New member with questions about his 11ft PrinceCraft.

[jbcurt00]

Beam (width) of the boat at the transom and transom height both figure into motor capacity.

My 12ftr will take up to a 10hp. Previous owner had a 7.5hp on it, air cooled & i took it off in favor of a vintage 5hp Evinrude that runs like a top.

At 1/2 max hp, it pushes me & the Admiral just fine on both a local lake & river. Headed upriver it wasnt a speed demon, but cruised just fine. Coming back w the current, of course, was much quicker.

Do you know what the other 12ftrs you hear that are running 10_15hp OBs are rated for? Very likely the owners are knowingly running overpowered.

Happens frequently around here for running the river.

 

[NYBo]

You should be able to find a 7.5HP motor that weighs about the same as a 5.

 

[rough_bearing]

Beam (width) of the boat at the transom and transom height both figure into motor capacity.

My 12ftr will take up to a 10hp. Previous owner had a 7.5hp on it, air cooled & i took it off in favor of a vintage 5hp Evinrude that runs like a top.

At 1/2 max hp, it pushes me & the Admiral just fine on both a local lake & river. Headed upriver it wasnt a speed demon, but cruised just fine. Coming back w the current, of course, was much quicker.

Do you know what the other 12ftrs you hear that are running 10_15hp OBs are rated for? Very likely the owners are knowingly running overpowered.

Happens frequently around here for running the river.

Man, I'm just blasting you guys with the questions. I appreciate everyone and the input! Now for another newbie question. If there any sort of equation between the beam and the transom? The old transom is rotted and only serving as a template at this point in time as I will need to cut a new one. Now if I cut the transom larger than the old one would it be able to handle a bigger motor? I have no intentions of putting anything larger than a 7.5 regardless, I'm just curious on that one.

I don't have any exact examples of boat models that are rocking the 10-15hp. I have been reading so much on boats these past couple of days I couldn't even tell you where I would have seen it but I know I have seen it multiple times because its been confusing me...

You don't happen to have a youtube channel do ya? I was watching a series on restoring aluminum boats on youtube and he refers to his wife as 'the admiral'. Hobby Shed?

 

[smokeonthewater]

more transom possibly could handle more power but there are lots of other factors....example your boat is specifically designed to be light weight... even if all o the size requirements were met for more power it MIGHT just fall apart due to lightweight construction

 

[rough_bearing]

more transom possibly could handle more power but there are lots of other factors....example your boat is specifically designed to be light weight... even if all o the size requirements were met for more power it MIGHT just fall apart due to lightweight construction

Thats exactly what I was thinking. Truthfully I think I'd like to stick with a 5hp motor for now. As I have said, I'm new to boating so I'm not looking for the most juiced up ride I can put together. More just something I can comfortably bomb around the water on. I'm wishing this boat wasn't the "cartop" model and was a little beefier but I think spending time in this boat is whats gonna be needed. At least when I got to actually buy my first boat I'll have some experience under my wings.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Just concentrate on keeping it as simple, light, and inexpensive as possible.... anything you do should be focused on resale value vs cost... with that in mind you should be set up nicely to sell it at a later date and get one that better suits your needs... ALSO when buying accys be mindful of the bigger boat in your future.. ex: an anchor adds NOTHING to resale value so get one that is still light but a little oversized so you can use it on your next boat... If you find a 7.5 hp motor and you can get by on weight, you don't HAVE to use full throttle and that motor would work with a lightweight 14'er OR for that matter you could 86 the outboard all together and get an electric trolling motor which could later be used along with a 25 hp motor in a light 16'er.... Long term thinking wins the race.

 

[BF]

Hiya.... I had 2 boats that sound similar to yours. (came with the cabin) They were both old 11.5' "car toppers" rated for 7.5 hp. Ditto what has been said above. Scary small. A 6 hp pushed it OK (for fishing it was very nice to have neutral and reverse which you don't get with lots of the smaller motors). But the boats were too small / narrow / uncomfortable to be of much use... even to use as a "kid's" fishing boat. The cross seats were only 5 or 6" off the bottom which is a killer on the back. Too tippy for pedestal seats... only a few inches of free board made any wave action scary... I replaced the wooden piece bolted to the transom on both boats. Don't bother making it bigger / thicker because it won't make the boat any more useable. All it really does is make the transom thickness correct for mounting a motor. I had bought a 80's evinrude15 hp and didn't have a boat to try it out on, so I stuck it on one of these, just to idle the engine tied to the dock. Well I couldn't resist, so I took it for a spin, waaaay scary. Even a 9.9 would be way too much.

Plus side is that after I put a new chunk of painted plywood on the transom, and painted the plywood seats, I sold them for $250 each... Could've sold a dozen of them. They are the hot ticket for putting on a rack of a quad for getting into the back country... so i'd pretty it up and sell it, and look for a 14' or even 16' which is a more useable size. By the way, it's not blue, but I've painted the inside of aluminum boats with just gray tremclad auto primer before... works fine, but the bottom wear areas eventually wear out (which will happen with all paint anyway). I now have a pair of 16' aluminum utility boats for fishing... one that I use, and the other as a second boat for kid's & guests to take out... (I put the 6 or 15 hp on, depending who is using it). It is sturdy so if people are standing moving or the dog is walking around, it's not a big deal.. Very good for people not used to boating and when 100 lb dog is involved. good luck!