63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

vfrf2

Cadet
Joined
Jan 28, 2006
Messages
13
I just acquired a 12 foot 1963 Sea King aluminum boat sold by Montgomery Ward. The information tag does not allow me to make out the maximum horsepower rating on the boat, and it does not show the maximum capacity as far as passengers and weight. If anyone could help me out I'd be appreciative!<br /><br />Thanks!
 

surlyjoe

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
486
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

I think most 12' tinnies are around 10hp - 600lb load
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
7
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

i have a 76 12 foot sea king that i put a thicker and taller wood transom on and a few hull reinforcements.. it has a 40hp motor now and it pulls so hard its scary. you need a thicker and taller transom because big motors dont fit on the thin stock transom. i think i just about doubled its thickness and added about 6-8 inches in hight. but the sea king is not a typical aluminum jon boat. it came stock with extra hull reinforcements, seat reinforcements, etc. the front of the hull is a very deep vee, the rear is a semi vee. so you can take some gnarly waves and not worry about cracking the hull. i added even more hull and seat reinforcements to cope with the bigger motor. i have jumped waves big enough that onlookers could see the bottom of the prop spinning. that is some serious adrenaline.

back when i first got it, it had a 9.9hp motor. that was JUST barely powerful enough to pull a knee boarder or skier behind it. now with the 40, i can pull 2 or 3 at a time. the cool thing is i have 9.9hp stickers on the 40hp motor, so its all slick like and the boys in blue dont give it a second glance so long as i dont do anything stupid around them.


just be safe and dont do anything dangerous when others are around. you dont want to have an accident and have people blame you for putting a motor 4 times too powerfull on a boat thats as long as 2 people are tall. a 40hp motor still idles like a 9.9, so you dont need to use all the 40 horses . infact when im on plane i usually dont give it more than 1/5 throttle. well maybe more. but you get my point. just because a motor has 40hp doesnt mean you have to use all of it.
 

CATransplant

Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
6,319
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

I have that exact boat. Max HP is 10. Max passengers 3 (too many). Max weight of passengers and gear is 500 lb. With a 9.9 or 10 hp outboard, it will fly, doing about 24mph on plane.

I have a 6hp on mine, and it planes and does 15mph, once I got some weight forward (fuel tank and trolling motor battery).

It's a good sturdy fishing boat for small water.

garcky1.jpg
 

CATransplant

Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
6,319
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

just be safe and dont do anything dangerous when others are around. you dont want to have an accident and have people blame you for putting a motor 4 times too powerfull on a boat thats as long as 2 people are tall.

That's not at all helpful. If you have a 40hp on that 12' aluminum boat, you're just cruising for a disaster. Please don't advise people that such a drastic overpowering is safe. You'll do what you want, I suppose, but please don't hold your bad judgment up as an example for others.

People come here to get real advice and information. The folks here who offer information and advice try very hard to give good information and advice. Your example is a very, very bad one.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
7
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

That's not at all helpful. If you have a 40hp on that 12' aluminum boat, you're just cruising for a disaster. Please don't advise people that such a drastic overpowering is safe. You'll do what you want, I suppose, but please don't hold your bad judgment up as an example for others.

People come here to get real advice and information. The folks here who offer information and advice try very hard to give good information and advice. Your example is a very, very bad one.


sorry you feel that way. im sure others do too, but i did what i did and have not had any problems or regrets. remember that just because you have 40 horses does not mean you have to use them all at once.
 

CATransplant

Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
6,319
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

sorry you feel that way. im sure others do too, but i did what i did and have not had any problems or regrets. remember that just because you have 40 horses does not mean you have to use them all at once.

My point is that this board is designed for people to get advice on boats and motors. Your advice or example is a very bad one. You're free to do whatever you want to do, but making it sound like a good idea is a bad idea.

If you have advice to give, please make it good, sound advice. And putting a 40hp outboard on a 12' aluminum fishing boat is bad advice. Be helpful to others, please.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
7
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

i think you might be making a bigger deal out of this than reality. i dont want to go any more off topic here but my example is nothing different then a person swapping a 283/327 for a 350 small block in a v drive glen allen, or one of those crazy people who put jet heli motors in little 16 foot hulls and go nuts up and down rivers with 200 foot roost.

most pwc's have 2-3 even 4 times the power to weight ratio than my 12 foot boat. look at them bass boats with engines that are bigger than my truck.


i dont think it is bad advice. its just advice. take it or leave it either way its out there. its doubtful the original owner is going to go out and buy a new 40hp just because i said it can be done with the proper mods. why not leave it at that?

if you dont want to leave it at that, hit me up a pm. im not going to respond to this again. its taking away from the original topic. plus its a pain to hunt down previous threads.
besides that, we shouldnt even be. we both own the same boat. owners of similar boats should stick together for help, not quarrel about trivial things like motor size.
 

sdshort1979

Cadet
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
8
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

I have a 1960 Sea-King, with a 9 horse outboard, it does just fine with that. Has plenty of power to get around on small waters. My boat I have had 4 full grown adults on board her, but I would'nt recommend it. I would say safely that full grown adults is ideal. Anymore than that it gets kinda cramped and you are pushing the weight limit on your boat. Hope this helps and good luck with your boat.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
7
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

i just sold my boat today. fancy that. the new owner loves the 40hp. got a great price on it too. (i got the great price, not him!)

good luck to you fellas with the montgomery wards. it was an awesome boat while i had it. im moving onto other things though.

goodbye iboats.com
 

rknight

Recruit
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
1
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

I too recently bought an older 12' Montgomery Ward Sea King. I'm having a devil of a time finding the identification plate and serial number. Where have you guys found yours? TIA, Richard
 

CATransplant

Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
6,319
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

It should be on the transom, if there was one. Before 1972, they weren't required. Most of the Sea King aluminum boats were made by StarCraft, and are virtually identical with their Sea Scamp model.

