115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

[jdp8488]

I have a stratos 179v rated for a max hp of 150. It weighs about 1200LBS. I was going to put a black max on it, but recently received a free johnson 115 in pretty good shape. I had an old 70hp johnson looper on a 650lb boat and it didnt really perform as nice as I would have liked it to. Took forever to get on plane, sometimes had to stand in the bow. Would I be looking at the about the same performance? Almost double the weight, almost double the HP of my old boat.. sounds like the same combo almost, any info would be helpful. Thanks. -Justin

 

[JB]

Re: 115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

My general rule of thumb is that it takes 70% of rated HP to get satisfactory performance from a planing hull, JDP. A 115 would meet that, but with not a lot to spare.

I have had success with 70HP outboards on boats rated for 100HP and 25HP on boats rated for 40HP. Based on that experience I would expect good performance from a 115 on your boat.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: 115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

Appreciate it, we will see how she does, guess I can always upgrade later.

 

[jevery]

Re: 115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

I had a 17" Crestliner with published weight of 1300 with a 115 Merc 4-stroke. I was a nice little combo with great fuel economy and a top end about 45 MPH. No problem getting on plane with four adults and fast enough for my needs.

 

[jdp8488]

Re: 115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

sounds promising to me

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 115 Johnson on 1200LB bass boat?

While weight is a factor it's not as important as hull design and set up. A decent 17' boat with a V4 should get on plane fairly easy.

I had a 20' ski boat once and ran a V4 looper for a while. A friend wanted to ski but had doubts if a V4 could pull him up on a solemn ski. After I pulled him out of his ski 3 times I wondered if he really wanted to ski or not.