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Be sure to disconnect the fuel tank line from the engine at the end of the day and allow the engine to run until the bowl is emptied and the engines stops from fuel starvation. The owner's manual actually recommends this. The procedure accomplishes two things: it allows the engine some cool-down time to reduce thermal shock and -- more importantly, it empties the carb bowl so the fuel doesn't evaporate in the bowl every time you run the engine and eventually develop a residue.

100 "low lead" ("100LL") av gas should really be called: 100 lots of lead. It has more lead than leaded car gas once had. It will foul your plug. Yes, 10% ethanol gas will absorb water, but I doubt the water content is causing the fouling.

I only ran the motor twice after the carb was serviced and I ran it dry.   I disconnected the fuel line and tank and put them down below on the cabin sole in case water was permeating the line or something.   I've been running 100LL in my scooter for about a month, I'll pull the plug and see what it looks like.  Quite honestly if 100LL cut the life of my motor by 30% I'd never notice it.  I seems like it would last a real long time never running which is the present situation.   A plug would be easy to change, carb, not so much.   I did think of keeping an extra carb on board though as its a real pain in the butt to load that motor into a dinghy from my mooring and row it to the beach.

Zinc is in place and neither I nor the marina could remove it last month (it is the little square one that is OEM) because it had swollen a bit in the square recess but was still present and when I scraped it it still has some meat.   They said we'd try to remove it at the end of the season, basically next week.   Maybe it is corroded aluminum mush.  It is in the aluminum carburetor after all.

Above was in reference to the the question some time ago about the zinc.   In a more general review of the Tohatsu/Nissan/Merc 6 HP I will say that they seem to have really small jets and I am having trouble keeping the motor running more than 4 weeks.   I started the season with new gas after having had the engine serviced for trouble last season.  I treated with Stabil Marine and within 4 weeks the carb was clogged with white mush.   I cleaned it a few times and used Sea Foam.  It started running again but 4 weeks later it was so clogged that I took it to a marina along with the line and the tank.   They pronounced my gas fine, cleaned the carb and now 4 weeks later the carb bowl has white mush in it again and the motor wan't run.  The marina talked me out of using aviation 100 low lead saying it would clog the rings but if I get that thing going I'm switching to ave gas and if that fails I'll sell that and move on.  Which which other motors fit because I've had enough of this one?  I didn't have much time to use it so basically this ruined the season.   I've had guests waiting on board the last few times which we aborted when the motor wouldn't run.   Basically we can't make a motor on its third season run more than occasionally.  I'm going to take the carb off the old tohatsu with the ruined lower unit and try to make it to the marina to pull out for the season.  AAAGH!

Yup,   the first one eroded very quick a (about 2 months) and then the bolt broke off trying to change it, then I drilled through the plate with a bigger one that was sacrificial enough, so I ended up ruining the lower end.   Tohatsu 6hp long shaft #1.

My long shaft Tohatsu 6 worked pretty well but the zinc is so little that it was useless.  After about two months on the mooring it was gone.   This year I put bigger zinc by drilling through the captivation plate.  At the end of the season I was bringing the boat over to the marina in a 30 knot wind when the motor failed (it kept running but raced as something went wrong with the prop or lower unit.   It looks like the lower unit corroded through in a pinpoint hole.   The bigger zinc method worked with my old outboard for 10 years so I'm not sure what happened.   Looks like a $500 bill to buy a lower unit . . . not what I was expecting.

Sorry to hear of the troubles Mike.   I'll be putting in around June 9 and bringing her over to the mooring that weekend.    Ed

That's a nice, very safe, pennant lenght.   I could use a little more scope down here at Willard Beach but I'd be amidships of somebody . . . .looks like a lot of space in your mooring field.  
 
Ed

Well, the weather finally settled a bit here so I took the Nissan 6 HP extra long shaft (25 inch) down to the mooring today and installed it. I checked and it fits sideways in the lazarette just fine. I found that the top of the motor barely cleared the top of the lazarette which makes me wonder if the mounting board is higher than other boats as somebody previously reported 2 or three inches of clearance. I think I have less than 1/2 inch clearance.. I intend to visit Orca in the AM and motor around a bit. I think its a bit noisier at low speeds than the 8 HP I took out and it isn't as smooth because it is a single cylinder and the old engine was two cylinder. I'll report back on how it handles with the prop around 10 inches more underwater after I use it a bit.
 
Very Best, Ed

Hi:   After using it a bit I can tell you the following.   The 6 HP 4 cycle is quieter than my 8 hp 2 stroke Nissan but not quite as fast into the wind.   It does seem to do something close to 6 knots when its calm (I'll have to wait a bit to try duing a slack tide as I rely on the GPS which showed a range of 4.8 to 6.5 knots over the ground).   The clearance is less than 1/2 an inch on my boat and seems to touch the top of the lazarett when under load.   The lazy rat buggered up the top of the motor a little so I now jimmy it open a little when running.   My old motor was a 15 inch shaft.  It had some issues in rough seas and was pretty much useless if a bigger person went up on the bow.   For my money I think the 25" shaft is good insurance for some of the high chop that develops around here in the river mouths like the Kennebec where closely spaced, steep 5' or larger standing waves are a regular occurance . . . I suspect that 5" additional shaft would not be enough.   The extra depth makes it a lot easier to back the boat down.  The fuel economy is very good. After a few hours (mostly at 3/4 throttle or less) the little tank is still showing mostly full.   I'm glad to see that the fuel connection on the motor has been reconfigured.   I had to buy several of the old connections on the Nissan before I found one that worked.  
 
