Over horsepowering boats

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

All the new rating plates I've seen mention net wieght as well as horsepower and usually number of people--has something to do with level flotation.

Yeah, but if you stacked all that weight on the transom it would stick up like a buoy

[croixflats]

Originally Posted By: kkahmann

All the new rating plates I've seen mention net wieght as well as horsepower and usually number of people--has something to do with level flotation.

Yeah, but if you stacked all that weight on the transom it would stick up like a buoy

put reflective tape on her and your good to go for night fishing

[Christopher Quast]

SS I personally have had a very scary experience by doing what Dtro and some of the other guys say is no big deal. Here is what happened I had a 14' lund just a little fishing boat and the tag said it was rated for 14HP and when I saw a 20HP on a garage sale for a price I couldnt pass up I quickly replaced the ol 5 HP Johnson and the first time out was awesome with four of us in the boat, but the second time nearly cost me and my son our lives. We were out on a little local lake and I had her going about half throttle and and I took my hand off the motor for a quick second and it usually ran nice and straight and all of a sudden we started whipping violently back and forth and we bounced off the sides of the boat and had lost all control of the boat and eventually just before my boy flew out of the boat I regained control by killing the engine and I will never do that again. Granted it was a small boat, but just goes to show your better off staying on the lower side of things Bigger isn't always better.

And Dtro if just the carbs are bigger it's not going to have any effect on the horsepoer output? Hmmmmm let me think about that.

[MuleShack]

actually some of the bigger motors use the same block and just bore it a little bigger for the higher CC's.

I would stick with the 40. Back in the day, i had an old 78' 16' Ranger with the tri hull and i came with a 35 johnson. I ended up burning out that motor (which is a story in itself) so i bought a 50 mariner to put on it. That boat was a tank, but with that 50 on there that thing was a rocket. For a 16' lunker, a 40 would do you just fine and for a cheaper price too. imo.

[Surface Tension]

A Lunker isn't the strongest hull to begin with. If you took out any supports when you added the casting deck or tank it'll have more flex then it already had. Next is hull shape, with a relatively flat bottom it'll pound on a chop.

Heres where you'll really feel the added hp and weight over a hulls rating. Slower speed turns will get hairy. That extra hp and weight will heal the boat over a lot.

A newer 40 hp will be close in hp to an older 45 hp. The jump from 30hp to 40hp will be a very noticeable change and I think you'd be more then happy with that. If I saw a 50 hp on the Lunker I'd be doing a double take for sure. Would a CO also?

[DTro]

I agree that you would be happy with a newer 40hp. For some reason I thought a 40hp is what you were using, and now that you say you have a Lunker, the 40hp would be ideal.

Goldtip, that must be a pretty small boat to be only rated for a 14hp max. My plain Jane 14ft is rated for a 35hp. Also, I never recommended overpowering, just said that I wouldn't have a problem if it was my boat, bumping up 5hp if I had a real hard time finding anything close to the max.

[Sandmannd]

Thanks to all for the input on this. I should have mentioned my boat is a 1993 Alumacraft Lunker 16' which isn't as wide as the new ones. Insurance? Does my auto insurance cover me when I'm rovin'?

You need to get boat insurance. It's not all that spendy and worth it to have it.

[MuntzAngling]

I guess I will go with the 40 horse if I still can't find a 45. Also that motor may be more ideal for trolling at lower speeds. The knowledge available from so many people on this topic has been SO helpful. Thanks.

Andy

[raymondk]

The newer lunkers are rated for 50 hp

but there are the wider ones

[steffanf]

I'll agree about what was said comparing a 30 HP to a 40 HP. Someone mentioned on here about the engines being "completely different animals" or something to that regard. That is an understatement from what I have seen personally. Of course, my boat isn't very long, but it is a bit bulky (1425 Classic SS)...

-Gregg B.

[BobT]

I always figured the rating was for our protection. The boat's hull design, length, depth, water displacement, and transom design must all go into the calculation.

Just because a boat's transom doesn't rip off from the motor torque doesn't mean it's safe to use the extra power. There might be issues such as stearing and handling for example. Insurance could be the least of your worries.

Bob

[fishinmajishin]

A 40hp 2 stroke should do you just fine. 4 stroke may be too heavy. Most boats' ratings are pretty close to good common sense, although there are some exceptions somewhere I suppose. Check into putting some hydro-stabilizers on the cav-plate...they knock your speed down about 1% but the stability of the motor greatly improves.

[marine_man]

The bottom line, in my opinion anyway, is that it's over the rated HP. If any incident happens between you and anything else one of the things insurance looks for is if the motor hp is over the rated hp. If so, claim denied, regardless of what the situation was or who was at fault.

It's the same reason a dealer won't hang a motor over the rated hp on a boat.

Will an accident happen? Hopefully not. But, who plans to have an accident?

marine_man

[hydro]

To the original poster Ssminner, I think the basic question here is not a horsepower numbers issue but rather one of "desired performance". Assuming you need a new motor, do your homework and get the operational features that you want in a 40 HP model. It will be more than enough for that hull. Most fishing boat designs are very low performance and sluggish to begin with and your money is best spent on the best all around motor for what you want to do. Remember that weight on the transom is a critical factor in determining high speed response so look for a lighter motor. The two strokes excel here but the technology is outdated.

The most important thing that you can do is to select the right prop. Your dealer can help here and see if you can try out a couple on the water. Keep in mind that more pitch does not always mean more speed and it usually reduces overall performance. Set your trim neutral to negative and check the hole shot. You want the nose of the boat to come up quickly and then drop back level. If the motor has power trim raise it while at WOT until you see a rooster tail about 3' high and see how it feels (more trim just uses energy to throw water into the air and will slow you down). The handling should still be nimble and responsive with no torque steer. Do a couple of high speed turns and see if the prop loses grip, if so, try another.

IMHO on that hull increasing to a 50 HP motor would probably be a waste of money and as said above, illegal.