Small boat Question

[upnorth]

I have quick question. I am looking to buy a 14 boat for the smaller lakes in the area, my 17 ft deep V is just to hard to get in and out of these smaller lakes with lousy boat landings.

What I am not sure of is what I should be looking for as far as a motor goes. I would like to be able to troll yet still get it up on plane with a couple people in it. I am thinking a 15 horse should do the trick, but hate to plunk down the $$$ and find out it doesn't work well. I am not looking for a speedy little bugger just to get up on plane and maybe hit 18 to 20 mph. It will be an older used boat hopefully under $1500.

[LightningBG]

I use a 15 horse Johnson on a 14ft alum for one of my boats. Works great. Gets up on plane immediately with 1 person and gear, and reasonable quick with 2 people and gear. I wouldn't change anything about the setup. $1500 should be plenty.

[jwmiller33]

it depends how fast you want to go with your boat. if your cruising the river with a 15hp on a 14 ft, going up river with 1 other person in the boat besides yourself, your going to go 11-12 mph max. takes a long time to cruise from spot to spot. i would consider going with a 25hp if you dont want it to take all day to get to new spots

[SimilarIsland]

My friend has two 14 ft Alumacrafts that we run in Canada with 15 HP and 20 HP Mercury 2Strokes. The 15's will push two anglers and gear a 23 GPS and the 20's will do 26 GPS. We like the 15's way better than the 20's. These Alumacrafts are very light boats.

[gardn184]

I've got a 15 horse on my 14 ft starcraft and it pushes it reasonably quick, 20 according to my gps, the motor is a 1954 johnson so I have a feeling that one of the newer ones might be a little quicker ha ha. I think 1500 hundred should be more than enough

[marine_man]

I would strongly consider a 25hp... a 15hp will do the trick, yes, but the 25 should be able to get the job done without an issue.

If you go 15hp I would look for a 2 stroke; a 4 stroke 15 hp will really be borderline when it comes to the speed you're looking for with two guys in the boat.

marine_man

[no bait nate]

i've fished out of a 14' glass trihull with a 18hp Johnson on it for 7 years now and it's been great. planes out great with one guy and hits about 20 mph on the GPS. with two guys and gear it's tough to get it to plane out on rough water but it will still go over 15 mph. recently just got a new boat so i've listed the trihull with the 18 hp for sale. let me know if anyone is interested and i can get some pics out.

[upnorth]

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like a 15 or 20 should fit my needs pretty well.

[broken_line]

i have a 14.5 deep v crestliner with full floor live well and all the extra goodies with a 25 hp it will get on plane good with 3 big guys and does about 23 with just me

[Down Deep]

I had a Lund S-14 and it ran well with a 2-S 15 HP. You can also get a power trim & tilt and that will really improve the performance.