2.3 HP gas-powered Honda or electric for inflatable tender?

[windblown]

We just "upgraded" our tender from an inflatable SeaEagle two-person kayak (a sturdy little toy, but we're ready for a little more stability). We purchased the WM 8.6" RIB, and I'm thinking a motor would be a nice addition. I'd love to hold out (and save up) for a Torqueedo travel 603, but this little Honda only weighs 30 lbs; it has an internal fuel tank, so we don't have to deal with a separate tank and fuel line hook-up; and it has a pull start, so no starting battery needed. I believe it this could easily be stored on the stern rail (we don't have davits; we plan to put the tender on the foredeck, and use halyards to deploy). We only use the tender for the 1-2 weeks of cruising we do each summer; we may add some weekends on the hook now that getting ashore will be less of a challenge. I do understand that outboards can be unreliable; I'm prepared to row. As much as I like the idea and convenience of the electric, I have trouble justifying the cost. Any input?

 

[Alan Gomes]

I own the Honda 2.3 and use it with my ~9 ft. inflatable. I've had two of them, since one of them got trashed in a gale over at Catalina that flipped my inflatable upside down with the engine attached! So after the first one was destroyed I decided to replace it with the same engine because I liked it enough to stick with it.

Overall, I think it's a really good engine. It's air cooled, so no impellers to change or cooling passages to clog. It sips fuel, as I guess you'd expect for a 2.3 hp. engine. Starts on the first pull, even when I haven't run it for a few months. And I appreciate the light weight when schlepping it on and off the boat, especially when wrestling to get it into and out of the dinghy.

One warning, though, which I think would not be unique to the Honda but would apply to any small outboard engine. Do whatever you can to avoid putting ethanol fuel in it. It can destroy the carb, sometimes to the point where even cleaning it out is not possible. The jets on that tiny carb are easily prone to damage from ethanol. This may not be an issue where you are located, but in California all the fuel out here has ethanol in it. I've used the Biobor additive and still managed to destroy a carb when the engine sat unused for about 10 months in 2018 due to a family emergency with my dad that that consumed all of my time, and I forgot about running it.

For me, the best solution has been to buy TruFuel at Home Depot and only run it with that. MaineSail had suggested doing this on his blog, but I had resisted going that route because the fuel is beastly expensive (comes out to something like $20/gallon). But I realized trying to save money on the fuel was a false economy in my case. That engine uses so little fuel that one can of it lasts me a really long time, just using the tender to motor from the mooring to the dinghy dock and back. The cost really is negligible.

One other thing you can do (and I had tried earlier) is to run the engine on typical ethanol-blended fuel but then, before you put it away, drain the tank, add the TruFuel, and run it with the TruFuel before putting the engine to bed. Or, if you are going to be on a long trip with lots of motoring, run the ethanol-blended fuel for most of the trip and switch to TruFuel at the very end. The point is that you want the last fuel going through the carburetor to be TruFuel before you put the engine to bed. For me, I came to realize that it used so little fuel for the kind of trips that I do that going through these extra steps really made no sense. I haven't had a lick of problems with that engine since I went the TruFuel route. I also find that the engine seems to run slighly better than it did with the ethanol-blended stuff.

By the way: I got a really good price on my Honda from Online Outboards in Tennessee. They were also very good people to work with.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Deborah,
We have the H 2.3 and it's a solid little unit. It's easy to sling onto our pushpit mount using the cunningham tackle redeployed on the end of the boom. I would say that it's kind of loud. Even tho 4-stroke, as Alan says, it's air cooled. Makes for a simpler machine, but not as well muffled. You ain't gonna be fast with it. On the other hand, we lashed the dinghy to the side of our E35 and moved it about a mile, albeit in mild conditions. The internal tank is small so extra gas in a jug will be a 'must' for extended trips. Alan's tip regarding fuel is good and we'll implement this.
Jeff

 

[gabriel]

I’m also looking for an engine for my dingy.

