Need advice on small boat motor

[christian]

HI Guys I just picked up a 14foot sears aluminum boat. (w/o motor) Its old but seems quite water worthy. I was wondering what would be a good motor solution for me. I have 0 experiance with boats and just want to be able to putt around a small lake or 2. I also would like to be able get out in some of the calmer rivers just to drop anchor and a line. I'm interested in a smallish motor . Is there an electric option for me, or are they too small?


thanks for any advice.

Thanks, God bless
JOHN

 

[Osprey]

I wouldn't go with an electric...the battery goes dead and your stuck rowing. If you just want to troll aroung in a lake a 5 hp motor will do you fine. But, if your going to go on a river I wouldn't go smaller than a 10 hp. The reason being if you go down stream depending on the current it may take you hours to go back upstream to the dock. Another thing is, it's going to depend on how many people you plan on having in the boat...if there's you and another, and you're both big guys you'll need a bigger motor to push the boat along, especially when you're going up stream. I myself had a 12 ft. fiberglass boat, it had a 5 hp motor. My Dad and I put in at Bowman Park in Albany and went down stream on the Willy. We started heading back and with the motor running at full throttle, it would only move the boat at such a slow speed we could hardly tell we were moving looking at the bank. We only had the gas tank in the motor, and we ran out of gas and had to walk back to the parkinglot and get some more gas so we cound get the boat back to the dock. It was well after dark when we got the boat back to the dock. It wasn't much fun!:think:

 

[Troutski]

Horse power...

Horse power...

One can never have to much horse power....I would stick with gas, JMOHO

Chuck

 

[frodog]

If interested I have an old merc 10 horse twin it is two stroke I have had it for ten plus years and never used it I inheareted it from grandpa and it was rebuilt right before I got it it has been started in a barrel twice. pm if you want details or pics.

 

[FISHHEADMAFIA]

pick up a merc . make sure its a twin . ( 2 cylinder ) . 9.9 hp at least . stay away from evenrude , or everscrewed as most people call them . save your money , which is gonna be hard to do now that you have a boat , and buy a bigger one , and then a bigger one , and then

 

[GDBrown]

There should be a manufactures plate somewhere on the boat that indicates what the Maximum HP you can use. If its 14 Feet you may be able to get a 15 or 20 HP Merc for it. Believe me, after you've had it a while you will appreciate the extra power. I sure did. I picked up a 14 ft starcraft with a 9.9 HP Merc which lasted two years, the 15 HP was just the ticket.

Gene

 

[Thuggin4Life]

go big. i had a 6 evinrude on my 12' and loved it but it was slow. got a 9.9 merc and love it but its still slow. need a 15 which is 2x the plate so i took the plate out. go big.

 

[fishnquest]

We are all speaking from the same experience. Get 10hp at least. That big boat is gonna get small,...and slow, ...real fast....
But seriously, its still great fun. Enjoy!

 

[rainman]

go big. i had a 6 evinrude on my 12' and loved it but it was slow. got a 9.9 merc and love it but its still slow. need a 15 which is 2x the plate so i took the plate out. go big.

Better to have too much and not use it, than too little and want it. You can always use a trolling sock or plate to slow down if you're needing to. Or a redneck trolling plate, which is a 5 gal bucket. :lol:

 

[livin2fish]

Better to have too much and not use it, than too little and want it. You can always use a trolling sock or plate to slow down if you're needing to. Or a redneck trolling plate, which is a 5 gal bucket. :lol:

agreed, go bigger you will know why as soon as you get on the water. Since your green get to know the boat and learn a bit before you get on a river.Too many people think they will get a boat and go get on the river and a lot of them end up dead, so play it safe and think about what you are doing.Good luck and fishon.

 

[DirectDrive]

Yeah, I think 15HP for a boat that size would be about right.
A friend of mine has a 15' Grumman "cartop" type boat with a 15HP Mariner and it flies with two people on board.
If you go bigger it will get tougher to get it to troll.

I wouldn't go below 10HP.