1975 Alumacraft F7 - short shaft or long shaft?

AndyAlumacraft

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Mar 28, 2017
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I just bought an Alumacraft F7 from 1975. The transom is 16"+ to the bottom of the keel. Short shaft motors are 15" and long shaft motors are 20".

I found a great long shaft motor (1984 Evinrude 8hp with very little use for $500). Is there a problem running a long shaft on this boat? The caveat to a short shaft is possible cavitation.

Thoughts? I hope someone in the past has experience with both motors on this F7 hull.

Thanks,
Andy
 

lckstckn2smknbrls

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Sep 18, 2008
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1,114
Long or short shaft is a relative term. One manufacturers idea is going to be different than the next manufacturer.
​Since your looking at an 8hp motor your not looking for speed so having the increased drag from a long shaft shouldn't be an issue.
 

AndyAlumacraft

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Mar 28, 2017
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Thanks for the reply. Nope, I doubt I can achieve much speed with an 8hp motor I just want to make sure I don't waste $500 on the wrong type motor (long shaft) because it would upset the attitude of the boat.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
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Oct 30, 2002
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21,657
Should be fine with a motor of that size.
May give you a bit more bow rise.

Better question would be if 8 hp is enough to plane the boat, if that is important to you.

Length of boat?

Max hp rating of boat?
 

AndyAlumacraft

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Mar 28, 2017
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It's 14' and will plane with a 9.9 as seen on YouTube. I'm just taking my kids fishing on our local lakes so I'm not too worried about speed. The seller removed the listing after we spoke and hasn't answered my calls so maybe he flaked out on me so it looks like I'm searching for another motor. Thanks
 

AndyAlumacraft

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Mar 28, 2017
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I found one locally last night. I bought a Johnson short shaft 9.9. I'll post pictures soon and video later. The previous boat owner replaced the transom wood and now the transom is too thick for the motor mount to slide onto the transom. I need to sand down the wood to get it to fit.
 
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