Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

[freeisforme]

I looked at a 2 stroke 2005 Tohatsu MD50B today, it's on a running boat but my plans are to use it on my 17' aluminum boat.
It's got tilt and trim and is a 3 cylinder.
Has anyone had any experience with one of these?
Any thing to watch for?
How well do they perform compared to other motors in their HP range.
One thing that concerns me is that it's listed as weighing 200 lbs or more. That seems a bit heavy for a 50hp motor.
The motor has very low hours and is for sale for $1100 and comes with a rather heavy looking bass boat type of rig with a rusty bunk trailer. I'd most likely dump the boat and scrap the trailer. The motor was installed and from what I can tell the rest of the boat and the trailer kept it from being used very much.
My alternative is a mid 80's 70hp Evinrude which was just overhauled but it has no tilt/trim. Both look nearly new, but the 70hp is for sale for $2150 and has just gone through a professional overhaul/restoration. The boat is rated at 70hp max and the two motors are probably pretty close in weight. Its too cold to water test either motor right now, but I've seen and been onboard the boat with the 50hp and it ran fine last summer. The boat however left a lot to be desired but mostly since it couldn't handle the weight of three guys over 300lbs.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

as well as any other motor, properly maintained.

 

[freeisforme]

Re: Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

My concern is mostly with it's performance vs. fuel economy. I've been told now by several folks that they are really hard on fuel compared to other makes.
Having mostly only older, (80's era), Johnnyrudes I have little to compare to.
The motor looks new, in fact it could nearly pass for new appearance wise, and compression is 155-157-156 top to bottom. It runs fine, starts easy and is a good bit quieter than my older motors. I know the 70hp Evinrude will do well on my boat but I'm not sure if the Tohatsu would do the trick. My thinking was that it's a more modern motor and probably would be a bit more reliable over time than the older motor. I've been running a 1961 40hp Evinrude that gets it moving just fine and planes out with no trouble with two big guys onboard. Forget though with a third man unless both passengers sit all the way forward.

I see the trade off being power vs. weight between the older 70hp and the newer 50hp Tohatsu. I'm thinking that maybe the slightly lighter weight of the 50hp may offset the added weight I'd have with the 70hp Evinrude?

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

http://www.trailerboats.com/output.cfm?id=2259109

 

[capt sam]

Re: Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

I've owned many Yamahas, a few Merc's and one Tohatsu. By far my favorite motor was the Tohatsu, it was bulletproof, yeah they are heavy but solid. I would just make sure you have access to parts locally, that's their main drawback here.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 50hp opinions?

I ran into parts issues here too, even with a local dealer. They just didn't stock anything.
I had an older 25 hp, the motor was fine, on par with my Johnson 25 hp, maybe even bit faster. I can't speak for the newer one's as I just haven't seen any yet. It seems that there are more older 2 strokes than newer DFI or four strokes around these parts.
I was told that they were just rebadged Nissan motors though, so maybe that means another parts source as well. Some smaller Mercury motors were also Tohatsu I believe.