Which 5-6 hp motor?

[Studman]

Looking for some input from the great searay gurus
Had a nice little 6hp Tohatsu outboard for our rib, started acting up and sent it to the mechanic to check out and tune up over the winter. Long story short, went to pick it up and the motor is trash, someone run over it during the time he had it and he is going to make good and buy me a brand new motor.
So which motor would you get and why? I would really like to stay in the 5- 6 hp size because of weight.
I have a 9” valiant rib so although a 9.9 would be nice I really don’t think I need it and again I am looking to keep the weight down.
My first thought was to get the Honda 5 hp , Hondas just seem to be bullet proof, every Honda item I have ever owned has never given me any trouble. Then I saw great ratings on the Yamaha and then saw the propane Lehr. Kinda liking all the pluses of the propane but not really sure of any negatives.
So which would you chose and why?
Thanks

 

[Havana Shamrock]

My only input is, I just purchased the Mercury 6 hp. Looked at the Yamaha but their 6 hp doesn't have an integrated fuel tank which I wanted. It was also much more money, the Mercury, Nissan's are all Tohatsu blocks with minor differences. Ps the Yamaha does not have thru prop exhaust and tested alot louder than the rest. Good luck,,,

 

[endless seas]

Tohatsu9.8 if you can lift it. If it stays on the boat then a 9.8 electric start.

 

[kaz911]

When buying any engine - first thing to look at is where do you get it serviced - where do you get spare parts ... and what kind of warranty do you get.

THEN you can go on to brands

I have considered the propane Lehr as well - but no one here knows the engines. But the advantage is NO carb - so no carb rebuilds - and of course less exhaust gasses. Disadvantage is you need another supply of "fuel". And dealer network is not so big yet - and long term reliability is not proven in any way.

 

[dgeller]

The Lehr 5hp uses Tohatsu / Nissan engines.

 

[Bucit]

My neighbor is a dealer for Lehr and has great prices. Let me know and I can foward his information.

 

[b_arrington]

I looked at the Lehr at West Marine. It did NOT look like a Tohatsu engine, which I owned.

Many of the components of the Lehr engine looked cheap to me, and like it would not hold up in a saltwater environment. I liked the idea of no carb, but not the build quality.

The Tohatsu 6 was pretty good for me. If you get this, dealers have a trick to drill something out to improve performance. It seems like the Tohatsu has more features than an equivalent Nissan or Merc.

Best bet - look for a used 2 stroke 9.9 or 15 HP engine. They are lighter weight and more powerful. My 6 Hp Tohatsu would not get my new 9.5" AB RIB on plain so I sold it to get a 15 HP Envinrude 2 stroke. My RIB is a screamer now - so much fun even with my and my two kids. I think it get up to about 25 MPH, which when sitting 1 foot from the water is FAST. The only down side with a 2 stroke is they burn more fuel than a 4 stroke.