Outboard motors are a pretty fun and funny thing. But for an ordinary fisherman or lover of cutting waves, the question arises an edge, what to buy: a Chinese or Japanese motor? In this article we will try to dispel many myths about outboard engines, compare Chinese brands, select an engine for different needs and answer the main question: is it worth overpaying?
Engine power selection
Each user of an outboard motor buys this equipment for certain tasks. They are different, ranging from moving around a small pond and ending with march-throws many kilometers from home.
If you need your small inflatable boat to move along a small lake or pond, then a 2-3 horsepower engine will be enough with your head. Such a unit is economical, easy to maintain and tops the rating of Chinese outboard motors for sales. If you like to travel over water for considerable distances, you need a completely different device and an order of magnitude stronger in power.
But much more depends on the particular ship. Boat manufacturers write on the nameplate the maximum allowable power of the outboard motor, which can be installed on the transom. For this reason, experienced captains are advised to buy the engine first, and to select a boat for it.
Two and four stroke outboard motors
In addition to the above subtleties, there is one more: motors are divided into four-stroke and two-stroke. Briefly their features:
- four-stroke engines are quieter and much more economical, but their weight is not small;
- two-stroke engines are easy to operate, voracious and work much louder.
If the weight of your "iron horse" is important to you, then you should pay attention to the latter. If you need to save fuel, then the first option will be the best choice.
Manufacturers
In China, there are quite a lot of manufacturers of outboard motors. However, often the engines are assembled at the same factory, but with different caps and stickers.
The very first and most successful outboard motors in China appeared under the Parsun brand. This company is still considered the best manufacturer of such products. If you look at the market for outboard motors, you can still see brands such as Hidea, Seanovo, Mikatsu. All these motors are assembled in one factory and the difference between Hidea 3.5 and Seanovo 3.5 is only in caps and stickers. But it is worth noting that these units are quite reliable, and their price is slightly lower than that of the same Parsun.
If you look at even cheaper options, then you definitely need to remember about the Chinese Hankai outboard motors. Cheaper Hangkai can only be paddles. The reliability of this technique is already an order of magnitude lower. The quality of the materials leaves much to be desired, and the assembly often fails. But it is worth noting that many people use engines of this brand and do not complain about anything.
Outboard motors for 2 liters. from.
Two-horsepower outboard motors are most popular among owners of small PVC boats. This is due to the low cost of the kit and ease of use. A motor of such power does not need to learn to drive, and a child can cope with its maximum speed.
The Chinese market offers not so many models of two-horsepower outboard motors. Good reviews are received by Sea-Pro T 2.5, Parsun T 2.6 and their 4-stroke brothers. Hangkai T 2 is the cheapest Chinese outboard motor that is produced on the market. Reviews about him vary, but, as they say, to each his own. If we compare 2 forces and 2.6, then there will be no difference in them. The cubic capacity of such engines is the same, so a power of 2.6 horsepower is just a marketing move of the company to attract people to buy a motor.
Outboard motors 3.5 l. from.
Three and a half horsepower will be enough to slowly move around the pond if you have a three-meter (or more) PVC boat or metal boat. Such an engine is very popular because of its cost and reliability. There’s nothing to break down there, and if you don’t specifically kill the piece of iron, it will last quite a long time.
Choice of 3.5 liter Chinese outboard motors. from. not big. If you want reliability, then you need to take Parsun or Hidea. There is practically no difference in these engines. The reliability of these two brands has been tested for years and is not discussed. The cheaper segment includes Yamabisi and Hangkai engines. If you are good at motorcycles, then you can take the device cheaper. The main condition is to conduct timely maintenance and pour the correct proportions of oil and gasoline, if it is a two-stroke engine.
Differences in outboard motors 3.5 l. from. can be in the cubic capacity of the unit and in various little things that do not affect the operation of the engine. Often, our Chinese friends overestimate power, and instead of the engine 3.5 liters. from. you may have a 3 liter engine. from. As a rule, this is a marketing move to attract customers with additional power.
Outboard boat motors up to 5 liters. from.
There are few such engines. As a rule, manufacturers do not produce Chinese outboard motors up to 5 liters. from. (4 and 4.5), and immediately jump to 5. About the five-horsepower engine and nothing special to say. This is the golden mean, which lovers often choose to ride on a small PVC boat at a decent speed.
These motors can lift small and light three-meter PVC boats onto the glider. An important nuance of gliding on such a set is the weight of the captain. The lower the weight of the entire kit with the person on board, the more confident and faster the boat will jump onto the glider.
It is worth noting that Chinese boat engines are most often copied from Japanese counterparts. Most of the parts for Parsun 5 come from Yamaha 5. In 2018, Chinese plants learned to copy Japanese expensive engines in a quality manner and for this reason became much more reliable than in 2010.
An example of a five-horsepower engine is the two-stroke Parsun T 5.8 BMS or the four-stroke Hidea HDF 5. The power of these two engines is the same, but the weight of the two-stroke Parsun is a couple of kilograms lighter. Such engines can work all day long if you pour the recommended gasoline and do not start them without water. If the budget is cut down drastically, but you want to move on water on a five-horsepower engine, then you can pay attention to Hangkai 5.6. Such an assistant will not hit the pocket, and at the same time will please the owner for a long time. But Hangkai motors are not recommended for beginners who are not particularly versed in motor vehicles.
Outboard motors for 6 forces
Six-engine motors are most often identical to models of 5 forces. Many manufacturers that produce such units, cut power to 5 forces in different ways. Most often, this is replacing the nozzle with a smaller diameter and a throttle that does not open the damper to the end. Thus, the motor of 6 forces becomes the top five. For this reason, many captains call 6 forces strangled five and 5 forces - strangled six. The difference in these engines is small, and feel 1 horsepower is quite difficult. Therefore, there is no point in buying six-horsepower engines; it is better to immediately jump to 9.8 liters. from.
