andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) Morning all, I know I will get some good advice here (I hope 😉) So I have a 15ft Microplus and I'm looking around for an aux motor just in case of engine trouble, I'm thinking a 5hp minimum but I've been offered a good condition Mercury 3.5hp for £160, would I get away with that or is it too small for the job ? I'm not going to France or anything just inland waterways and coastal boating near to the Itchen. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks Edited April 24, 2021 by andyO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Forgot to add there would probably only be 2 people on the boat at a time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Personally I would go for the 5hp. I use a 3.5 Mercury on my tender which is light and with me and my son it works pretty well. But I still find I want the 5hp. Ok, so you are using yours as a back up to get you to land ASAP incase the main engine fails, and not as a full time engine. At slack water or with the tide the 3.5 will do. But against the tide you would probably struggle or it would be a real slow journey. At £160 though I’d be tempted to buy the 3.5 and try it out. If it’s no good sell it on and buy a 5hp. you won’t loose any money. andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 10 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said: Personally I would go for the 5hp. I use a 3.5 Mercury on my tender which is light and with me and my son it works pretty well. But I still find I want the 5hp. Ok, so you are using yours as a back up to get you to land ASAP incase the main engine fails, and not as a full time engine. At slack water or with the tide the 3.5 will do. But against the tide you would probably struggle or it would be a real slow journey. At £160 though I’d be tempted to buy the 3.5 and try it out. If it’s no good sell it on and buy a 5hp. you won’t loose any money. Exactly what I was thinking, there's 3.5hp motors online for £395 so maybe just buy it anyway and make a few quid towards a bigger one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 1 minute ago, andyO said: Exactly what I was thinking, there's 3.5hp motors online for £395 so maybe just buy it anyway and make a few quid towards a bigger one Yep exactly. andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Good price that.... Should be 300+  ideal as a stand-in until you can get bigger 🙂 andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I really don't know where people get their prices from, but having said that, I see new ones have gone up by around 50% this year, last year when I was looking, new ones around that size were around the £500 mark, and people asking same for used..... Andy, if you can afford to sit on it for a while and not need to sell to put in to a new one (5hp up) do it at tha sorta money.... As for used ob's, I've found 6hp are/were better priced than 4's and 5's so I ended up with a 6hp. 4's are premium in this area because you get hammered on the river licence if bigger than a 4 and may as well have 140..... andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 24 minutes ago, suzook12 said: I really don't know where people get their prices from, but having said that, I see new ones have gone up by around 50% this year, last year when I was looking, new ones around that size were around the £500 mark, and people asking same for used..... Andy, if you can afford to sit on it for a while and not need to sell to put in to a new one (5hp up) do it at tha sorta money.... As for used ob's, I've found 6hp are/were better priced than 4's and 5's so I ended up with a 6hp. 4's are premium in this area because you get hammered on the river licence if bigger than a 4 and may as well have 140..... Yeah the dell boy in me thought it was a bargain to buy anyway haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Off to have a look and take it home if all is well this afternoon, may just tey it out and see what it's like and if no good just move it on and get a bigger hp, Thanks for the advice everyone suzook12, Andy135 and Saintly Fish 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 33 minutes ago, andyO said: Off to have a look and take it home if all is well this afternoon, may just tey it out and see what it's like and if no good just move it on and get a bigger hp, Thanks for the advice everyone Always best to try these things while the main motor still works  Andy135, andyO and Saintly Fish 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 2 hours ago, suzook12 said: Always best to try these things while the main motor still works  Definitely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Just brought it home, little gem it is Andy135, Geoff and Saintly Fish 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 8 hours ago, suzook12 said: I really don't know where people get their prices from, but having said that, I see new ones have gone up by around 50% this year, last year when I was looking, new ones around that size were around the £500 mark, and people asking same for used..... Andy, if you can afford to sit on it for a while and not need to sell to put in to a new one (5hp up) do it at tha sorta money.... As for used ob's, I've found 6hp are/were better priced than 4's and 5's so I ended up with a 6hp. 4's are premium in this area because you get hammered on the river licence if bigger than a 4 and may as well have 140..... Can you just put a different sticker on the cowling like people do with electric bikes? andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 4 hours ago, JonC said: Can you just put a different sticker on the cowling like people do with electric bikes? You probably could now yeah with the modern engines, but the old 2 smokes, most the small ones were fwd ony and swiveled on the bracket, 5hp's tended to have fwd and rev andyO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyO Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 It seems quite strong for a 3.5 so gonna put it on the old girl tomorrow and see how she goes Saintly Fish and Geoff 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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