BLOG: Two-stroke or four-stroke?

TWO-stroke or four-stroke outboard?
To be honest I'm sick and tired of hearing about it. It's the old Ford versus Holden, Shimano versus Daiwa type debate.

So let's see if we can settle the score here once and for all. Which outboards are superior, the current crop of high tech direct injection (DI) two-strokes like the E-Tec and Mercury Optimax or the now proven four-strokes available from many of the major manufacturers?

Like anything in fishing, the answer is never cut and dry. I don't think there is any one determining feature you can look at and say, well, yes, four-strokes are better because ... or two-strokes are better because. They both have pros and cons and with recent developments in both types of outboards the grey line that separates the two is becoming increasingly obscure.

The decision on which to buy is not as easy as it once was. Four-strokes have come a long way over the last decade and those that snubbed the technology because it was new and relatively untested can probably begin to look at it with fresh eyes. I don't think anyone can say, hand on heart, that four bangers are unreliable. I see more boats head to the shelf without an auxiliary motor these days with confidence placed squarely on one single engine. That rarely happened in the past. Other major benefits of this technology include miserly fuel consumption, whisper quiet operation, cold start reliability and low vibration levels.

But to balance out all the pros, fours are often heavy engines with a considerably larger purchase price and servicing costs. The money you save on two-stroke oil and fuel you donate back to your local boat repairer once a year. Also, the lower torque of the engine means you need to upsize your motor to handle loads and hole shot.

To hit back, manufacturers developed DI two-stroke motors that pretty much answered the faults of four bangers. The new motors are light, cheap to service, have typically impressive torque and have a slightly cheaper purchase price. The DI motors are also good on fuel, not great, and have a long history of serving boaters; so really it's advancement to technology people can understand and are familiar with.

So where does the problem in selecting one lie? I guess to a degree it's personal preference. Some people prefer to have a motor that gives them no hassles at the boat ramp at 6am, some carry loads and prefer a bit of punch, where as some might like to be heard over the noise of an outboard run flat out. It is obscure little details like these that ultimately allow us to determine which is more suitable.

Manufacturers are not silly though. The makers of four bangers have addressed issues that once gave people a reason not to buy them. They have shed kilos and become increasingly more powerful, meaning there is even less to separate the two camps.

One of the ways I tend to select which is the current flavour of the month is by looking at what guys who make a living out on the water, such as fishing guides, are using. While up north four-strokes were once the outboard of choice, as E-Tecs came out they too were adopted quite heavily. The no maintenance for 300 hours was a big lure as more time is spent on the water earning money, and that sort of claim indicated a high degree of reliability.
What I am starting to see now though is a swing back to four-strokes. These guys put thousands of hours on motors a year, figures that recreational boaters will never reach, and is a true test of longevity and reliability. And if four bangers are good enough for this lot, they're good enough for me!

I have run four-stroke Suzukis for the past six years and I can't see myself changing anytime soon.

So where do you stand, two-stroke or four-stroke?