The 12' boats, at least the semi-V models, were rated for 10 hp. They do great with anything from 6hp to 10 hp.
 

Shizzy

Ensign
Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
984
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

That's not at all helpful. If you have a 40hp on that 12' aluminum boat, you're just cruising for a disaster. Please don't advise people that such a drastic overpowering is safe. You'll do what you want, I suppose, but please don't hold your bad judgment up as an example for others.

People come here to get real advice and information. The folks here who offer information and advice try very hard to give good information and advice. Your example is a very, very bad one.

depends on the boat. my little 14" Alumacraft is rated for 40HP. however the 6HP on the back does me just fine.
 

AZMinyard

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
165
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

Just to throw my two cents in . . . all the advice you never asked for!

I have a 1971 12 ft aluminum boat by Chrysler which is rated for 7.5 hp and 555 lbs and would like to offer a couple points/ponders:

First, what do you plan to use the boat for? Here in AZ we have our large desert lakes and small mountain lakes. In my case a gas motor is great during bass season, but useless on the smaller northern lakes. If you stick to mostly small lakes, you might just consider a large trolling motor ? really very versatile. If you are looking at larger bodies of water or river travel a bigger gas motor is definitely the way to go.

The second point was the result of the good folks here at the iboats forum. I was curious to find out what the HP limit was comprised of ? motor weight or power. Turns out that the answer is both. So while my lil hooptie is rated for 7.5 hp this was rated with 2 stroke engines in mind. I decided (just my own don?t-want-to-sink-paranoia) that it is probably safer to stick with a smaller hp rating when going with a heavier 4 stroke engine. The 4 stroke I purchased is about 50 lbs, where a comparable 5 hp 2 stroke can be as much as half that weight.

Additionally, some states are starting to outlaw 2 stroke engines due to the pollution ratings.

When taking any of this into consideration, please bear in mind that I am at a ?Cadet? rating for a reason. This boat of mine is my first and has only been used 4 times in the past three months or so . . .

Good luck with your boat, be sure to share pictures ? especially of mods and restore efforts!
 

methusalah

Recruit
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
2
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

i just aquired a 12' sea king by ward and was wondering if the first two numbers of the serial no. indicate the model year?:confused:
 

Jlars72

Recruit
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
1
79 Sea King Modifications.....

79 Sea King Modifications.....

I have a 1979 Ward Sea-King with a 10 hp engine on the back. I also have about a 50 pound thrust trolling motor. I am wanting to put my battery for it under the front seat and run wires from there to the back. My idea is to cut a hole under the seat and put a hinge on top so i can easily remove the battery to charge it. I was wondering what the best way to run the cables from the front to the back and what type of cables to use? I was thinking of running conduit on the bottom or even just under the top rail. My other question is what type of cable would i use to connect the existing power cord to the new stuff in order to make it long enough?

My 10 horse motor is plenty big to push myself and two adult friends around the lake but it is not running right. Its a Johnson motor and i messed around with the red needle that goes into the carb. I ended up screwing it all the way in and was wondering if that would be the problem? If i carefully set the choke halfway (which really isn't an option since its suppose to be either all or none) it runs very well. Should i unscrew it some so more air moves into the carb?
 

aschwarz1

Recruit
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
1
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

to answer your question it only allows a 10 hp motor and only 500lbs with motor people and gear or three persons at no more than 150lbs each. I hope this helps I have this exact boat that my grandfather left to my father and so on it has held up nicely and I have only had to replace the transom nothing else as of yet. If you have any other questions on this please let me know.
 

DREARACHE

Recruit
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
4
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

the engine model number is what ya need. useing that search under sea king and you will find your model year and hp. also you may find the hp on the cowl is less than what model will tell ya. the neat thing is you may find with the model # that your motor has many parts interchangeable with a multitude of other motors.
 

DREARACHE

Recruit
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
4
Re: 63 Sea King-Montgomery Ward 12' boat info needed.

I also have a 12ft but run an old 61 sea king 15hp on it. it truly does the flat scat. it is a bit scary though i must say. must always be on my toes for a cross wind that will change your course drasticaly. a cross wind from the right will push it left but tilt it to the right. your first instinct is to correct and turn right but being tilted that way already you can easily flip. droping throtle is best. to the guy with the 40hp on his 12 ft. i hope you carry alot of weight!!! I dont and have only 15hp and have found it unsafe for all but the most careful and skilled boaters. I cary 2 small tackel boxes and 3 polls and 1 transom mount troller with deep cycle bat and myself at 170lbs. am carrying less than 300lb. darn squirely boat and a fun adrenilian rush!! so like the other guy said about not advisin people to do the unsafe well, be sure to qualify your statement with "for the most experienced and skilled boater". let us not forget that the motor tech. that has developed over the years has come from guuys tryin to go faster, and do it more reliably.
P.S. forgive my spelling
 
Top