Best lightweight 50 HP

[brisboats]

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

[brisboats]

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.

[csvencer]

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?

[csvencer]

Also, anyone know the difference between the Yamaha Pro 50 and the regular 50?

-Svence

[phatdaddy]

the last couple of times i bought smaller (20-40hp) motors, i got a better deal buying a whole rig with the motor i wanted and then selling the hull and trailer later. that also lets you concentrate on fresh water boats or areas..

[spareparts]

I had a sharp learning curve on my Mckee when I originally redid it. I kept weight toward the rear think it would help the performance. It hopped so bad it shook up all my beer. I went and looked at several factory set up McKees and found the later they were, the more weight forward they had. I moved everything forward about 12 "(moved the battery 24") and it balanced nicely. The transom wedge plates were probably the best money spent on the boat. Compare the transom angle on a McKee to a whaler, the McKee is almost vertical, the Whaler leans way back. When I swapped out the lower unit to the big foot, any weight increase was offset by the better grip and lift of the bigger wheel. My buddy that has the 70 has his boat setup as a center console. The console is about center set in the boat, he has the gas tank and battery in the console. The weight of the 70 doesn't seem to be an issue. Look at the pics I posted in the for sale section, you'll see how my boat sets in the water. As far as the Yamahas go, they are good motors, but I could sell a good 40-75 Yamaha around here for enough money to buy a pair of 70 Johnrudes or 60 Mercs

[brisboats]

I believe the pro series yamahas are like the C series, stripper models w/o the oil injection kinda like an OMC spl series motor less thrills for a better price point. I loved the prime start system on my 2004 Yamaha no need to raise the warmup lever and no choke, just prime and go. Took me awhile to figure out that raising the warmup lever was a no no until the engine was started. Worked great but my 2004 took a few revolutions longer to fire off than my new to me 90's 50 does with the fuel primer squirter thingie enrichener ( no choke butterflies).

B

[brisboats]

I forgot about this one. I put 300 hours on this rig 3-4 seasons ago. It is 16'2 Wahoo! initially rigged with a 70 OMC 1986 and later a cherry 40 hp late 90's something I picked up off a pontoon boat with low low hours. The little OMC served as a great crabbing rig pushing the Wahoo! to low 30's and was excellent on fuel compared to the older OMC triple. But we could pull skiers with the 70hp and hit a blistering 45 mph on the gps. For my uses on that boat the 40 was perfect it used the later system check.

I guess the point is hunt for the cherry motor and you cannot go wrong with your parameters. About 8 years ago my 70 y/o plus neighbor was buying my 91 Whaler 15' supersport and was insisting that I rig it with a new in the crate four stroke. He wanted trouble free and was not really concerned at all about the $$$. He was dead set on a brand new four stroke but I begged and pleaded with him to let me mount a cherry 96 Merc classic 50/40hp I had just got in that was still on break in oil. He listened, let me do my thing with the rigging and he still raves about how great the Merc is and that if the mood strikes him he can hit 37mph on the gps. The lighter two stroke really makes his boat more balanced and enjoyable. Be patient and a clean beauty will come along.

B