Small outboard motors

[Pete J]

Hi All,

After I sold my wood boat, I picked up an 14' aluminum v-hull. It's nothing more than a rowboat, no floorboards, no fancy seats, just an aluminum shell. What size motor should I hang on the back to push a family of four down the river at a good clip? It's rated for a 25hp but that seems like overkill. Would a 9.9 or 15hp do the job?

Pete

[jwood]

Pete i've had the 9.9 on the same size boat..it dont work for four..i tried it ...i went to a 20 johnson and it worked well.good luck

[Tom]

9.9 will do a good job but you will be happier with 15 horses.  The 15 horse motors are about the same as the 9.9's accept for the horses.  25 horse motors are like hanging  another body on the back  of the boat and the "free-board" on those small boats isn't very much.  You might swamp it.    I have a 25 that I have run on my 14 foot boat and it is scary.  I touch the water ever 300 feet or so. :D

[sprucebunny]

9.9 should do it. Don't want to get too much weight. But if you are buying used and not planning on leaving the boat in the water, then buy whatever's a good deal.
I've had good luck with Mercury/Mariner.

[sawguy21]

Key word is "river". What is the average current speed? If it is rated for a 25 then I would tend to go close to that but like Tom says, watch the freeboard. The old 25's were pretty heavy. Lake trolling does not require nearly the power.

[Tillaway]

15 horse would be fine, you could almost ski off it with a 25.  The kids sure could.  I have seen some 12 or 13 year olds ski behind a 15 horse on a 12 footer.

The big names all produce good motors now, so a good deal is what I would be after unless you want a certain gadget.  My 8 horse merc has shift on the handle, perfect for drift boats.

[Bruce_A]

Add 12" sides and put a forty on it.

[DonE911]

Just sold a 12' v hull of my grandfathers a few years ago... had a 9.9 for many years then a 15 that he forgot to mix the oil in the gas so it didn't last long, but it was better than the 9.9.  Got a 25 for a good price so it went on although the boat was only rated for 20hp.

the 25 was a little to heavy when only one in the boat until you got on plane.  Put a second up front to keep the rise down and it was fine...  the 25 was perfect for longer runs down the intercoastal.  I'd still say go with the 15 unless you are in a hurry.

What not to do:

About 15 years ago my buddie and I put an old Merc 50hp on a 16" flat bottom Jon boat...  put about 200 lbs of those old plastic coated cement weights up front, along with the fuel tanks and the battery and a second person. Sunk it twice at the dock before we got that weight ratio thing figured out.   now it would fly in a straight line, but wouldn't turn, You couldn't pull a ski without taking on water.   We hit a wake from a large boat and it went to the bottom real quick.  It was fun for a few weeks and we got more for the motor after pulled it off the bottom than we had in the entire project.

[Murf]

Moving a boat is easy and doesn't take much power at all, think of how little you need to pull on an oar to make a little boat scoot along.

To make a boat go fast sucks up power big time. Way out of proportion.

When we built our place at the lake (no road access back then) we brought all the lumber in with two 12' aluminum boats. We just put them side by side and piled the wood across the 4 sides. We could put a pile of lumber on them so high you had to stand up to see where you were going. All they had were 5hp engines.

I can remember as a kid getting that boat clipping along pretty good with justa 5hp motor on it.

I would say Tom is right on the money, a 9.9 will do it, but you'll be happier with 15, espercially if there is much current in that river.

[JD350Cmark]

I've got a Gregor 14.5 foot alum with a Honda 15 HP.  Pushes it very well even with 4 people, not to mention it starts on the first pull everytime even after sitting all winter.  It's quiet, good on gas and it don't load up while trolling.

[Jeff]

Had a wide and deep.14R sea nymph for years with a 9.9.  It worked O.K. and would get up on plane easily with only 2 people in the boat. Put a third and thier added gear in the boat and then you had troubles.  I would opt for the 15 for fishing, or even the 25 if you have longer runs to favorite spots. Boat motors are not what they used to be. Heck, the 25s now are about the weight a 9.9 was 15 years ago.

[MULE_MAN]

I would put the biggest motor it would take, If 25 hp is the max. I would go for it. I alway would rather have more power then not enought . Never can have too much power.  ;D Of course that's just my 2 cents  8)

[Mark M]

I would go with the 15. It is almost the exact same engine as the 9.9 but with more snoose.

