re: Shy away from older, used outboards?

I did this last year and again, this year. I swap out my 37 gtr to a 90 yamaha with a big tiller. It's not near as easy on gas as my gtr but it pushes my 1854 Gatortail pretty good. A bit of a pain to switch but it's been worth it so far. I will be investing in a center console in the future so I can be a bit more comfortable. So nice not to have ringing ears but I do worry about hitting things a lot more after I almost tore my lower unit off last year.