Outboard motors for 9.8 forces
Engines of 9.8 forces are a pretty serious technique that produces decent speed on a PVC boat (30–40 km per hour with one captain and 25–35 km per hour with a skipper). Such motors need to be securely mounted to the transom of the boat, since a strike against an underwater obstacle at high speeds is fraught with motor loss and, in the worst case, injuries to passengers.
Chinese outboard motors for 9.8 liters. from. a great many and they are all copied from Japanese models. The Sea-Pro T9.8, Parsun 9.8 engines receive good reviews. It is worth mentioning that two-stroke engines of such power will simply devour oil. Since oil dissolves in gasoline in the proportions of 50 parts of fuel per 1 part of oil, it is possible to calculate how much and by what amount the engine will gobble up the benzo-oil mixture per hour. If you travel a lot of water is supposed to be a lot, then you should think about a four-stroke engine.
Outboard motors for 9.9 forces
Chinese-made 9.9 horsepower boat engines are almost always stationary on a boat or boat. For this reason, many captains abandon push-pull technology and opt for a four-stroke. Since nobody will carry motors of such power on the hump, the meaning of two clock cycles disappears. Such engines are always an exact, exact replica of Japanese engines. There are no problems with them. Such equipment, with proper operation, is able to please for many years.
Chinese high power motors
In China, the market for equipment of such power is not large. Many companies finish the line of their models just on Chinese 9.9-liter outboard engines. from. More opportunities are laid in Japanese technology. Its power can reach up to 100 or more horsepower. In China, the production of such models is engaged only in large companies - Parsun and Hidea. They produce outboard motors up to 50 horsepower.
There is practically no point in buying such large Chinese-made motors. No matter what they say, Japanese technology is by far superior to Chinese in reliability. Nobody wants to get stuck somewhere in the tens of miles from the coast due to a broken engine. Even a small risk of engine damage in such cases is unacceptable.
And the wear of the same piston installation of the engine, which threshes the water without interruption for hours, will be more than that of a low-power unit, which is needed only for the delivery of the captain and skipper to the fishing point. For these reasons, Chinese outboard motors end at around 9.9.
It's time to get acquainted with the rating of manufacturers.
Which Chinese outboard motor is better? Manufacturers rating
The first place has long been shared by two companies - Parsun and Hidea. The engines of these two companies are deservedly in first place in the ranking of Chinese water technology. Buyers are satisfied with both the reliability of low-power engines and the price at which they are sold. In addition, these two companies are always ready to provide you with spare parts and offer service in qualified service centers.
A notch below is the Chinese-made Sea-Pro, Hangkai and Yamabisi outboard motors. The performance of these engines is at a decent level, and they are worth every penny spent on them. With spare parts and after-sales service, things are not as good as we would like. Most often, it is unrealistic to find parts, and you have to buy Japanese spare parts (since all these motors are copied from Japanese).
Problems of Chinese boat motors
Most often, Chinese motors are criticized by owners of Japanese models. However, this criticism is not always justified. People, for example, claim the unreliability of Chinese engines, but in Japanese models, despite the quality of manufacture, breakdowns are possible.
What myths spread about replicas? First of all, they talk about materials. On the expanses of the World Wide Web, one can often see opinions that Chinese outboard motors are made of raw metal. Believing in such tales is not worth it, because in fact the metal is not raw. It may be slightly worse quality than famous brands.
In Chinese technology, fragile plastic most often breaks. Poor motor assembly can also lead to breakdowns (for example, nuts that are not fully tightened). Some of our Chinese friends may forget to connect the security checks to the wires. A person, having bought such an engine and arriving at a reservoir, is more likely to pump his biceps than to start this engine from a hand starter. Such cases are not frequent, but still happen. For this reason, it is worth checking the equipment before leaving the house in a water barrel.
The difference between "Chinese" and "Japanese"
If you put 2 motors side by side (Chinese and Japanese of the same power), even an experienced minder will not see the difference in them. First of all, differences in the brand. Nowadays, a beautiful name in itself is worth a lot of money. For example, Yamaha, Tohatsu, Honda - Japanese brands. By purchasing such motors, we pay primarily for the name. Now pay attention to Parsun. The technique of this brand tops the rating of Chinese boat motors. Every year, Parsun models become more expensive due to the improvement in the quality of their production.
It is also worth considering that often the Chinese sin by copying outboard motors. If, for example, the motor is copied from the legendary Yamaha, then can it really be bad? With proper care and maintenance, any equipment will serve for many years and it does not matter whether the purchased Chinese outboard motor is one of the best models.
Rules for the operation of outboard motors
Having bought a boat engine, you first need to read the instructions. After studying this entertaining book, you can begin to check the engine. First you need to stretch all the nuts, check that nothing is loose. Next, you need to fill the fuel in the tank, lower the motor into the water and start the outboard motor.
When starting the engine, often people forget to insert the key (safety pin). You cannot start a motor without this check.
It is strongly not recommended to start the engine on land without water. Almost all motors (except swamps) have water cooling. In the boot of the unit is an impeller, which drives water through a tube into the engine block. If you start the outboard motor without water, nothing will happen to the engine itself in a couple of minutes, and it will not overheat, but the impeller, which itself is cooled by water, will burn, melt and begin to smell something bad. And finally: it’s worth pouring exactly that fuel and that oil, which are indicated by the manufacturer in the service book or instructions.