Looking for some opinions.

[Philippe12]

I bought a Mercury Seapro 25hp 2 stroke last year and have been using it on my 1969 springbok 14ft aluminum that I removed the windshield and steering from and a made a tiller boat. I recently jetted the motor because it was running waaaaaay to lean for emission purposes, I recommend anyone who has this motor to do the same, it makes a world of difference. The boat now with 2 guys and a bit of gear will do 35mph, closer to 40mph with me alone.

I've been looking at getting a bigger boat. I would like to get a 16' Princecraft Starfish, went to look at one today and holy crap it's big! I didn't relize it was so big. very nice and roomy. It wieghs 300lbs dry. I figure i put a casting deck over the front 2 seats and a small floor in the back part.
Is my motor big enough for this boat? The seapro is a bigger displacment motor than a normal 25hp so it's got a bit more torque, plus my jetting gained me quite a bit of horsepower.

The boat just looks so big for the motor lol The next boat down would be a 14' Yukon which is 240lbs but isn't much bigger than the boat i have now.

 

[starcraft1982]

Re: Looking for some opinions.

Two things to think about.One,what are you looking for?if your goal is a roomier boat to be comfortable out of and speed doesnt bother you that much,then it will move the boat,albeit not at near 35-40mph like your boat now.the bigger hull added weight of wood decks and such will definatly affect your speed.i would think(guessing)youd probably get 20-25 out of it.probably still able to plane,though not near as easily.The second thing to consider is the lugging it will put on that motor.It will be working MUCH harder.check the capacity plate on the newer boat.If its 50hp or more,that boat will be underpowered and will POSSIBLY work your motor into an earlier grave than normal.just things to consider as anything used tiller wise over 25hp is pretty scarce to find.good luck

 

[Philippe12]

Re: Looking for some opinions.

My older boat had a 69 40hp johnson on it that i sold and is rated for a 40hp and the new boat is also rated for a 40hp but is size wise a much bigger boat. I am not that conserned about speed but as long as it still does 25mph im happy. Yea tillers bigger than 30hp are hard to find. My hull now probably weighs just over 200lbs, maybe 100 approx lbs lighter than the new one. i will keep the thickness of my wood down for the deck so it shouldnt weight that much. I am very surprised though for the size of that new boat its only 300lbs.

maybe somone here has a similar setup they can comment about

 

[Philippe12]

Re: Looking for some opinions.

bump