Hi All,
I am in the process of buying a 70's model 14 foot Starcraft for fishing. I am trying to decide weather this needs a short or long shaft motor. The first picture(labeled Starcraft Johnson) is the closest resemblence I could find on the internet. This appears to be a long shaft but it looks like the cavitation plate sits a couple of inches belowthe bottom of the boat.
The next two pictures are of the actual boat I am buying. The Honda motor in these pictures appears to be a short shaft? It was hard to get to the rear of the boat as I am in Michigan, it is in deep snow & pushed against a shed. I have looked on different websites and it seems the rule of thumb is 15-17 inch transom = short shaft while 20-22 inch tranasom = long shaft. They also say 1-2 inches one way or the other wont matter two much is that correct? I tried to get a tape measure on this & it appears that the transom measurement is about 18" (right in between)
I am buying boat motor & trailer for $600. The owner tells me that the Honda runs good and pushes this boat. He does say it will cavitate a little at high rpm's. Do they make cavitation plates for engines this small if so where do I find them. The price seems to be right at $600. Even if the Honda engine does not run correctly (hard to test in January in Michigan) I have a 1974 15HP Johnson short shaft that I could slap on it. But again this Johnson is also a short shaft. Is a 10- 15 hp engine adequate for this boat? Sorry for the long message, but I'm going to pull this out of the snow tomorrow, and want to have as much info as possible. Thanks in advance.
Dan
I am in the process of buying a 70's model 14 foot Starcraft for fishing. I am trying to decide weather this needs a short or long shaft motor. The first picture(labeled Starcraft Johnson) is the closest resemblence I could find on the internet. This appears to be a long shaft but it looks like the cavitation plate sits a couple of inches belowthe bottom of the boat.
The next two pictures are of the actual boat I am buying. The Honda motor in these pictures appears to be a short shaft? It was hard to get to the rear of the boat as I am in Michigan, it is in deep snow & pushed against a shed. I have looked on different websites and it seems the rule of thumb is 15-17 inch transom = short shaft while 20-22 inch tranasom = long shaft. They also say 1-2 inches one way or the other wont matter two much is that correct? I tried to get a tape measure on this & it appears that the transom measurement is about 18" (right in between)
I am buying boat motor & trailer for $600. The owner tells me that the Honda runs good and pushes this boat. He does say it will cavitate a little at high rpm's. Do they make cavitation plates for engines this small if so where do I find them. The price seems to be right at $600. Even if the Honda engine does not run correctly (hard to test in January in Michigan) I have a 1974 15HP Johnson short shaft that I could slap on it. But again this Johnson is also a short shaft. Is a 10- 15 hp engine adequate for this boat? Sorry for the long message, but I'm going to pull this out of the snow tomorrow, and want to have as much info as possible. Thanks in advance.
Dan
