PnP Outboards

1.  Portable:- imagine if you could just remove your engine from your car if you had a problem with it and just swap it for a spare.
2. Easy to work on :- Put it on a stand in your garage and knock yourself out
3. Easy to store:- in a shed or a garage, very little space required
4. A lot less work than rowing :- Of course. :)

2 Stroke Positives

• Light for the power output :- A typical 10HP will weigh 30 kilos 
• Easy to store:- No sump oil means no danger of leaking
• Easier to repair no valves to worry about
• Easier to service, less things to check

2 Stroke Negatives

• Inefficient:-  Uses substantially more fuel
• Noisy:- A problem if you don't like the noise
• Smokey and dirty:- Burn oil for lubrication
• Requires marine 2 Stroke oil to be added to the E5 fuel
• Only sold to commercial operators since 2006

4-strokes basically have the opposite set of advantages / disadvantages, i.e. heavier but quieter etc. 

If you are only going to transport and use the engine once a year, and you have to  store it the rest of the time, it might it be worth choosing a 2 stroke. If you can find a motor in good condition.

If the engine is in regular use and attached permanently to a boat, a four stroke might be a better option. Always remember to tilt it out of the water when not in use.

Honda, Tohatsu and Yamaha engines are ultimately reliable (quite an important consideration if you are out at sea), but we find thinner paint, bolts made from softer material which tend to snap off without much effort, parts which become more and more scarce as the engines increase in age (some engines from the 80s are now impossible to obtain gaskets for).

American engines (Mercury, Evinrude, Johnson) tend to have parts that are cheap and readily available but don't necessarily have the same reputation for reliability as their Japanese counterparts.