So, I have been contemplating for some time about doing a motor swap. My current motor is a Nissan NS3.5A 3.5HP 2 Stroke Single Cylinder Short Shaft Outboard.... Man that was a mouthful, lol. This motor has been great. The previous owner had a Gatorade bottle for a gas tank and no fuel filter... And it gobbled up whatever it was fed and just ran. When I got the motor.... My engineer brain kicked in and said... well this ain't right. So, I replaced the gas tank on it, and installed an inline filter... Maintenance... Gear oil, tune up, impeller, prop, etc etc etc. The motor has been really reliable, always starts right up. My complaint is that the motor only has one gear and it is forward. You can turn it around using the handle but there is no neutral or reverse. My other complaint, in which is the big one... is that it is short shaft. I live on the Saint Johns River in Jacksonville Florida which where I put in has a pretty swift current from the compression of the banks of the river (downtown), plus I have to motor past a couple of bridges prior to actually setting sail (can take some time). Also, the waves we get tend to make the motor rise out of the water and suck air, which I know is bad. Well, then there is the stink potters that blast you with their wakes as well... which also brings the motor out of the water to suck in air.
So, 3 things...
1. More HP to conquer the current
2. Long shaft to deal with waves/wakes
3. Neutral and reverse gear to deal with parking... Its crowded at the docks/ramps.
I found a guy that has a Mercury Marine 4 HP 2 Stroke Single Cylinder Long Shaft outboard. I like the idea of the 2 stroke because the actually gets more power than the new 4 strokes. If I understand correctly a 2 stroke 4 HP will get the equivalent of a 4 stroke 6 HP. Also, the 2 strokes are much lighter, so you get more power per the LB. So, for simplicity of maintenance and the aforementioned power gain vs weight etc. I think this is a good motor for me. My current motor is 29LBs, and this one is 44LBs. So I am stacking 15 extra LBs on the transom, but I believe it will help me get out to the "clear sailing" area quicker and safer. I feel like in a wavy scenario my current motor gets a little over heated when there is too much wave/wake action.
Doing some research, it appears that Tohatsu makes this motor (actually all small outboards since the 90's) for Mercury, Nissan, Evinrude, so I can probably count on the same reliable experience with the Mercury 4HP that I am used to with the Nissan 3.5HP, as it is basically the same Tohatsu derivative with a different piece of plastic and logo on it.
Thoughts? I know my situation is probably a little different than others dealing with fighting the swift St Johns current, and busy traffic. Do you think this motor is too heavy? I feel like I could literally get more sailing in if I could get put there faster. Also, I do not want to over heat and be stranded in the current with bridges that have trains crossing them at the water line