I have a 5 hp Honda and the little sucker weighs in at 60 lbs. That may not seem like a lot especially considering I used to shoulder press two 60 lbs dumbells in my younger days, but with an awkward engine that has that goofy leg sticking out it becomes very unweildly and hard to manage, even for a strong guy like me. With power comes weight, if you want power prepare to lift a heavy engine. On the plus side the little honda will get my
dinghy up on plane with one person but not two of us. The extra power folks speak of is beneficial especially when it comes to exploring, you can cover long distances and skim right over those rip tides with confidence. I will always choose to lift the heavy engine in exchange for the power and I usually leave the engine on the
dinghy transom and tow it like that, but I am in protected coastal waters. I do see many folks with those smaller engines that you can lift with one arm, but they are suitable for
dinghy dock service only, I would not go out into the open channels with one, just not enough power when out in the chop. You need to decide what you want to really do with your
dinghy then decide from there.