Smallest motor size?

[mudebate]

I am seeking outboard guidance / suggestions. I have a 14' Fiberglas boat with a 55" transom.. It weighs in at about 200 lbs and I am not a light guy. I'd like to get a lightweight outboard to putter around on lakes and save my trolling motor battery for use while fishing. Anyone have thoughts on the smallest outbard I can get away with? 4hp? 6? Slapping a 100lb 9.9 on there just seem alike overkill. I don't expect to put it up on plane, but I would like to get around a little faster than with a trolling motor.

Original manufacture's specs call for up to 12.

Thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Look at it this way -- a bigger engine loafing is a better compromise than a small engine running its guts out. Any boat powered with an engine less than 70 - 75% of its maximum rated HP is a slug and not fun. If your boat has a 12 HP max, then power it with an 8 HP or larger engine. (12 x .7 = 8.4).

 

[lncoop]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Find a used 9.9, slap it on there, and get after it.:joyous:

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: Smallest motor size?

If portability with punch is a main factor go for a Tohatsu 9.8 horse, one of a kind. New or used, you and budget will decide.

Happy Boating

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Smallest motor size?

If all you want is to move around faster than with your electric motor, then any small gas motor will do the job, from 1.5 to 9.9

The bigger the the motor the better it will perform, but also weigh more. So it's up to you to decide on the right balance of weight to HP that will meet your performance needs.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Smallest motor size?

Look at it this way -- a bigger engine loafing is a better compromise than a small engine running its guts out. Any boat powered with an engine less than 70 - 75% of its maximum rated HP is a slug and not fun. If your boat has a 12 HP max, then power it with an 8 HP or larger engine. (12 x .7 = 8.4).

I agree, but if you already have a 6 lying around, try it. The too-small engine will hurt your ears b/c you will always be running it wide open.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Smallest motor size?

As a young boy, my Dad and I would go to a local lake and rent a 14' boat to go fishing. For a few bucks extra, they gave you a 3 1/2 HP Evinrude with a full tank of gas. That rig served us well for many years and we thought its performance was just fine. We ran it at WOT all the time.

One year when I was a teenager we borrowed a friend's 10 HP Mercury so we could save the money of renting the 3 1/2. Now, the boat planed. When Dad let me go out alone I ran it WOT all the time as well. But now i was racing any boat that had some girls in it....LOL.

I think a 6-8 HP 2-stroke with an integral tankl would be a good compromise.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Do they make six horseys and up with integrated tanks? Seems like that stops around four, but I could be wrong.

 

[nwcove]

Re: Smallest motor size?

I am seeking outboard guidance / suggestions. I have a 14' Fiberglas boat with a 55" transom.. It weighs in at about 200 lbs and I am not a light guy. I'd like to get a lightweight outboard to putter around on lakes and save my trolling motor battery for use while fishing. Anyone have thoughts on the smallest outbard I can get away with? 4hp? 6? Slapping a 100lb 9.9 on there just seem alike overkill. I don't expect to put it up on plane, but I would like to get around a little faster than with a trolling motor.

Original manufacture's specs call for up to 12.

Thanks

imho, if just puttering around is your goal, an omc 4 or 4.5 two stroke is ideal, light and dependable. but an 8hp isnt much heavier and will allow you to fish for a bit longer before dark....it will get you back to the dock a whole lot quicker. a 9.9 would be nice, but they are a bit on the heavy side if you have to carry it more than ten feet! lol

 

[colbyt]

Re: Smallest motor size?

A wide boat will displace less water with a load and plow less. One of the fastest travel days I ever had with with my 1.5 Eska was when the only rental boat left was a wide 14.

I am planning to use a 3.5-4 on a 14' tinny with a 5.5' beam and a 2-body load of 600 pounds (no wisecracks).

And for incoop, 5 is about the biggest I have ever seen with an integral tank.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Do they make six horseys and up with integrated tanks? Seems like that stops around four, but I could be wrong.

Yup, sorry, brain fart. I have several 5's, 6's, 7.5's all the way up to a 9.3 Johnson with integral tanks but they are all of the antique vintage. For a daily user less than 40 years old, probably 5 is the biggest.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Those 9.9 hp motors are real honeys. I remember how people on 10 hp restricted lakes used to get the same motors in 15 hp versions and change the decals--the real speed demons. And they last just about forever.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Smallest motor size?

Yup, sorry, brain fart. I have several 5's, 6's, 7.5's all the way up to a 9.3 Johnson with integral tanks but they are all of the antique vintage. For a daily user less than 40 years old, probably 5 is the biggest.

Yup 5 is probably the biggest with an integral tank.
I do believe Gale had a full gear shift 12 with an integral tank. circa 1955 obviously older than 40 years but interesting.

 

[tomhath]

Re: Smallest motor size?

I remember how people on 10 hp restricted lakes used to get the same motors in 15 hp versions and change the decals--the real speed demons.

A bit safer was to buy the 9.9 and upgrade the carburetor so the model # tag still said 9.9. Not that I would own such a motor