I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

[terrysandlin]

I need opinions on Evinrude/Johnson motors. In particular the 60?s, 70?s, and some a little later 18hp, 20hp, and 25hp. Does anyone know the weights of these motors? I have a 9.5 Evinrude on an aluminum V fishing boat that is around 14 feet and 5 inches. I would like more horsepower to give a little more speed to the boat.
Are there any major differences with these motors? I fixed up the 9.5 Evinrude and found parts could be obtained, even from NAPA. It seemed to me that these Johnnyrude engines are fairly easy to work on if you have a manual, plus many motors have interchangeable parts. They also seem to have great reliability, as expressed on this forum.
I am thinking of waiting around until one of thee motors appears on Craig?s List and has good compression and a good lower unit. I also am wondering if waiting around for one of these older Evinrudes is better than snapping up an older Mercury, which seem to be more available. Am I correct in thinking that the Evinrudes are better to work on and reliability than the Mercurys?
You have helped me in the past and I really appreciate this forum!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

Hi Terry. The old 18, 20 , 25 hp Johnsons are some of the best pound-for-pound motors ever made ever, particularly the 18/20 hp (FD/E) models. They're super reliable, light weight and easy to work on. Parts are cheap and readily available. As long as the motor has decent compression, you can fix everything else on them yourself and rebuild the carb, ignition, and lower unit for less than $100. Old Mercs, on the other hand, are a wholenother animal. They are notoriously wacky (reverse threaded screws, funky carb designs, etc...), and parts can be much more expensive and hard to find. I actualy run a '66 Johnson 20 hp on my 14' tinny and love it. I can get up to about 20-25 mph with a light load. Best of all old OMC (Johsnon/Evinrude) motors pop up all the time. I got my motor and a parts motor for $100. After I rebuilt the carb and replaced the points & condensers, she purrs like a kitten and runs like a scalded dog. Here are some links about the old OMC motors, 18/20 Johnsons and my motor out on the lake the other day. Happy hunting.

Duckworks Magazine

Maintaining Johnson E & FD Serie

1966 Johnson FD-20C, 20hp outboard on a 1959 Arkansas Traveler DUT-14 aluminum runabout - YouTube

 

[Rmoore45]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

In all honesty I feel like this thread may start a Mercury/Johnson/Evinrude/Chrysler debate on which is the better motor. I have heard good and bad about all outboards. Many people (like myself) grew up around a particular type brand of outboard and they have come to know and love that brand and have become skeptical about other outboards. I have heard (no personal experience) good things about older Johnson/Evinrude outboards and that they are a good reliable easy to maintain motor. That being said, I myself am a Mercury man and I always will be. I just love the '50s,'60s and '70s mercury outboards, in my opinion they were the innovators that created the modern outboard. Not to say that other manufacturers didn't come up with some innovations of their own, but overall Mercury lead the way with new and creative ideas. My current boat is a 1968 12' Sears Gamefisher that I completely restored and it powered by a 1978 Mercury 110 (9.8 hp).

This is just one mans opinion based on how I was raised.

Also, I'm part German which means that I like weird/complicated things

 

[kfa4303]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

yeah, there's some debate as to weather old Karl Keifkaffer was a mild mechanical genius, or a bit of an eccentric. The motor you mentioned is a perfect example. Most folks might think that a Merc "110" would be 110 hp, or perhaps 11 hp, but it's actually 9.8 :/ ?? The old mercs definitely have followers and they look super cool, but they may not be the best for a beginner and you can't just run down to NAPA for replacement parts. I like complexity too being pure Kraut myself, after all; Warum so einfach wenn es so sch?n kompliziert geht? However, on the water, simplicity and reliability are generally preferred.

This link may help too.

Why I Hate old Mercurys

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

+1 on the 18, 20 and 25. The old 22 cube OMC is in my book, one of the top motors ever built.

 

[rolmops]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

Your 9.5 horse is 67 pounds,but the larger engines you talk about weight up to twice as much. That being said ,a little bit or rearrangement of stuff in your boat will take care of that.
As for different brands of outboards. Johnson/Evinrude is made of different metal than Mercury and they take salt water damage a lot better than Mercuries do (think drive shaft).
I have both mercs and johnnies. Both are good engines,but I have huge hands (Shrek size) and it is impossible for me to service my mercs without loosing a fair amount of skin every time I stick my hands in there. Both Evinrude/Johnson and Chrysler engines are very mechanic friendly and have lots of room to work under the cowling and both are very dependable. Force engines however....
Stay away from trouble and stay away from Force.

 

[rolmops]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

yeah, there's some debate as to weather old Karl Keifkaffer was a mild mechanical genius. I like complexity too being pure Kraut myself, after all; Warum so einfach wenn es so sch?n kompliziert geht? However, on the water, simplicity and reliability are generally preferred.

This link may help too.

Why I Hate old Mercurys

Und weshalb nennen sie unseren alte Carl Kiekhaafer ein Keifkaffer???
So why do you call our Old Carl Kiekhaafer a Keifkaffer??

