Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

[Forktail]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

You'll find a lot of hearsay here. But the 12,000 people surveyed weren't "non-boaters". They all owned and operated their outboards. I'm not sure what better example you can find.<br /><br />There are so many factors involved when looking at ouboard failures that it would take a decade to decifer here. I know I have less trouble with 4-strokes.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

Just a quick testimony to Honda 4 strokes. We use them in the Grand Canyon on our white water boats and we run them aground All The Time. I'm talking seriously trashing the lower units on rocks and gravel bars. On every trip through the canyon each boat carries 7 extra props, one extra lower unit, and one complete spare motor. We use the 30HP model. I am utterly amazed at how resilient these motors are. We've slammed these motors into rocks so hard it cracked the all aluminum transom. We've replaced and repaired alot of L/U's, but I can't think of one powerhead failure as a result of striking an object or running aground. These motors run WOT for about 28 hours every week with no problems. These engines are amazing!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

When you look at MTFB study the 2 stroke would com out ahead of a 4 stroke simply because of the simplicity of design and significantly few parts to fail but figure in the human element into it and you probably get a whole different picture. I would venture to say that human error or lack of maintenance is cause for at least 75% of the 2 stroke failures. <br /><br />I guess we really will not know until the year 2018 when we sit back and count the number of 2004 4-stroke motors still in use and compare them with the number of 1985 2 strokes in use today. I’ll bet good money that the numbers will not be there. The old 2 strokes are simple enough that pretty much anyone with some mechanical aptitude can keep tem alive until the parts become obsolete. Who wants to try and rebuild a 4 stroke on the dining room table?

 

[Terry H]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

Hey DR...I got some friends gonna be on the Colorado in a couple of weeks...I don't know who is taking them, but they tells me they're gonna be in one large raft with one of those Honda outboards...you best hope you're not in the same boat with these guys...I wouldn't go with 'em...just a thought

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

Having owned a 1963 Homelite 55 4stroke 55 horse motor for a few years, I can say that it was a very good outboard, even though it was ancient. I had rescued it from a slow death, cleaned the carbs (they were full of jellied gasoline), new plugs and wires, and that thing always started, would idle all day long, never smoked, and was quiet. That was a 4 stroke that was like 37 years old at the time. The concept is proven, and the new technology can only be better. Hey, I love my old 2 stroke Merc, but if someone wanted to give me a new 4 stroke of equivelant power tomorrow I would take it. I will also add that it is vertually garanteed that those people who had problems with 2 strokes probably performed poor maintenance, or perceived problems when there was none. A 4 stroke is pretty much brainless to operate. Make sure it has oil in it and go, just like a car. 2 strokes make different noise, different power, are more sensative to outside factors. For an experienced boater, a 2 stroke is still king, but for the average joe pulling his 2.3 kids on a tube with wifey, the quietness, reliability, and ease of operation of a 4 stroke cannot be denied.

 

[Forktail]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

By dingbat - When you look at MTFB study the 2 stroke would com out ahead of a 4 stroke simply because of the simplicity of design and significantly few parts to fail...

MTFB?....do you mean MTBF, or "mean time between failures"?<br /><br />Do you have any data that 2-strokes would come out ahead, or are you just speculating? My experience is just the opposite...that 2-strokes fail and wear out more frequently. Engineers at Yamaha once told me that the 4-strokes will give me better longevity. They have been right.<br /><br />

By dingbat - I guess we really will not know until the year 2018 when we sit back and count the number of 2004 4-stroke motors still in use and compare them with the number of 1985 2 strokes in use today.

No need to wait. That argument is getting old. You can compare the number of 4-strokes still in use since 1985 compared to the number of 2-strokes still in use since 1985. Of course you would have to put it into relationship to the numbers sold, the hours they were run, and whether or not the failures were design or manufacturing flaws rather than owner abuse. I don't know of too many older 4-strokes that have lived a life of repairs. They have always been quality units.<br /><br />The "more moving parts" issue doesn't hold merit either. The number of parts has little to do with failure rates. You could have an outboard with two parts that fail all the time, or an outboard with 100 parts that never fails. You don't exactly see valves, cams, and the such readily available in the outboard repair market like you do 2-stroke pistons, cranks, bearings, etc.<br /><br />I'll never understand why the 2-stroke loyalists can't give the 4-strokes credit. They've earned it.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Four strokes blowin UP !!!!!!!!

Hi there Chief. I'll take anybody down the river, bring it on! Yeah, they could be going with anybody though. Every single company down there uses the Honda 30hp. 4 strokes are mandatory in Grand Canyon and the 30 hp are as big a motor as we can handle. We manually lift and tilt these motors to go over rocks and whatnot. Our company actually Beta tested the Merc. 4 stroke 40hp when they first came out with it. The Merc 2 stroke 30hp is what we used for years and years til the new regulations started in 2001. We've also played with Evinrudes and Suzukis. They just didn't hold up to the abuse.