the oil injection. He can't use all the power available, but it will pull up his kids on skis. Yamahas cost too much, zukis corrode too bad around here. try to find an 80's model Freshwater 60/70 Johnrude or a 90's and up 60 Merc. better yet, save yourself some time and buy my McKee

I have owned most of those and like the three cylinder yamaha the best.


The merc classic 50 in the later years (1986 on) was rated at 40hp and as a four cylinder it has four tiny pistons and an idle that rivals a four stroke. The motor will run with any modern day 40/50 and spank any 50hp four stroke. Weak areas are the lower motor mounts wear and the outer water jacket can pinhole when used in salt. No removeable cylinder head. Early models have the annoying cowl wrap that means three pieces need to come off to access the motor. Later models have a better lower unit and a nice lightweight one piece cowl. Oil injection if equipped is a pretty reliable system, oil tank under the cowl and gravity fed. This motor will be a crossflow generally crossflows idle better than loopers. Later models will have a better trim system too, either a trouble free gas assist or the power trim mounted between the C brackets.

The OMC two cylinder is a tough little bugger but cannot run or idle as smoothly as the Merc classic and Yamaha threes. Hard to beat a big twin though, reliable and tough. Agree with Spare on the lower units the seems the 1990's 50's had a weaker foot than the earlier ones. VRO equipped models have the external tank and a lot of controversy about the system's reliablity. Most will be converted back to a premix.

I have had a bunch of three cylinder yamahas and like them the best. Compared to the three cylinder OMC's (the original loop charged engine) the Yamaha is just more refined. Something about the sound signature of the Yamaha appeals to me and the idle quality is much better than the OMC 60/70hp. Oil injection is the brightest of the three as the oil is injected behind the carbs, less chance of failure. Yamaha parts are more expensive but the electronics seem to last better than the merc and OMC. Early Yamahas used a mild steel shift linkage and the sterering tiller arms are prone to rust when used in salt. Shift shaft will stainless after early 1990's. These are loopers and at higher rpms when the exhaust scavenging kicks in it is much like opening the secondaries of a 4 barrel quadrajet...cool. Early 80's Yamahas have sucky paint and graphics that will fade away quickly later models are much better.

I haven't much experience with the three cylinder mercs so I won't comment.

You really could not go wrong with any of them as long as you get a well cared for engine.

B

Mercury pictured here is a 96 with later one piece cowl, just sold it during Irene for $1900-. The Yamaha is an early 90's converting it to a tiller, and the Yamaha 60 is my old 2004.

So it looks like I really can't go wrong with any of them. I am glad I have been looking in the right direction. Now I just need to find a clean one and snatch it up.

I have seen a couple 70 OMC's floating around but they are heavy SOB's. Most are at least 250 pounds where as the 50's I am looking at are all under 200.

Phat - Surprised to hear that about the tohatsu as I had only read good things about them.

-Svence

Spare - the 60 with the bigfoot is a pretty heavy setup, any ill effects of the extra weight back there?