 

[kbait]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

The 9.9/15 series from '74+ are awesome! They're both the same weight, as the 9.9 is just a de-tuned 15 (for hp restricted lakes). I have a deep/wide 14' alumacraft, and my ''81 15hp Evinrude pushes 2 adults/gear about 20mph, trolls down SLOW like a 3hp, and is quite miserly on fuel. That being said, a properly tuned FD (18) will troll pretty slow, and push a boatload of gold bars.. stout motors.. but use much more fuel than a 15. Cost-wise, here in Mn, you can pick up a running/tuned 15 for about $600, verses $350ish for an 18. Parts for both are super-easy to obtain.

The 9.5's are awesome motors.. but weren't known for top-end power. If you're looking to upgrade, keep your eyes open for a 15, or 18/20 w/an eye on price and condition. If you're buying a running motor, HAVE THE SELLER RUN IT FOR YOU!.. otherwise, it may be a 'it ran the last time I used it, it should run now' deal, and the last time ran was when a dinosaur looked up at the meteor.

If buying a motor in unknown running condition, pull the recoil and check the whoomp, whoomp.. should be strong and even between the two cylinders. Bring a spark tester and check for 1/4" bolt from each lead. Spin prop slowly and operate shift handle to check gearcase function - not a definitive test, but will at least tell you that things are moving as they should. Bring a screwdriver and pop the lower gearcase plug quickly and check for water/milky lube which means water intrusion. Shift to F and operate tiller and inspect for full armature plate/throttle movement. Finally, take a minute to look the entire outboard over to be sure it's complete. You should have a really good idea at that point what will need attention, and you can make an informed offer.

Good luck to ya!

 

[terrysandlin]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I will look for an 18 -25 hp Evinrude/Johnson. My 9.5 may have spoiled me on working on an outboard. I live in Topeka, KS; so, the availability is probably not as good as in states where there is better fishing. On the other hand, I am close to Missouri. I have not seen a forum (on outdoor sports) as helpful as this forum. The goodhearted civility makes you wish you could know each poster personally.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

The old 18's and 20's are actually only rated at 77 pounds which is only 10 more than the 9.5. Add 10 pounds for an electric starter. Truthfully, quality is hands down, greater than the later 9.9's and 15's and parts are so much cheaper.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

Oh yeah, my old 20 hp is light enough for one person to easily lift on/off the boat, if need be. Pretty hard to beat when it comes to pound-for-pound power. Plus, the older 50's models look sweeeeet

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

The '57 - '58 Clamshell models are my favorite.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

I like to 15hp ERude of the middle fifties too. They are awesome motors in terms of power/weight and share the simplicity of all of the OMC motors of that era (502, 60s).

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

Why I Hate old Mercurys

This says it all, as far as I am concerned. Mercs are just not my thing.

 

[TN-25]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

The old 9.5 weighs an even 60 lbs and is pretty handy to carry, what with the balanced carrying handle and all. The fiberglass cowled 18-20-25 from about 1959 - 1976 varied in weight between 77 to 85 pounds w/o electric start. For 1977 a new generation of 25 (& 20 in some locals) weighed a lot more, starting around 101 lbs. This newer generation motor was based more on the new 35 horse that was introduced for 1976. For a smaller tinny I can't see why you need a larger, heavier motor.

The 9.9 & 15 manual start motors originally were advertised as weighing 65 pounds in 1974, but my 1976 manual start 15 actually weighs 71 pounds.

I remember dad's old 1971 Johnson 25 and how I thought it was a heavy motor at the time. Little did I know that I would never have it so good. They had an unmatched power to weight ratio. It was stolen in 1992 so dad bought a new 1992 Johnson 30. By that time he was 70 years old so he went with electric start.

Yes, the Merc 20 is also a very good engine, but for the reasons stated by others earlier you would be best advised to go with the Johnson / Evinrude.

BTW, what make & model of boat do you have? Some 14' cartops were good for up to 15 horses, while a good sturdy, beamy 14' could handle up to 25 horses. A 25 would give your boat some real speed!

 

[jbjennings]

Re: I need opinions on certain Johnson/Evinrudes

I agree with Max W's article mostly, but disagree with the "weak lower unit thing". It was the mild steel driveshaft on pre'76 mercs that made the lower units so likely to be bad on old mercs today----not the stuff Max mentioned. My dad beat the snot out of late 60s and early 70's merc 20hp motors by hitting stumps, pushing duckblinds and overloaded boats and such, and never once boogered up a lower unit. I think the lower units were great until the seal surfaces got rust pitting MANY years after it was new. Those 20hp mercs of the 60s and 70s were extremely tough motors in my opinion.
However, they loved to play the "hard to start" game when they were cold----something I've never seen a johnson or evinrude be guilty of.
If you like a 9.5, you'll love a 15, 18, 20, or 25hp OMC. THere are a couple of 15's like the '74 model, and an early 70's 35hp that I would steer clear of. I've never seen or heard of a bad 18hp OMC motor. THey are all good motors.

JBJ