What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

[v8psp]

I have a 16ft Perfomance Bass Boat that has a bad 115merc on it now. The boat is a Fiberglass boat with a Max rating of 150hp. Im just wandering if a 50hp is to small or even a 40hp. I just want it to get up and down the river because I mostly catfish and use my trolling motor. So what do you advise me to do thanks.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

i mean u can go to like 1hp and still be able to somewhere. how fast do u wanna go


id say with a 16footer u get 25mph with a 40-50 maybe 30

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

Planning speed is only part of the equation. The problem is that you need to get up over the bow wave in order to get on plane. That takes power. My buddies 14' glass bass boat struggled constantly with a 40 to get on plane in any kind of wind or chop. A severly underpower boat is dangerous IMHO. I personally wouldn't even consider less than a 70 and then only if I could test run it.

 

[bowman316]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

when bad weather approaches you will want at least a 115 on it. No less than 90. Bass boats do not fair well in a storm with high seas, because they are only a few inches off the water. This is why I like boats with high transoms. So becasue of that, I would want speed to get the hel* out of dodge when you see a storm comming.

the old rule of thumb is you need at least 70% of the max rated HP.

 

[5150abf]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

I am a fellow Catman and know exactly what you are talking about, I am on the motor for 10-15 minutes to get to my hole then troll between spots the rest of the night then run 10 mph back to the ramp.

I have a 16' aluminum heavy, 2 casting decks-2 livewells full floor all 3/4 marine ply so your boat may actually weigh less than mine and I run a 50 and it gets me 27-30mph gps.

Being a bass boat your hull should run faster than mine so a 50 would be fine, bass boats are always way overpowered anyhow.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

for proper performance of the boat, the rule of thumb is 70% of rated Horse Power is the minimum. boat rated for 150 x 70% = 105, so i would say 90 or 100 hp. V-4 JohnnyRude.

 

[Benny1963]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

depends on how fast ya want to get ther my bateaux is 15ft with a 35 and it gos good but my mckee is 17ft with 175 and it flys dangerous as hell
i have bought a couple of heavy bass hull that were underated and was not happy seperated and sold them if its rated at 150 ya should put another one back on it or agood 140 looper 135 merc lots of options between 100 and 150
some guys like to cruise and some like to fly .me i like to do both but useing differnt boats and measures ,i personaly have never been happy with a underated boat ,but thats me . my bud has a 15ft bateaux and he runs
a 9.9 yamaha fishes the same spots i do just takes him a little longer to get there be safe with whatever ya do people are dieing on the water a lot these days due to lack of experience and people runnin 80 plus on small rivers. common down here were im at .if ya get on the river by my house
and cant run fifty and take large wake and attacks from 70 mph pwcs your in trouble .i got passed last week by a guy with twin 2.5 merc 280s on a party barge ,i was runnin 50 at 4800 wth
take it e4asy

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

90 hp minimum in my opinion. A 115hp would be ideal !!!

 

[v8psp]

Re: What is the smallest Outboard I should go with

looks like i need to start saving up