I like the torqueedo and I think it is the ideal solution for this application but it’s just way too much in my opinion. I have narrowed it down to both the Honda 2.3 or the Suzuki 2.5. some points 5o think about:

honda: air cooled so no flushing engine or impeller to replace but the downside is there’s no gear-select, only a centrifugal clutch which means you can’t rev the engine in natural. I’ve also read that the Honda has corrosion problems and it’s loud. MSRP is about 1K

suziki: water cooled so it’s quieter but then youl have to flush it out with fresh water and periodically replace the impeller. MSRP about 700 and it has a proper transmission with F-N. Reverse is by turning the motor 180 degrees.

my experience with small outboard’s is that they are extremely reliable so long as you flush them and drain the gas when storing. Extra work, more wasted time. which is why the torqueedo is so nice if you can justify the cost (over 3x the cost of the Suzuki).

both Suzuki and Honda are the lightest in their class at about 30lbs.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Deborah,
We have the H 2.3 and it's a solid little unit. It's easy to sling onto our pushpit mount using the cunningham tackle redeployed on the end of the boom. I would say that it's kind of loud. Even tho 4-stroke, as Alan says, it's air cooled. Makes for a simpler machine, but not as well muffled. You ain't gonna be fast with it. On the other hand, we lashed the dinghy to the side of our E35 and moved it about a mile, albeit in mild conditions. The internal tank is small so extra gas in a jug will be a 'must' for extended trips. Alan's tip regarding fuel is good and we'll implement this.
Jeff

I agree with Jeff about the noise and should have mentioned that. Being air cooled, it is less muffled. I typically only run it at around half throttle since I'm never in a hurry to get anywhere, and I find the noise level acceptable. But if you open it up it can be noisy. In any case, I agree that it is noisier than non air-cooled 4 strokes. To me the trade off with not having to worry about impellers and clogged cooling passages is worth it. But that's totally a personal choice and you might feel differently.

 

[Alan Gomes]

honda: air cooled so no flushing engine or impeller to replace but the downside is there’s no gear-select, only a centrifugal clutch which means you can’t rev the engine in natural. I’ve also read that the Honda has corrosion problems and it’s loud. MSRP is about 1K

It's true that I don't have to "flush" the engine, as such. But Honda does recommend running it in a barrel of water to get the salt out of the exhaust passages. I've got a large trash can set up for that purpose and I do "flush" it, as well as hose off the outside of the engine with fresh water after each trip.

I've not found the lack of a proper F/N/R to be an issue for me. The centrifugal clutch works just fine. I don't find too many occasions where I need reverse, but spinning the engine around isn't too difficult, though granted that reversing is not as easy as it would be with the Suzuki or other such engines.

I've definitely not observed any corrosion problems with the Honda.

That said, the Suzuki looks like a sweet little engine, and I see that Online Outboards has it for $795. Looks like the weight is identical to the Honda, which is to say very light. I don't know how reliable they are, but if others report good, reliable service from them and if you don't mind changing impellers and having to periodically check over your transom to confirm that water is, in fact, coming out the back, it could be a really good option for you, especially at that price point.

 

[windblown]

Thank you all so much! This was very helpful.
I hadn't considered the Suzuki, but it is clearly a viable option. It's basically the same weight, and the lower price makes it very attractive.
I'm not sure how to evaluate the importance of the centrifugal clutch versus the real transmission. . .
We're in fresh water, so I'm not as concerned about corrosion.
There seems to be agreement that the Honda is loud, but I do like the air-cooled convenience versus changing an impeller. I don't expect we'll need to throttle up, unless the weather turns suddenly.
The TruFuel is a great tip. We still have at least one gas station that has a non-ethanol option (FastTrac); it's what we always use for our snow blower and lawn mower. I really appreciate this heads up, since the dealers seem to emphasize the convenience of using low octane, ethanol fuel. I agree that it is worth the extra cost to take better care in the long run.
I think I'll enjoy this little motor. And if it's too loud, the Admiral may eventually think a Torqueedo is worth the investment

 

[Nick J]

Wow, the Suzuki does look like a good option. When I was shopping 4 years ago, I was between the Honda and Yamaha. The Yamaha is heavier, but had a better gear box and I wasn't sold on the Honda being air cooled. the Yamaha has been trouble free. It was around $700 from a local shop. If I had to do it again, I'd probably go with Yamaha but the Suzuki does look tempting.

The family we typically cruise with has a Torquedo and it's also a great option. If you're only using for typical ship to shore it's a great option being lighter, less noisy, and more maintenance free. For me, the range, cost, and sheer pin were the deal breakers. They've been through 4 sheer pins in the 4 years they've owned it. Not a big deal as long as you carry spares, but it is inconvenient. Range came into play when we were cruising in the san Juans a few years ago using their dinghy to go between close anchorages. We pushed it a little too far and ended up portaging the dingy over an isthmus between Roach Harbor and Garrison bay. Ended up with a good story and meeting a really nice local guy who got a laugh out of us crossing the road carrying the dinghy over our heads.

