You never know, I might have installed it by the time we get over to Conwy. Weather is still not looking very promising though.
Regarding the saildrive issue, by using a different prop they are supposed to give more power at lower speeds and therefore suit sailing boat better. I don't know whether there is much in this but they do come with a proper charging coil as standard and to have the same coil fitted to a basic 5hp engine would have added £200 to the price making it a bit more expensive. So I thought I might as well give saildrive a go.
Which engine?
I’ve been using the Tohatsu saildrive for a bit now and am in a bit better position to give an opinion.
First of all, there doesn’t seem a great deal of difference, if any, between the power of my old mariner 4hp 2 stroke and the sail drive but the prop wash on the latter makes it a nightmare to reverse. The friction screw which increases the motor’s resistance to turning fell off after about 6 hours use. I tried to get it fixed by the firm I bought it from but they said I must have over tightened it and weren’t interested in spite of the fact that I have had two motors in the past ten years with identical friction screws and didn’t over tighten them. It over revs on half choke and it’s a B**** to start if it’s not quite cold. I have failed to start it coming back to my mooring on three occasions (2 occasions I had to anchor to fiddle with plugs and things and, the other, I managed to pick up a mooring under sail.) It slips out of gear in reverse and into gear when in neutral.
Also, I have to keep priming the fuel pipe from the remote tank at about 5 minute intervals or the dam thing starves itself of fuel (this might be the way I have things set up so it might be an unfair criticism.)
Other minor gripes:
The plug was over tightened and I was unable to remove it with the box spanner provided.
The was a excessive amount of grease on the linkages and cables making the removal of the cover a full overalls job.
Coupled with the fact that it’s too heavy to lift over the side into my dingy and it really needs to be kept upright, on the boat, I wish I’d stayed with my 2 stroke.
Terry
First of all, there doesn’t seem a great deal of difference, if any, between the power of my old mariner 4hp 2 stroke and the sail drive but the prop wash on the latter makes it a nightmare to reverse. The friction screw which increases the motor’s resistance to turning fell off after about 6 hours use. I tried to get it fixed by the firm I bought it from but they said I must have over tightened it and weren’t interested in spite of the fact that I have had two motors in the past ten years with identical friction screws and didn’t over tighten them. It over revs on half choke and it’s a B**** to start if it’s not quite cold. I have failed to start it coming back to my mooring on three occasions (2 occasions I had to anchor to fiddle with plugs and things and, the other, I managed to pick up a mooring under sail.) It slips out of gear in reverse and into gear when in neutral.
Also, I have to keep priming the fuel pipe from the remote tank at about 5 minute intervals or the dam thing starves itself of fuel (this might be the way I have things set up so it might be an unfair criticism.)
Other minor gripes:
The plug was over tightened and I was unable to remove it with the box spanner provided.
The was a excessive amount of grease on the linkages and cables making the removal of the cover a full overalls job.
Coupled with the fact that it’s too heavy to lift over the side into my dingy and it really needs to be kept upright, on the boat, I wish I’d stayed with my 2 stroke.
Terry