Tohatsu Outboards

Dorado75

Sealiner
Has anyone owned or know of people that have owned these engines? I look at boats for sale on Gumtree quite often and see that quite a few of the pencil ducks for sale are running these engines, and these guys give the engines a serious workout, so wondering how they compare to the Yammies? You dont really see the pencil duck guys using Mariners/ Mercuries, Evinrudes etc....
 

Mike Pike

Sealiner
Hi D75, i recently bought the 15HP Tohatsu, no problems yet and goes well , my friend has the 9.8 HP and it goes well and no problems either, reckon they are well priced and should last if u look after them. Mike.
 

miles

Sealiner
Hiya

Tohatsu's are pretty bullet proof!!

If i recall correctly, Mr. Yamaha worked for TOHATSU way back in the day. Mr.Yamaha left and started YAMAHA. At the start, there was close ties between TOHATSU and YAMAHA.

The commercial fisherman in the US, especially the crabbing boats run predominantly TOHATSU's. The racing guys also LOVE them, as they are very light, and very robust motors.

Only downside, not only in SA but globally, is that they have a very limited amount of dealers. They work predominantly through small boating enterprises. They do offer a few models of 4 strokes as well as some direct injection 2 strokes, but all their models are limited to motors under 150hp (this might have changed recently.....)

Speak to any owner of a tohatsu, especially the older generation boaters in SA, and you'll hear them all RAVE about them!!
 

Mike Pike

Sealiner
Spot on Miles ,they are pretty robust, i stand to correction but they are made under liscence by Mercury and therfore its almost the same as Mercs just slight differences here and there , mostly cosmetic i think ? 
 

miles

Sealiner
They're actually also called NISSAN motors in the US.

Don't think they have any affiliation to Mercury motors though.......
 

Dorado75

Sealiner
miles wrote:
They're actually also called NISSAN motors in the US.

Don't think they have any affiliation to Mercury motors though.......
Dont you think that if they called them Nissan here too they would sell a lot better then? These engines should be pretty good then!!
 

Mike Pike

Sealiner
They proabably would.......... do a search on the web for Tohatsu , pretty interesting, all the specs , prop sizes etc........ everything u need to know about them, plus all sorts of advice and tips.
 

Dorado75

Sealiner
but for some reason they have not really taken off in South Africa, might it be because of backup service and parts?
 

Mike Pike

Sealiner
I think we are very set in our ways and a bit sceptical when a new brand comes into the market.... time will tell, yamaha, evinrude, and so on are household names, tohatsu ?? whats that ??
 

Dorado75

Sealiner
michael pike wrote:
I think we are very set in our ways and a bit sceptical when a new brand comes into the market.... time will tell, yamaha, evinrude, and so on are household names, tohatsu ?? whats that ??
But these engines have been around for years...... but for some reason, the name Tohatsu, does not sound as good as Yamaha.....
 

Mike Pike

Sealiner
Dorado75 wrote:
michael pike wrote:
I think we are very set in our ways and a bit sceptical when a new brand comes into the market.... time will tell, yamaha, evinrude, and so on are household names, tohatsu ?? whats that ??
But these engines have been around for years...... but for some reason, the name Tohatsu, does not sound as good as Yamaha.....
I think its more a case of the big guys stomping on the little guys toes , so that the market is predominantley driven by the more well known brands/ importers.......
 

Boertjie

Senior Member
I know the guy in Paarl that sells tohatsus, ha also sell yamaha and infanta rubberducks, bought our duck there.

More than half of the guys in the trans agulas run them.

The reaseon for being so scarce and limited in rsa is that a ou baas in east london had the import rights and he only would sell them from his house, peolple tried to become dealers but he said no. Apparntly he passed away, so there are more dealers, The guy in Paarl, Burrie, is the western cape agent. My dad said he knew these motors from when he was small, They are form 1922 and Japanese.
 

Catch 22

Senior Member
As long as we understand that Yamaha is THE BEST, we can safely say that Tohatsu is def not as good as a Yamaha but not as bad as say a E-tec???
 

leroyd

New member
Prices look very good - got thid from thr following website:

https://www.flyhighboating.co.za/

[align=right] R6,399.00 
 

   
 a2 - Tohatsu 5Hp 
 R9,955.00 
 

   
 a3 - Tohatsu 9.8Hp 
 R15,600.00 
 

   
 a4 - Tohatsu 15Hp 
 R18,199.00 
 

   
 a6 - Tohatsu 25Hp 
 R20,570.00 
 

   
 a7 - Tohatsu 40Hp 
 R25,599.00 
 

   
 a8 - Tohatsu 50Hp 
 R34,199.00 
 

   
 b2 - Tohatsu EPL 40Hp 
 R32,500.00 
 

   
 b3 - Tohatsu EPTOL 50Hp 
 R47,500.00 
 

   
 b4 - Tohatsu EPTOL 70Hp 
 R53,750.00 
 

   
 b5 - Tohatsu EPTOL 90Hp 
 R59,850.00 
 

   
 b6 - Tohatsu EPTOL 140Hp 
 R67,390.00 [/align]
 

 

 
 

Freakazoid

Senior Member
Still don't understand the E-tec bashing? But the Tohatsu's are solid. They seem to deal well with dunking as well. I think part of the reason the racing duck guys like them. When going belly up they still seem to perform afterwards and seem to give little hassle.
 

Catch 22

Senior Member
Freakazoid wrote:
Still don't understand the E-tec bashing?
Maybe I am stepping into a landmine here but I can honestly say I have only heard bad stuff on this forum regarding the E-tecs.

I have NO solid proof that they are indeed bad motors, its just hearsay.

Maybe there are some guys on this forum that have E-tecs that can tell us some good stories around these motors, service cost, price of the oils you have to use,parts and aftersales services,etc etc so we can propperly evaluate them.

What the bashing is concerned, no harm intended, just a joke from a Yamaha fan...
 

leroyd

New member
Don't know much about the e-techs (except what the brochures say), but one reason I think new or unknown (to SA) makes struggle to get into our market, is due to pressure from the established names.

I spoke to one of the older dealers in CPT who is an authorised dealer for one of the well known makes, and he told me that he is not allowed to sell another brand, else he could lose his official "authorised dealer"status.
 

Catch 22

Senior Member
I reckon buying outboards is a difficult affair, as there are quite a few brands on the market.

If it comes to two strokes Y is def a safe option, I think all will agree on that one.If price is what you are after, then maybe T can help you there, cause to be honest I havent heard anything bad about them...
 
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