Hello everyone, I have an old 14’ aluminum boat, and just looking for something to “get the job done” with minimal fuss. Last year I used a refurbished 1960s outboard that would be great for someone who wanted to work on it in between runs— it turns out, this is not me. I have precious little time to go out on the water as it is! So I’ve been trying to do research on the lowest maintenance outboards. So far I’ve been looking at either lightweight low hp outboards like the small Tohatsu models or the electric ones like Newport/epropulsion, and am open to any suggestion you might have! There is a lot of info out there and it seems every other page and video is sponsored in one way or another — posting in hopes that I can hear from people who have a small outboard that doesn’t require tons of maintenance and gets them where they’re going. Dunno if it matters, but I use my boat to get to good swimming/hangout spots/casual exploration, not fishing.

TLDR: The most important things to me are being low maintenance/reliable, not getting stuck out there after an hour, and just fast enough to not feel like I’m stuck in the mud. Lightweight is a huge plus. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!