I've been around this hobby for many years now and yet I'm still amazed at the talent some of our collectors have to make toy outboard motors from scratch.  Maybe the most amazing to me are the guys that can make a scale replica of a real outboard motor out of a block of wood using the old fashioned method of Whittling!  Here are a few examples of the many wooden outboards I've come across.  They are mostly in one-quarter scale so they are BIG and have nice detail to them, including articulated transom brackets. They are all static display motors and very impressive in a collection since they dwarf the much smaller K&O motors.  All of the motors here are at least twice the size of the K&O motors and some are three times as big.  Most of these are not mine.  I want to thank Ron Wenzel for the pictures and his help in putting this page together.

Click on an image to enlarge.

1. Mercury Merc 1000 wooden motors. 
These wooden motors of the white and black Merc 1000 are all hand whittled with home made decals on them.  They are one quarter scale and have a working transom bracket.  I happen to have both of these motors and they are very impressive to see in person.  Both of these motors are 15 inches tall.

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2. 1960 Mercury Merc 800 wood motor: Neat looking replica of the nice looking 1960 Merc 800.  I always liked the black wrap around on this motor.  Notice the working Dyna-Float shock absorbers on the side!  This motor is 18 inches tall and the tallest of all the motors on this page.

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3. 1956 Evinrude Big Twin 30 HP:  This is a very nice wooden replica of the 1956 Evinrude Big Twin.  Notice the correct color pattern, including the white front cowl plate, and the correct placement of the side decals.  This motor is 11.5 inches tall.

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4. 1957 Johnson Golden Javelin 35 HP: A very nice wooden replica of the famous 1957 Johnson Golden Javelin.  Notice the authentic gold paint and chrome.  Also, notice the bolts and nut heads on the motor!  Nice detail.  This one is missing the Johnson decal on the port side but it's present on the starboard side.  This motor is 12 inches tall.

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5. 1957 Johnson Sea Horse 35 HP: This is a real nice wood replica of the cool looking 1957 Johnson 35 HP Sea Horse.  It has the authentic Holiday Bronze paint on it too!  I like the nice touches like the tiller handle in the fold up position.  This motor is 16 inches tall.

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6. 1952 Johnson Sea Horse:  One of the famous all around work horse motors from Johnson.  I believe this is from 1952.  Please let correct me on the details for this one.  Great detail on this one and a vibrant decal on the sides.  This motor is 15 inches high.

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7. 1957 Firestone 10 HP:  I'm particularly proud of this one because I helped in getting it done.  It's a near perfect replica of the 1957 Firestone 10 HP outboard motor.  This is one of the motors I do have.  There were only two made so it's pretty unique.  The colors on it are great and it even includes the tiller handle and manual rope pull handle!  Very impressive to see in person.  It's 15 inches high.  Compare the three pictures of the wooden one-third scale model on top to the two pictures of the real motor on the bottom!  Pretty good, don't you think?

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8. 1960 Gale Sovereign 60 HP:  This is a very nice replica of the "Holy Grail" of toy outboard motor collecting which is the K&O version of this motor.  Notice the detail work that had to go into painting and properly decaling this motor.  This motor is 12 inches tall.

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9.  1958 Oliver Olympus 35 HP:  This is a particularly good wooden replica of the cool looking 1958 Oliver Olympus 35 HP motor.  Oliver was a tractor company that  for a very short time got into making outboard motors.  The K&O version of this motor is rare and highly sought after by K&O and Toy Tractor collectors alike which really drives up the price.  This motor is 10 inches high.

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10. 1946 to early 1950s Flambeau 6 HP motor:  One of the more unusual and interesting motors in the wooden collection is this wooden replica of the Flambeau engine.  I need more details as to the year of this particular motor.  This is a  big motor at 17 inches tall!

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11.  1903 Submerged Electric Motor:  Without question the most interesting and unique of all the wooden toy outboard motors is this wonderful replica of the 1903 Submerged Electric Motor.  The original full scale motor is super rare and so is this wooden scale version!  This motor is 13 inches tall.

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12.  Elto outboard motor:  Nice replica of this Elto kicker. This motor is 15 inches high.   Need help on the year and horsepower of this one.

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13. Evinrude outboard motor:  This is a nice one.  Notice the details on the front with the rope pull handle, carburetor adjustment knobs and tiller handle! Also, notice the nice job he did on the weedless lower unit!  This motor is 14 inches tall!  Need help with year and horsepower of this motor.

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14. Evinrude outboard motor:  This is especially well done.  Just think how hard it was to whittle this motor to show all the details in the lower leg and lower unit as well as the cowl details.  Look at the nice detail work on the front.  Need help on the year and horsepower of this motor.  This motor is 14 inches tall.

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15.  Neptune outboard motor:  Cool looking replica of the off brand Neptune outboard motor.  The Neptune is 14 inches tall. Need help with the year and horsepower of this motor.

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16. Evinrude weedless outboard motor:  Nice colors and details on this motor including the weedless lower unit and the front of the cowl!  This motor is 15 inches tall.  Need help with the year and horsepower of this motor.

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17.  Group shot of the Wooden Toy Outboard motors:  Nice front view of all the above wooden toy outboard motors.  Nice collection!  Note the nice advertising sign for the 1957 Switzer Craft Shooting Star.  This was a custom made sign and I have one of three of them.

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18. 1957 Evinrude 35 HP Wood outboard:  This wooden motor was carved by Wayne Bearce.  It is truly amazing.  Look at the details on this motor.  Notice that it's roughly the same size as the K&O motor.  Many of the details on the wooden motor, like the gear shift lever, are better than the K&O motor.

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19.  1956 Scott-Atwater 33 HP:  This wooden motor is owned by Ron Wenzel.  Check it out sitting next to the K&O version!  These motors are huge.  As you can see, even the decals are nicely done on the motor.  Thanks Ron!

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20.  1959 Mercury Mark 200:  Another fine example of a motor made for Ron.  Notice the great detail and the articulated transom bracket.  Also, the correct front decal.  They are so big that they just dwarf the K&O version!

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21.  1959 Evinrude Lark 35 HP:  Another great motor by Ron.  This one is nicely done including the decals.

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22.  1957 Buccaneer 25 HP:  Another one of Ron's motors.  Awesome detail.  The color of the paint looks to be off, I think it should be green and not the bluish tint,  but otherwise a great motor.

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23.  1958 Viking 25 HP:  A really cool looking motor.  These motors were made by OMC and were the same as the Gale Buccaneer brand motors.  Great color.  Another one of Ron's motors.

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© 2006 Mikee and Bob McDonald