Tohatsu motor 20 hp

This motor looks too be the same motor as as mercury motor. Although cheaper and lighter. I have a 14′ flat bottom alumacraft boat that I need a motor for.

Anyone have one of these? Looks like the warranty is 5 years versus 2 years mercury.

I need short shaft and pull start. Thanks.
Shawn

My buddy has one as a kicker and it’s actually a pretty great motor for what it is

I “believe” Tohatsu makes most all motors 30 HP and less? I know for a fact they make all the 4-5-6 HP motors and thought I read they make them up to 30 HP as well…then get rebranded.

This reminds me to update my post on upgrading 4HP to 6HP…

Thanks for the response. I could order off line but really don’t want to for a boat motor.

Does anyone know where a person can get one locally or see one and talk to someone that sells them? Thanks.

The Tohatsu dealer locator lists 2 dealers in the East Metro and one in Clear Lake Wisconsin.

http://www.tohatsu.com/dealersearch/index.html

FWIW, I looked at a Tracker today in Cabelas that had a 25 hp Merc that was identical in every way to the Tohatsu as shown on the website.

I see many more Tohatsu outboards in Europe than I do over here. Lots of harbor and work boats have Tohatsu on them as do “club” boats on fishing lochs in the UK.

Grouse

Thanks Grouse.

Well we checked out a 2018 20hp mercury today. The dealer told us the Tohatsu and Mercury motors are completely different. Not made by the same company. Now I’m confused.

I can get the Tohatsu motor shipped to me for $1000 cheaper than I can buy the mercury motor locally.

Can a authorized mercury dealer work on a Tohatsu motor and cover the warranty even though I didn’t buy it from them? This particular dealer does not sell tohatsu motors.

If I needed warranty work can it only be provided by an authorized Tohatsu dealer that sells them?

Oh the delema to save some money.

Thanks.

I’d buy a Yamaha and fish without worries….if I wanted to save a few bucks I might buy a Suzuki.

I’m thinking they all fish without worries. I’m digging a little deeper into it than that.

5 year unconditional warranty on the Tohatsu versus 3 years on mercury is also a big deal. I can buy 2 extra years from mercury, thats also extra cost.

A few bucks is $1000. That’s pretty significant to us. .

You must have the 1968 “Kiekhaefer” Mercury 20 HP with Thunderbolt ignition…

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

You must have the 1968 “Kiekhaefer” Mercury 20 HP with Thunderbolt ignition…

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72 mercury and yes it won’t stay running. At least not like that one. I’d take that one.

It’s been into the same dealer a couple times and it never seems to keep Going? They say it’s fixed and a few times out it gets tires. They’ll give me $500 for it on trade.

You tell me how to get it running flawless and I’ll keep it. I’ve talked to boat engine mechanics and they don’t like this motor. I think it’s the carbs. Thanks.

That’s a pickle. $1k is a lot of money. But in the other hand, “if” something were to happen, you need someone who can service it. Try searching nearest Tohatsu dealers…hopefully something within 30 minutes.

And Tohatsu is not some cheap Chinese junk motors. They are very good motors with a very good reputation…just not so much in the US yet.

I’d buy one in a heartbeat. Worst case is you have to drive a bit to get to an authorized service center if warranty work comes up?

I think your dealer is trying to sell you a merc and maybe misrepresenting the differences. Unless things have changed since I researched last year, the differences are not great. Yes, built in the tohatsu factory. The hatsu has a shift lever instead of a twist grip thing; and then there are differences in the choke and primer if I recall.

riverruns wrote:

Well we checked out a 2018 20hp mercury today. The dealer told us the Tohatsu and Mercury motors are completely different. Not made by the same company. Now I’m confused.

Bull####. I mean, obviously a Mercury dealer WOULD say that, but it’s BS.

Mercury has been involved in a joint venture with Tohatsu for over a decade. All Merc outboards 30 HP or less are coming out of the same factory as Tohatsu and are very, very similar. Yeah, not completely similar, but they are very close and share many parts.

BTW, this joint venture is also making the smaller Evinrudes, Nissan outboards, and Mercury’s “Mariner” brand that is now only sold in Europe.

So, of course, it comes down to the question: Do you think the minor difference between a Merc and a Tohatsu that are coming out of the same factor and are made by the same workforce is worth $1000 more?

