My buddy and I were having a philosophical discussion over a pint the other night about outboard motor sizing and the rules and requirements therein. I wanted to run this by you guys to see what you all know about the subject.
Every outboard-equipped boat I?ve ever been in has a sticker that has a boat capacity, weight, etc label, which also includes the boat motor horsepower rating, or some such.
We got to discussing my boat, a 1996 four wins with a Johnson 130 on it, and it?s top speed being a little over 45 MPH. I told him that I would like to have a bit more horsepower, because I am 6?-4? and weight a touch under 300 pounds, and the little 130 really struggles to pull me up (okay, it is me that struggles from being underwater for so long.. ha ha!) but that I don?t really want to lose my nice 33 MPH cruising sweet spot if I were to reduce prop pitch. But I digress.
My Dad?s boat is a 20 footer with a 200 horse outboard on it, and it rips. I figure a 10hp per foot rating gets 55 to 60 mph top speed, and an impressive holeshot in a typical open bow runabout like Dad and I both have. So I was saying that I wanted to up my 17 foot open bow runabout to about 10 hp per foot, by putting a 175 on it. (Note, this is all beer talk, there is no way I?m actually going to do that!)
And so we began? he said that I couldn?t legally do that because the sticker on my boat shows a 140 horse rating. I said that I thought that sticker was for the manufacturer and that once sold, the private owner could do whatever he wanted with it. I used those little ?go-faster? jet boats with big block caddy 502?s in a 15 to 17 foot boat as an example. No way the manufacturer of that shell intended for it to make 500 horsepower!
Also, my Dad had a boat rated for a 90 horse with a 115 horse on it that he ran around in for years. I know that doesn?t mean it was LEGAL, but man, if you knew my Dad?
Anyway, does anyone on here know for sure what the answer to this is? I?m sure we all have our opinions, and I am also sure that if I were to up her to a 175, that legal or not I no one would ever say a word, because I?ve been boating, along with my Dad, for a collective 60 years, and neither of us have ever had the sticker checked, despite having been ?safety checked? countless times at local lakes by the law.
What is more, our discussion went downt he road of ?well, what if you just ripped off the sticker, how would they know?? It was a good question. Are you required by law to have that sticker?
Every outboard-equipped boat I?ve ever been in has a sticker that has a boat capacity, weight, etc label, which also includes the boat motor horsepower rating, or some such.
We got to discussing my boat, a 1996 four wins with a Johnson 130 on it, and it?s top speed being a little over 45 MPH. I told him that I would like to have a bit more horsepower, because I am 6?-4? and weight a touch under 300 pounds, and the little 130 really struggles to pull me up (okay, it is me that struggles from being underwater for so long.. ha ha!) but that I don?t really want to lose my nice 33 MPH cruising sweet spot if I were to reduce prop pitch. But I digress.
My Dad?s boat is a 20 footer with a 200 horse outboard on it, and it rips. I figure a 10hp per foot rating gets 55 to 60 mph top speed, and an impressive holeshot in a typical open bow runabout like Dad and I both have. So I was saying that I wanted to up my 17 foot open bow runabout to about 10 hp per foot, by putting a 175 on it. (Note, this is all beer talk, there is no way I?m actually going to do that!)
And so we began? he said that I couldn?t legally do that because the sticker on my boat shows a 140 horse rating. I said that I thought that sticker was for the manufacturer and that once sold, the private owner could do whatever he wanted with it. I used those little ?go-faster? jet boats with big block caddy 502?s in a 15 to 17 foot boat as an example. No way the manufacturer of that shell intended for it to make 500 horsepower!
Also, my Dad had a boat rated for a 90 horse with a 115 horse on it that he ran around in for years. I know that doesn?t mean it was LEGAL, but man, if you knew my Dad?
Anyway, does anyone on here know for sure what the answer to this is? I?m sure we all have our opinions, and I am also sure that if I were to up her to a 175, that legal or not I no one would ever say a word, because I?ve been boating, along with my Dad, for a collective 60 years, and neither of us have ever had the sticker checked, despite having been ?safety checked? countless times at local lakes by the law.
What is more, our discussion went downt he road of ?well, what if you just ripped off the sticker, how would they know?? It was a good question. Are you required by law to have that sticker?
