How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

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cape man
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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by cape man »

Treat yourself to an electric start. Sure you can still pull a rope,but why?
The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before - Neil Gaiman

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OrangeQuest
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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by OrangeQuest »

cape man wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:11 pm Treat yourself to an electric start. Sure you can still pull a rope,but why?
Knowing you can should be enough! :lol: :lol: :lol:
"that it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a Boat, and sometimes it's more of an Accident. It all depends." "Depends on what?" "On whether I'm on the top of it or underneath it."
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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by Capt UB »

cape man wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:11 pm Treat yourself to an electric start. Sure you can still pull a rope,but why?
Like I said in the beganning post:
There are a few great deals for 15-25/30 outboards, even on this forum.
The ones I feel are good motors (seller would water test outboard) are all pull start.

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by TRC886 »

Capt UB wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:04 pm
TRC886 wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:43 pm
Capt UB wrote: Thu Mar 21, 2019 5:58 amSo far sounds like an electric start is the way to go.
:lol: I think you know this is what you want :!: You're just trying to justify the additional expense :lol:

I have a 15, 20, and 25. The 25 has electric start and a rope. It pulls easy and starts good when the battery is dead or missing. The 15 pulls easy and starts good. The 20 starts good, but it often requires both hands to pull it :help: They are all 2 stroke and are older motors.
Thanks, 1980's or 90's?
'70 20 Merc, '88 25 Merc, and 2000 15 John. The 20 is out of service because the rings are stuck and it has lost compression, but you used to be able to bet on it starting on the 2nd pull...IF you did everything right. If it took more than 3 pulls, you did something wrong.

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by TRC886 »

cape man wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:11 pm Treat yourself to an electric start. Sure you can still pull a rope,but why?
More money, more maintenance, more weight, less space. Space is at a super premium in some small boats, and the space that a battery uses could be used for another tackle box, or a small cooler, or extra foot/leg room, etc.

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by 94'325is »

I have a 20hp Suzuki and it starts great. The EFI is nice, the crank has to rotate 720 degrees and it will fire up every time (basically a decent pull but nothing too hard). There is a decompression valve that is necessary to engage, but as long as that's engaged anyone that is capable of physically climbing into a boat can start it.

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by OneWayTraffic »

Agree with the last post. I had a Suzuki efi df20a for three years. Never needed more than 2 pulls to start it. Never kicked back. I did find that with the extra mass of a 11" stainless prop on it would sometimes stall when going into gear when cold. With the standard prop it never happened.

The new outboards have design features making them very easy to pull. For the Df20a just pull steadily and slowly till you feel a little resistance, then retract the cord all the way and give it one steady swift pull. Starts first time 90% of the time.


https://youtu.be/pFQgkChoutk

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by ctbeutel »

OneWayTraffic wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2019 1:50 pm Agree with the last post. I had a Suzuki efi df20a for three years. Never needed more than 2 pulls to start it. Never kicked back. I did find that with the extra mass of a 11" stainless prop on it would sometimes stall when going into gear when cold. With the standard prop it never happened.

The new outboards have design features making them very easy to pull. For the Df20a just pull steadily and slowly till you feel a little resistance, then retract the cord all the way and give it one steady swift pull. Starts first time 90% of the time.


https://youtu.be/pFQgkChoutk
Totally agree. I have the Suzuki DF20A (2016) on my FS18 and it starts on the first pull just about every time. My 12 year old son sometimes needs two pulls. It never kicks back and has a nice easy pull. I can't tell much difference between the the 8hp Totahtsu (2018) on the the FS12 and the DF20A. The DF20A also has electric start that I will eventually hook up once I do some modifications to the boat but have not had a reason to hook it up yet.
Owner of a FS18, completed FS12.

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Re: How hard is it to pull start a 2 or 4 stroke 15-25/30 hp?

Post by Matt Gent »

My Suzuki 2015 4s 30 starts *right now* on the pull. Like a revolution and a half. Its not a particularly light pull, and I like to be in the right position. But it ignites right away.

That is if everything is ok. Had a water in the fuel issue, and a separate fuel pump failure, and pulling it to diagnose is a pain in the ass.

I have electric start on it too, and use that most often because its easy.

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