 

[gabriel]

I own the Honda 2.3 and use it with my ~9 ft. inflatable. I've had two of them, since one of them got trashed in a gale over at Catalina that flipped my inflatable upside down with the engine attached! So after the first one was destroyed I decided to replace it with the same engine because I liked it enough to stick with it.

Overall, I think it's a really good engine. It's air cooled, so no impellers to change or cooling passages to clog. It sips fuel, as I guess you'd expect for a 2.3 hp. engine. Starts on the first pull, even when I haven't run it for a few months. And I appreciate the light weight when schlepping it on and off the boat, especially when wrestling to get it into and out of the dinghy.

One warning, though, which I think would not be unique to the Honda but would apply to any small outboard engine. Do whatever you can to avoid putting ethanol fuel in it. It can destroy the carb, sometimes to the point where even cleaning it out is not possible. The jets on that tiny carb are easily prone to damage from ethanol. This may not be an issue where you are located, but in California all the fuel out here has ethanol in it. I've used the Biobor additive and still managed to destroy a carb when the engine sat unused for about 10 months in 2018 due to a family emergency with my dad that that consumed all of my time, and I forgot about running it.

For me, the best solution has been to buy TruFuel at Home Depot and only run it with that. MaineSail had suggested doing this on his blog, but I had resisted going that route because the fuel is beastly expensive (comes out to something like $20/gallon). But I realized trying to save money on the fuel was a false economy in my case. That engine uses so little fuel that one can of it lasts me a really long time, just using the tender to motor from the mooring to the dinghy dock and back. The cost really is negligible.

One other thing you can do (and I had tried earlier) is to run the engine on typical ethanol-blended fuel but then, before you put it away, drain the tank, add the TruFuel, and run it with the TruFuel before putting the engine to bed. Or, if you are going to be on a long trip with lots of motoring, run the ethanol-blended fuel for most of the trip and switch to TruFuel at the very end. The point is that you want the last fuel going through the carburetor to be TruFuel before you put the engine to bed. For me, I came to realize that it used so little fuel for the kind of trips that I do that going through these extra steps really made no sense. I haven't had a lick of problems with that engine since I went the TruFuel route. I also find that the engine seems to run slighly better than it did with the ethanol-blended stuff.

By the way: I got a really good price on my Honda from Online Outboards in Tennessee. They were also very good people to work with.

Hey Alan, do you know where to buy ethanol, free gas here in Southern California? I’ve been looking for it, but can’t seem to find it anywhere that sells it. I know Home Depot sells it bottled but it’s only in small quantities.

here’s the Suzuki for under 700 (they might get you on shipping though)

Suzuki 2.5 HP Outboard Motor - Model DF2.5S5

Tipping the scales at only 29 lbs, it's the lightest 4-stroke Suzuki outboard ever constructed. This makes it an optimal choice for small crafts, including square stern canoes, small tenders and inflatables, and even kayaks. The model comes equipped with a twist grip throttle for full-size...

boatmaxonline.com

if I was in freshwater, I wold probably buy the Suzuki without thinking about it

 

[Alan Gomes]

Hey Alan, do you know where to buy ethanol, free gas here in Southern California? I’ve been looking for it, but can’t seem to find it anywhere that sells it. I know Home Depot sells it bottled but it’s only in small quantities.

Nope, I sure don't. That's why I buy the TruFuel at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[Nick J]

Is the fuel on the dock ethonal free down there?

 

[gabriel]

Is the fuel on the dock ethonal free down there?

No it’s not I have asked, they said it does have ethanol. All these outboards are rated to run 10% ethanol though. i hear our rulers are trying to usher in 15%

 

[Nick J]

Bummer, I got really good at disassembling the carb on my Yamaha T8 while I was slowly learning what ethonal In a marine environment does to small gas engines. Once I figured out the marina gas was ethonal free, I haven't had to touch a carb.

I also used sites like this to find ethonal free gas away from the dock:

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

Hopefully it has some stations near you.

