What to look for when buying 2-stroke outboard?

[KGslo]

I found a 8HP 2-stroke Tohatsu M8B from 2004 for sale not far from where I live: https://www.dba.dk/tohatsu-paahaengsmot ... 070032752/

I talked to the seller and he seems like an honest guy. He has been using the outboard for approximately 2x15 minutes, 30 times a year, leaving and entering the harbour in his sailboat for the last 10 years and he estimates the outboard has run around 300 hours.

I am going to look at the outboard tomorrow afternoon. The seller is away sailing so his wife will show me the outboard but I won't be able to see it run. I trust the seller when he says it runs great but do you guys have any advice on what to look for to check if the outboard is in good shape?

[Si Crowe]

as long as it has good compression, spark, fuel and water flow not much to go wrong.

solid, light weight by about 10kg and comparatively more grunt than the a 4 stroke 8hp.

only down side is slightly more noise and 15% more fuel used but really in a full day of boating you wont care. i'd have a stroker over a 4 stroke all day every day... plus i'm old school and love the smell of a 2 stroke.

[KGslo]

It’s hard to tell from the outside, but lift the lid and look for corrosion and dirt. It should be pretty clean under there.
Make sure that the transom clamps move easily and the every thing that should pivot does - that would indicate that at least some basic maintainence has been done.

[KGslo]

Thank you both for the advice. The outboard turned out to be a long shaft so I didn't buy it even though the seller insisted it would be fine with my Zodiac.

[KGslo]

Good job you didn’t buy it, for the seller would have been wrong. While it would have worked in that it would push the boat, you would have needed to add a jack plate to lift it up by 5 inches if you ever hoped to get it on the plane.

[KGslo]

Yea, I can read that a long shaft on a short transom is definitely not ideal. I don't see a lot of 8 hp 2 strokes from the early 2000's for sale though but I'm not in a rush.

[KGslo]

Actually this dealer has a Yamaha 8 hp, 2 stroke, short shaft (about half way down on the site):
http://ronbjergmarine.dk/?page_id=79

Do you have any clue how old it might be and does it matter much if it is in good shape?