An outboard motor is just a self contained engine that sits outside rather than inside a boat. Most engines are comprised of the basic engine and a cooling system plus associated electrics that are required to make it work and then attached to the engine would be a gearbox which in turn would be connected to the propeller via a drive shaft. An outboard engine contains all of these items but they are designed into one unit that can be hung and secured over the stern (back) of a boat and be used immediately. These come in sizes measured in Horse Power with most manufacturers producing a range of models from 2 to 300 horse power with the higher number meaning more power. The only external component that may be required would be a fuel tank on some models. Most small outboards come complete with a built in fuel tank but larger engines which would use more fuel would use an external fuel tank to give a larger fuel capacity.

Steering a boat using an outboard motor involves making the unit swivel on its mounting to change the direction that the propeller is facing rather than using a rudder which is the method used with an inboard engine set up. There are two ways in which this is commonly done and those are using a tiller or what is referred to as remote steering. A tiller is basically just a handle attached to the engine that reaches into the boat and can be used to move the engine from side to side on its swivel mounting. A remote steering system is where the boat can be steered by an electric, hydraulic or cable system via a steering wheel from a position other than directly beside the engine. This is set up so that it works in the same way as a car turn the wheel to the left the boat turns to the left and turning the wheel to the right makes the boat turn to the right.

The speed of the boat is controlled by the throttle which regulates the flow of gas into the engine and this can be done in different ways depending on the type of steering you have. With a tiller controlled boat the throttle is usually found on the steering handle in the form of a twist grip the same as on a motorcycle. If the boat has remote steering the throttle would be in the form of a handle that can be reached from the position that the boat is steered from. On some boats that have a tiller operated engine pushing down on the end of the tiller handle causes the propeller to lift at an angle and this is another method of controlling the speed of an outboard powered craft.

There are two types of drives for an outboard the most common method being a propeller and the other method known as a jet drive. The jet drive is simply where the motor sucks in water from in front of it and then expels it at pressure from the rear thus producing forward thrust.