1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Dick Phillips

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Jun 9, 2010
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I just bought a 1964,16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury outboard. Is that enough to power that size boat? It is in great shape for an oldie, the motor has been serviced in October and not used. The price was right and I liked the size and shape, so I took a shot. Can anyone who knows that type of boat help?
 

tazrig

Lieutenant Commander
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Dec 20, 2012
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1,752
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

We used to have a 16 foot MFG like this one:

432px-Mfga59002.jpg

The original engine was a 50 hp and that was fine but only because it was a 4 cylinder and had lots of grunt. when we replaced the motor with a newer 2 cylinder 50 hp it was barely enough to get up and plane with 4-5 people on board. So to answer your question. 25 hp with even one person is probably going to be under powered. You really need at least a 50 hp but not more than an 85 hp. as MFG's are pretty light in the water.
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 16, 2011
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11,429
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Hello DP and welcome aboard ! My 64 Edinboro is 16.5 ft and is rated for an 85 . The original o/b was a 55 4 stroke Homelite then my father put a 70 hp Chrysler now I am installing a 85 Force . How bout some pics of yours ! :)
 

Dick Phillips

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Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Hello DP and welcome aboard ! My 64 Edinboro is 16.5 ft and is rated for an 85 . The original o/b was a 55 4 stroke Homelite then my father put a 70 hp Chrysler now I am installing a 85 Force . How bout some pics of yours ! :)

Thanks for the info, I'm sure I'm going to have to invest in a larger motor. Also I'd like to send some photos but I have it covered for the winter, live in the north-east and snow is upon us.....as soon as the weather breaks I'll have some photos taken.
 

Dick Phillips

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Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Thanks for the info, that link is very useful, I appreciate that.
 

SteveMFG_Oxford

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Nov 22, 2011
Messages
207
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Welcome!

I have a 1960 Oxford, a fifteen footer, on which I have a 20 HP Honda. I use it mostly for cruising around a small PA lake. Usually its only me (180 lbs) or my wife and I both (300 lbs) and the boat has a decent turn of speed. Alone I max out about 23 mph. Cruise is about 18 on flat water. With both of us it's slightly less.

My engine is a long shaft type and should really be a short one. This does cause some excessive drag. It's just not worth it to me to change engines.

You boat is larger and heavier than mine. More experienced owners here have given you some good info. How much power you need depends on how you plan to use the boat. I set mine up to accommodate my state lakes restriction to 20 HP max. If I weren't constrained by that, and I used it in bigger water, I would have went with a 40 - 45 Honda. On yours I think maybe a 50 at the minimum. Don't forget, proper propeller selection is important to overall performance. On my Honda I have a 9 1/4" x 10" prop.

I'm happy with mine the way it is. It suits my needs and came at a very low cost.

See my thread for more information.

DSC_3943_110.jpg
 

Mark_VTfisherman

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Nov 29, 2008
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1,486
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

Lower horsepower as Steve mentioned might be fine for simple cruising. But add a bunch of tackle, downriggers, extra battery, two fuel tanks and my 14' Niagara with the old '65 40hp Johnson (about 33-34HP measured at the prop like a modern motor) was underpowered. I repowered with a 40HP Suzuki and empty it really flies- 34.xMPH on GPS.

Having fished a lot of bad conditions with this light weight MFG hull type. !6-foot MFGs act basically the same: 8mph to 11mph in 3'-5' waves is absolute tops. The bow won't stay up good under 6mph. With any kind of mild chop 22mph - 23mph is starting to be too fast for the hull to not pound with oncoming waves. a 1' chop is fine with waves aft. A 3' following sea is best handled at 18mph tops and at a 45-degree angle to them. Anything different and your teeth will end up through your lips as they meet the steering wheel.

All this takes horsepower and I am glad for my 40hp and have wished for a tiny bit more. But if your boat is only going to day-cruise for pleasure and not see rough conditions like Champlain can dish or navigate the results of a 20mph steady W wind at Oneida then perhaps 25hp might be enough. Add some gear or navigate some weather and you'll want more. I suggest about 60 modern horsepower for your 16-footer, 50 minimum
 

mfgniagara

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
92
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

I had an older Johnson 25hp on my Niagara, a 14' model and thought it was underpowered even with just me aboard.
A 16 footer will be wider, longer, and heavier, if it planes out at all I'd be surprised.
I do have a buddy with an old 16' glass hull open boat that runs a 6hp on a lake, it moves, but that's about all I can say for it. Its fine on a lake but won't go upstream in the river with any sort of wind.

I'd say nothing smaller than maybe a more modern 50hp or if you can about 70hp.

One thing I found with all of my MFGs is that the best motor is always the one with the most hp vs outboard weight.
 

Sailorskier

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Feb 5, 2014
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1
Re: 1964, 16 foot, MFG w/ 25 hp Mercury

I noticed this is an old thread but had to respond.

I had a 1964 16' MFG that was almost identical to this except with a 75hp Johnson SuperSeahorse.
We had to put about 250lbs. of sandbags in the bow to keep it from hobby horsing.

It was great for hauling 2 slalom skiers. Problem was that by the time I received it as my college graduation gift from my father in 1975 my younger sister and her boyfriend had just about worn out the boat and engine. I had to rebuild the front bench that had collapsed (it had torsion spring suspension that couldn't handle the typical 3 passenger load), all of the screws holding the 3 aluminum keel strips on the bottom had come loose so we had to pull the plug and run full throttle about every 20 minutes to drain the boat. The first time I launched it at National Airport the trailer collapsed so I had to take it in and have it rewelded with additional partnered reinforcing. Last but not least I blew a cylinder the first year since it didn't have a temperature gauge and had to rebuild the engine. After over 10 years of heavy use the roller bearings in the Johnson engine were in pristine condition.
 
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