 

[Alan Gomes]

No it’s not I have asked, they said it does have ethanol. All these outboards are rated to run 10% ethanol though. i hear our rulers are trying to usher in 15%

While the Honda is "rated" to "run" on it, the problem is that the ethanol is what I guess you'd call hydrophilic, meaning it collects moisture. This, in turn, wreaks havoc with those tiny jets. So the problems I encountered with the ethanol were not so much with how it ran--though I think it does run slightly better with the TruFuel--but with when it would sit in the outboard for any period of time.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Bummer, I got really good at disassembling the carb on my Yamaha T8 while I was slowly learning what ethonal In a marine environment does to small gas engines. Once I figured out the marina gas was ethonal free, I haven't had to touch a carb.

I also used sites like this to find ethonal free gas away from the dock:

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

Hopefully it has some stations near you.

I've checked this site before and it was totally out of date. I couldn't find ethanol-free fuel anywhere, including the places listed on that site.

 

[Christian Williams]

I've had a Torqueedo for years now, and you have to really hate gas outboards to justify one.

Range is a problem. Once depleted, the battery takes10+ hours on house current to recharge all the way. But you can toss the thing on it's side into the quarterberth, it's light and in two parts, and easy to rig on a pitching dinghy.

My problem with outboards was that they often wouldn't start when needed, and I don't like hanging them on the rail. If today's small outboards are reliable in the salt environment, electric is hard to justify.

But look at EPropulsion, which seems to be a strong competitor to Torqueedo these days.

 

[Pete the Cat]

I have both gas and electric in different applications on different boats. I hate the noise of an air cooled engine and would not consider one under any circumstance. Enough to appreciate the silence of my Torqueedo--and the the idea that it stores easily and seems to run longer on a charge than I care to motor from shore to boat and when not in a big hurry. I also like that I can charge it off my electrical system overnight and not carry or worry about gasoline and engine and system maintenance. But I have a 6hp water cooled Tohatsu on my planing dinghy that I use for exploration and transportation to my half mile distant mooring in Maine that will do 15kts--this one lives at the dinghy dock most of the time. So, like many things, I think this is a very personal decision based on your preferences, what inconveniences you abhor the most, and how you use your dinghy.

 

[Christian Williams]

I had no idea a 6hp could make a dinghy plane. Impressive.

 

[Bolo]

I’ve had them all. Started with a used Evanrude 2 cycle that was about as loud as a WWI by plane. Then went to a Honda 2 which was much quieter but tough to wrangle off the stern rail especially on pitching boat at anchor. Then went “purist” with no engine and purchased a used wooden rowing dinghy called a “Coot”. ( https://building-strip-planked-boats.com/building-strip-planked-boats/coot-dinghy/ ) It rowed like a dream but was hard to store and it was a bit wobbly when getting on board.

Then I sold that and purchased a West Marine inflatable (PRU-3 Performance Roll-up) that I could easy store in the foredeck, tow or deflate and keep in the port quarter berth. To make it go, besides the oars, I purchased a Torqeedo - Travel 603, short shaft. This combination works the best for me. It gets my first mate and I to shore when anchored. The nice thing is that the drive section (shaft with motor and prop), battery “pod”, and tiller (with controls and read out) are all separate so getting the motor onto the dinghy is much easier then a whole gas outboard. Its drawback, as Christian mention, is distance but we rarely use it for just tooling around the anchorage so getting to shore and back, usually within a half mile at the most, is no problem and it’s very quiet.

But for a real-world example of its range, recently we were in St Michael’, MD docked at the museum there and we went for a “joy ride” which included a stop at “Foxy’s” for lunch. With two adults on board and some traffic to weave in and around I had the throttle at full most of the time. When I laid out out course on my Navionics app it came in at around 1.5 nm. Started with 100% charge and ended up with 70% back at the boat. So as you can see if you’re into anchoring far from where you want to go ashore, need to go fast or want to do some extensive exploring then an electric motor is not for you. For me it’s the perfect match with how and where we anchor or for the short “joy rides” we take from our home port dock or a transient slip. It’s another reason why I’ll never go from diesel to electric on my E32~3. Short range.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I’ve had them all.

How about a 60's-vintage British Seagull? You ain't lived until you run one of those!

I had one in the early 70's. Loud, smoked like Hades, temperamental. If I recall correctly, you mixed 30 wt. oil with the gas. Some kind of rite of passage, I suppose.