Personally, I can tell you I’d buy one. Some people seem to have the idea that Tohatsu is some second-rate Chinese brand that just cropped up yesterday.
In fact, Tohatsu’s been making outboards in Japan for as long or longer than Yamaha. In Europe and Asia you see Tohatsus on working boats all the time, so draw your own conclusions about quality. For the number of hours the average guy uses an outboard, I cannot see dropping a K more for anything.

BTW, just be aware if you mail order anything with an engine, it will likely be shipped “dry”. No motor oil in the engine sump and possibly no gear oil in the lower unit. Be absolutely sure you have oil in all the right places before starting it.

Grouse

riverruns wrote:

72 mercury and yes it won’t stay running.
They’ll give me $500 for it on trade.

Wow…that’s darn good for an older motor not running. A couple years ago I only got $600 for a 97 Merc 15 that was in perfect running shape.

Not sure how set you are on buying new. Years ago I bought a couple used motors from Stark’s in Prairie Du Chien. They would buy used motors from various resorts that would replace every year or two with brand new ones and Stark’s would buy these used and some would still be under factory warranty. In fact, that’s where I bought the 97 Merc in 1998…a year old and still under warranty but much less $$ than a new one. Not sure if they still have that deal anymore.

Friend had a Tohatsu and was great motor and did not give him any trouble. Would recommend to anyone.

Well, broke down and got the 2018 Mercury 4 stroke. I just felt hesitant about getting a motor where the nearest authorize dealer was over an hour away.

Thanks for the responses.

Now that we’ve had this motor a couple seasons, I’m having a starting issue. There is only around 30 hours on the motor. About a month ago I brought it out of storage for late ice fishing. It takes about 30 pulls to start? Last fall we put stable in the fuel, full tank. We ran it last fall as well.

The motor would only take 1 or 2 pulls to start and now it takes forever. Primer bulb is hard. Fuel filter has fuel in it.

EFI 4 stoke 20 hp. Any help or suggestions? Place where I bought it isn’t open.

Thanks.

pull the spark plugs and tell me what they look like.
glazed? oily/black smoky?? oil dripping from them?? ( from too much fogging )
tell me what the fuel smells like,varnish?? put some fuel on a paper towel,get away from the shop/boat/building,light the rag,what color is the flame at the end of the flame?? yellow sooty black?? blue with yellow tips??

ya can pm me if you want,I will give you my phone number and we can talk it over.

Typically, these are great motors. But what I’m slowing hearing around the water cooler is that 4 stroke small engines may not be cut out for what everyone was thinking. Great when using everyday…but not so much for a seasonal motor.

Good thing about most 2 strokes is, a carb clean/change is quit simple a cheap….

I have a 10+ year old 9.9 Tohatsu and very happy with it. My dealer has never had a problem maintaining it. If you can, I would recommend electric start. The dealer I bought it from strongly recommended it and I am glad I listened to him. Good luck.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

pull the spark plugs and tell me what they look like.
glazed? oily/black smoky?? oil dripping from them?? ( from too much fogging )
tell me what the fuel smells like,varnish?? put some fuel on a paper towel,get away from the shop/boat/building,light the rag,what color is the flame at the end of the flame?? yellow sooty black?? blue with yellow tips??

ya can pm me if you want,I will give you my phone number and we can talk it over.

Thanks for the info. Since it was still under warranty it went in.

Now here is the funny thing. We called mercury dealers other than the one we purchased this motor from. They all said the same thing. Bring it in, no charge. We’ll fix it. When I called back and asked if it was a spark plug issue they said not covered I’d be charged.. I can change plugs.

Where we purchased the motor from he got back to me. He said yes, plugs and anything else would be covered. No question questions asked.

Took it there. He pulled and pulled. Wouldn’t start. 2 days after that he called and said he didn’t do nothing with it. Now it starts every 2nd pull. WTF?

My brother-in-law ran one on his flat bottom on the river the last few years. I’d put it up against any other smaller 4 stroke outboard I’ve seen as far as reliability, simplicity of maintenance, etc. If you can truly get one at $1000 less than the same size Mercury I’d have already made the move. They are not some cheap Chinese knockoff of the other big-name motors and have a pretty large following in other parts of the world as Grouse mentioned.

As someone else above also mentioned, my experience with smaller 4 stroke outboards is that they run better if used often – even more importantly than 2 strokes. My friend has a couple year old Mercury 9.9 on a backwaters rig that gives him nothing but trouble…but he only uses the boat once every couple months and when he does is swearing nonstop. Naturally, I’ve made him an offer to “take that junk off his hands” for about $750 less than it is worth on multiple occasions with minimal progress thus far.