Thanks,  Ed

Well,  the weather finally settled a bit here so I took the Nissan 6 HP extra long shaft (25 inch) down to the mooring today and installed it.  I checked and it fits sideways in the lazarette just fine.   I found that the top of the motor barely cleared the top of the lazarette which makes me wonder if the mounting board is higher than other boats as somebody previously reported 2 or three inches of clearance.  I think I have less than 1/2 inch clearance..   I intend to visit Orca in the AM and motor around a bit.  I think its a bit noisier at low speeds than the 8 HP I took out and it isn't as smooth because it is a single cylinder and the old engine was two cylinder.  I'll report back on how it handles with the prop around 10 inches more underwater after I use it a bit.  
 
Very Best,   Ed

I didn't get any response so I'll assume that means nobody who has followed the thread bought the 25" shaft version.  I ordered one so I'll let folks how it fit etc.  Thanks,  Ed

The motor stows nicely in the lazarette locker, although you will need a block of some kind to keep the head of the motor higher than the prop when stowed.


The long shaft motor operates well in all conditions, but I rarely run the thing at sea.

Thanks Scott,   I assume this is the 20" long shaft?  

I've not been in the habit of removing my motor as being on a mooring I have no access to freshwater for flushing.  

When I first started sailing my boat some 12 years ago, I recall the lazerette often filling with water.   It hasn't happened much since then.   I can't think of what might have changed.   I have one of the outboard motor plugs that came with the Ariel but I've not used it much.

Thanks,   Ed

Please note my post in the Tohatsu 6 area looking for feedback on first hand experience between the 20" and 25" shafts on the new 4 strokes.   Ed

Update,  last season I had Alex Hadden of Georgetown Island , Maine build me a new rudder using the existing shaft.   After looking at the plans I opted to make a cardboard pattern from another Ariel and Alex built it from nice thick mahogany planks.   We decided that tapering it  on the trailing edge was not necessary.   I removed the old and installed the new by digging a hole in the boat yard dirt and jacking up the stern a bit.   I did not have to drop the bottom plate as the rudder slides out easily to the side once you remove the keeper strap.   I'll make a picture of the new rudder when she's on the hard in the Fall.   Best,   Ed

The mud is a good part of this scheme if we try it. I'm not too sure why we are even thinking about this as I won't be able to fix it until the fall when the boat will be on the hard. I think we may try to jury rig something on the runt that is left of the rudder for the rest of the season. I always wondered if you could beach her on her side.
 
Using the same dock, we once winched the boat onto its side using the halyard at high tide to replace a through hull . . .so dangerous acts have been committed in the past. I think we have 11 feet on big tides but I don't recall. This is a dead calm spot so no waves are involved.
 
Any thoughts about oak?
 
Best, Ed
 
BTW I was a member of the board about 10 years ago. I'm very impressed with a lot of the boat pictures etc. I was pretty sure that my manual had the offsets for a new rudder but I don't see them. Am I mistaken or did I loose that page over the years?

I'm interested if anybody bought the extra long shaft and how their experience was.  Orca's 1990 Nissan 8 seems like it has coronary salt disease and is shutting down when you run it hard so I'm thinking of the Tohatsu 6 hp.   Whatever my shaft length is now (NS8B1) it definitely has scared me in some serious chop by racing out of the water.   I'd be interested in first hand experiences for the 25" and how it fits in the lazarette, if at all.   I've kept mine in the water over the years as I end up using it quite a bit in Casco Bay and it seemed like a pain to lift it in and out.   Also, I'm at a mooring so fresh water cleaning when you pull it out is not possible and I think that salt build up will happen quicker if your always pulling it out.  I arrested the pitting of the case when the tiny donut zinc dies by drilling two holes in the captivation plate and attaching a big zinc I sawn in half.   It seems to last more than a season.  I'll have to get out to the mooring and measure the shaft if somebody doesn't know which shaft I have based on the model.  

Thanks,   Ed

The mud is a good part of this scheme if we try it. I'm not too sure why we are even thinking about this as I won't be able to fix it until the fall when the boat will be on the hard. I think we may try to jury rig something on the runt that is left of the rudder for the rest of the season. I always wondered if you could beach her on her side.
 
Using the same dock, we once winched the boat onto its side using the halyard at high tide to replace a through hull . . .so dangerous acts have been committed in the past. I think we have 11 feet on big tides but I don't recall. This is a dead calm spot so no waves are involved.
 
Any thoughts about oak?
 
Best, Ed
 
BTW I was a member of the board about 10 years ago. I'm very impressed with a lot of the boat pictures etc. I was pretty sure that my manual had the offsets for a new rudder but I don't see them. Am I mistaken or did I loose that page over the years?