Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

[ronboonville]

The previous owner told me it wouldn't get his small boat on plane. Course I thought no biggie, probably just not tuned right or something. After cleaning and setting points it sounded real good and really reved up, like a chainsaw. I had a 10 to 13 mph wind and was not sure if I wanted to try this today or not. I've never had a tiller steer before. no neutral just start and go. I tied to a dock about midship and got it started. Didn't swamp it but got real nervous for a couple of seconds while I was trying to untie. Got going out on lake but felt like I needed to lean out carb. Being by myself and no one else on lake I was afraid to turn around and mess with the needle. I turned the boat around, a 12' appleby jon boat and headed back toward the launch. WhenI tried wot it felt like I had a spun prop. Higher rpms but not going any faster and was going with the wind now. In fact it felt like it was going slower. By the time I got home I was sure it was a spun prop and I would have to get it rebuilt before I tried to sell it. Well it is a solid prop I learned. Going to give it another chance in the morning on a small slow river, maybe I just didn't wait long enough for the boat to catch up with the prop.
Like I said " I've never had a tiller before" not sure if I can get used to it. another thought is changing the prop to a three blade like I saw on a clinton on ebay. any comments or advice or encouragement is appreciated.

 

[nwcove]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

i admittedly dont know anything about the mw/clintons, but i can assume its a small hp motor? is the prop far enough below the keel to keep it from ventilating??

 

[ronboonville]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

It's a 5 hp. Yeah, short shaft, 15" transom.

 

[ronboonville]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

I think I learned why my 5 hp clinton won't plane my boat. An old boat mechanic explained it to me as "It won't". clinton hp was overated. He also said it would be better on a longer boat, that my 12 ft. sat to low in the water. Live long and learn more.

 

[JB]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

I don't remember ever being impressed with a Clinton powered outboard.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

If the boat is suited to a small outboard if the motor is running good it might plane but you will need a tiller extension so
you can sit in the middle seat.
Many times I've said our old Gale 5 on a 12ft steel flat bottom planed easily with my 180 lbs in the middle seat.
Of course the Clinton may be a little short of actual 5hp.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

Why do you need to plane out a small tinnie? It sounds like you may need to clean out your fuel system and fuel tank. A good tuned engine should run a 12' tinnie just fine. Those are nice lightweight motors though and don't add much weight to the boat.

 

[mrcrabs]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

My well tuned like new 7.5 Eska (lawnmower on a stick) 42Lb outboard running a 8p prop would only plane my 12ft tinnie if I put a trolling battery, 2 log chains , 12pk of beer on ice & a fat girl forward and then I had to lean toward the middle seat...then she looked perty good, it also does well with a properly loaded 14ft jon but then we are working as a displacment hull and speed is not so great....but thay are dependable!.....your motor is great for fast/slow trolling on a 12-14ft jon boat and fishin around the stumps... and thats all it was ever intended to do...if you want to plane out get something 7.5-15 hp with two cylinders thats proped right, Vintage power, my choice "best bang for the buck" would be a old Chrysler 10-20hp ...they have alot of umph! and parts supply is not bad.

 

[ronboonville]

Re: Took my montgomery ward/ clinton out today and was not impressed

Thanks mrcrabs, really don't need it to plane. I was just thinking that the faster the motor ran then the boat would move faster. I probably didn't give the lttle motor a chance. It was windy, and I was alone on the lake, and I had previous trouble on that lake with another boat. Like getting stuck in the mud when the temp was about 100 degrees, having the livewell hose break and almost sinking that boat, losing shift linkage, stuff like that. I've never tried actually trolling for fish and think I'll research that before spring gets here again. I am working on a 3.6 wizard right now and maybe it will give more of a push.