Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

[srimes]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

The opinion of the professional engineers and architects who designed and built the boat is that anything over 25HP is too much, Andy.

I think it's coast guard guidelines and recommend power limits on those small boats, not the boat designer. And they come down hard on hard-chine tiller-steer boats.

Another question: how heavy are you? If you're big, and you put an oversized motor on the back of that little boat, you may need some ballast up front to avoid swamping.

 

[Cap'n_Half-hitch]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

The opinion of the professional engineers and architects who designed and built the boat is that anything over 25HP is too much, Andy.

That would be really, really dumb.

Sadly, the engineer's calculations hardly matter any more. Generally it's the marketing and accounting departments who decide things like this in order to slot their product into a profitable niche.

Probably there would never be any problems, but the water cops do go by that little maximum hp and maximum capacity plate when they are handing out tickets on labor day.

 

[Andyfender]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

I am going to stay with the 15HP pull start. It runs fine and has some zip. I only wish it had an electric starter.

Andy

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

You might want to look for a 25 as a 15 sounds underpowered. But a 35 might be too much. That's quite a small boat and a large percentage jump (40%) in motor size. Don't do it.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

I am going to stay with the 15HP pull start. It runs fine and has some zip. I only wish it had an electric starter.

A fine example of how these forums are supposed to work. He asked for opinions, got a bunch going both ways, and made a decision (one that I agree with). Some people come onto these forums looking for permission to do things, others come for honest opinions. Andy weighed the positives (more speed, likely no dangers, etc) versus the possibility of a lawsuit and decided to err on the side of caution.

Another satisfied customer...

 

[JimS123]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

A fine example of how these forums are supposed to work. He asked for opinions, got a bunch going both ways, and made a decision (one that I agree with). Some people come onto these forums looking for permission to do things, others come for honest opinions. Andy weighed the positives (more speed, likely no dangers, etc) versus the possibility of a lawsuit and decided to err on the side of caution.

Another satisfied customer...

However, any lawyers reading the thread were probably not happy about the outcome.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

not likely. Assumiong you mean "lawyers who want an easy case for big money" neither representing nor suing the uninsured over a boat wreck would be a good case, economically.
And most lawyers don't think that way, any more than all cops are Dirty Harry.

 

[Andyfender]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

For what it's worth I went to a Marina this afternoon and discussed it with one of their mechanics. He ask what year the engine was (78) and said that would be okay, if it was a newer engine he couldn't do it. He said 10 HP over the recommended was not a big deal.

Andy

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Is This To Much Engine for my boat?

Again Andy, there are two different points being made here:

1) That 35hp motor probably won't hurt your boat transom. It is an older motor and probably puts out less than 35hp. Then again, your transom is older so it may not be able to fully support a strong 25hp motor. In all likelihood, you can probably run the 35hp on there without problem.

2) If you are the cause of a boating accident, and have insurance, your carrier will likely not cover you if they discover that you over-horsed your boat's recommended motor rating.

So there are two issues to weigh, a can-it-be-done question and a should-it-be-done question. Good luck.