Re: Best 4 or 5 hp outboard for a canoe

[20mercman]

quote JasonH:

My choice would be a Mercury Mark 5. Integral tank, neutral clutch, 41lbs, and a very healthy 5hp. My feeling is these motors are always overlooked. I won a slow race with mine and know of others that have won how slow will it go competitions. They are super smooth running and lots of power.

I agree with Jason, as these are indeed very nice running motors! I would also toss in a vote for the lightwin’s which are also very nice motors, but they are not really in the same power class as the Mk-5. We have two Lightwin’s, and a JW, love them,… great put put motors. How fast do you want to go?, as the Mk-5 will fly on a canoe, and not much heavier than the Lightwin at all. We have run twin Lightwins at times, and the Mk-5 would outrun the pair easily. The weedless drive is very nice if you plan to head into the back water areas. The Fleetwin would have to be one of the Neutral clutch motors as the full gear shift would be too big and heavy for a canoe unless it is a very big canoe.

Steve