[logman]

If you get an older outboard (I don't know the year it started)
the HP was rated at the powerhead.  Now they are rated at
the prop.  So if you look at used and it's fairly old I would
go with a higher HP.  A new 15 is probably equivalent to
an old 25 HP.  Just to guess I would say the rating change
happened in the early 80s.  I would not put anything bigger
then what it's rated for.  If you were in some sort of mishap
you may get into some trouble with the CG plus probably
easier to be found liable in a lawsuit.  (I spent 11 years in
the Coast Guard and also worked as an outboard mechanic
when I got out but I've been away from O/B for about 14 years.

[Pete J]

Hmmnnn, I think I like the idea of touching the water every 300ft or so. Not so sure what the wife would think though. I'm just looking for something that would push me, the wife and two kids on a 30 mile run up and down the CT river. The current doesn't flow that fast, but my 3 1/2hp would turn the trip into a 10 hour excursion. I figure if a 15hp would push it 15mph, we could cruise downstream for an hour, grab lunch at some riverside restaurant and head home. 2-3 hours is about all my family can stand. I'm leaning towards the bigger is better school of thought.

[sawguy21]

Go to http://www.fiberglassics.com/ for great stuff on boats. Mule Man it can be overdone. 25 would not pull the kids on a tube so in a fit of wisdom, we stuck a 55 on the 15' runabout. That thing porpoised so bad it almost launched me. Didn't help that we had a 20' leg on a 15' transom Almost swamped it with water pouring into the motor well. Not good.

[Timber_Framer]

If you do not live anywhere near the mouth of the river a 9.9 should be fine. However if you ever get anywhere where the tide may possibly have na effect on your boat get the 15hp.
A 9.9 can't push a paper cup out of a tide!

[beav]

go with a 4 stroke- two strokes will soon be on the trash heap of history ;)

[sawguy21]

2 strokes will be around for quite a while. New technology is making them enviro friendly and the 4 stroke can't touch them for power to weight ratio. Most 4's are just too DanG heavy to pack on and off the cartopper. They are sure sweet on a trailered boat.

[Timber_Framer]

and those four strokers sure are quiet 8)

[Erick]

I have a 15' fisher w/full casting decks and fishing chairs livewell storage and all the goodies, it has a 25 on it and with 500lbs of people and another 100lbs of gear it will run 22 to 25 mph depending on current and wind. I would think a 15 would be all you would need unless you are in a big hurry. Mine is a 1978 model boat and motor and as was said the new motors are alot lighter then mine. Age plays a part in your decision if it is an older boat rated for a 25hp of that time (heavy) then one of todays 25s (light) should be fine but if it a newer boat I would not put an older 25 on it. Check the coastgaurd rating on the boat for people motor and gear and chose your motor by weight acordingly you may find that with the weight you intend to carry you can not run a 25 because it would be too heavy.

[SwampDonkey]

Had a 7.5 Johnson for years on a 22 foot canvas back Miller Canoe and on a 16 foot aluminum on large salmon fishing rivers. Never had any problems with 2 people, that's all there were ever in the boat at one time. It moves right along at a good clip. In fact if I had a larger motor on the canoe, I could easliy where scuba gear as the waves come in over the back when you let off full throttle. Needs weight on the front for heavier motors. Won't set any speed records, but cruises along the rivers just fine. Some of these rivers are pretty fast we fished salmon on. :D

[pappy]

twenty footer and a 6 h.p. --- takes a pretty good swell  8)

https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Glenn%20and%20Tony%20opti%20sm.jpg

[SwampDonkey]

We used to use a 6 HP up until 1982 I think, then bought the 7.5 HP. Grandfather used 6 HP for years, before that, on different salmon rivers guiding. Usually only the guide and 1 sport in the boats at a time. Before that it was a nice long spruce pole instead of a motor. And poling required you to stand up. ;) I seriously couldn't see a 25 HP on my aluminum boat, it would be swamped. Come to think of it someone on the farm (no one would come good for it) drove a tractor tire into the side of the boat, so it won't be floating any longer. : And, the old canoe isn't what she used to be neither.  :'(

[Rockn H]

Logman beat me to it.  He's right they rate the new motors different.  We use a 14' john boat with a 48" bottom and a 15 hp mariner to get in and out of our camp when the river is up.  Four people and all the gear for a weekend keeps the boat from plaining out, but it still runs as fast as I want with that much load and fast current.  When we got the boat it had an older 25 hp mercury way to much weight on the transom.  We replaced it with a new(then)98 model 15 hp mariner .  With the reduction in weight you would of sworn it had more power with the 15 hp.