overpowering

[WIMUSKY]

Re: overpowering

the people who are strongly against overpowering just go away because you aren't putting anything into the thread. what is the boat you consider most overpowered you have ever owned?

I think this thread may go away in a real hurry because we're not here to promote, encourage dangerous behavior. Never mind the legalities of overpowering.

Also, note the use of paragraphs......

metric nailed this one......

 

[aspeck]

Re: overpowering

Hmmm, I don't get it. You post a question about overpowering boats in a manner you apparently knew would get negative reaction, then you are upset when you get negative reaction?

That said, all the things about insurance and accidents still apply. You only need insurance when there is an accident ... no accident, no need. But if there is an accident and you injure or kill someone, you better hope you have some type of insurance coverage or you will lose everything.

Back to your original "question," I had a 15 footer that was rated for an 85. I had an 88SPL on her. That is about as far as I would go on that boat. Each boat is going to be different. 10-15 hp over is not "as much" on a 17 fter rated for a 140 as it is on a 12 fter rated for a 15. Kind of a broad question.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: overpowering



As I said in my first reply: "Too much horsepower is never enough" But that is for myself.

To answer your question: I have a 14 foot flat bottom which has been highly modified . Originally it was rated for about 40. It now has a 125 and tops out at 60. In the near future, It will be powered with a 140 to see if I can top 65 MPH.

I also have a 10 foot tunnel hull which was designed for class racing with a Mercury 25. It is now powered with a 55.

Each of these boats is a personal experiment; I play around with props, setback, transom height, and anything else I think would net more speed. Neither of them is my regular or weekend boat and I would never sell them powered as they are.

 

[rbh]

Re: overpowering

Yup, gotta be from van island.

 

[DAN M VAGOS]

Re: overpowering

Wow that got ugly fast

 

[JB]

Re: overpowering

Wow that got ugly fast

Trolls often do that.

 

[westcoaster90]

Re: overpowering

it's ok guys. I didn't mean to stir the pot. I did say that I truelly don't mean to do it. I figured there would be more people with this happening and i'm sure there are but they just won't speak up or are not on iboats. hell a lot of the boats I fix up are so dang old they either didn't come with an id plate or it got taken off in the past. anyways all of them has always worked good. I usually use them as my personal boat before I sell them and they never get sold to the inexperienced. I got a buddy right now with an 11' Livingston fitted with a centre console and a 50 mariner. thing works great. he is far worse then me and sells boats also. heck I was born to overpower. my dad and all his friends overpowered their boats from day one. anyways it's important you guys know I respect your opinions on it. no biggy. I have my opinion and thats been my opinion for as long as I can remember. installed the 50 merc on the 12'6" today and brought it for a rip. just as awesome as my old one was with the 50 Honda. seems to not sit much different as if it had a smaller motor on it. it's nice to be able to get up on plane and cruise at low rpm while still holding plane and doing a decent speed. this boat is a keeper as I missed my old one with the Honda once it was gone. it was all around me when young and still all around me now. like I said, it is a way of life here. everyone does it.

 

[Watermann]

Re: overpowering

This thread made me wonder about the re-powering of stern drive boats. The 2 may be the apples and oranges argument. There doesn't seem to be the same rating system for HP. In my Chief rebuild I was thinking about going from the venerable 2.5 MC to a 4.3 MC and then I found a donor boat for sale with a complete 5.7 MC and bravo OD. I thought about problems associated with going from 120 HP to 300 HP and the thought is intriguing but all of the forces applied to the hull in theory are the same with outboards.

Will this overpowering mean the early demise of the hull or hull failure on the water? Some ideas for safer over powering. A rebuild of the boat knowing that your going to over power it would be a safer way of doing things. Adding reinforcements to areas of the hulll/transom where all that power will be distributed. Add a knee brace or 2. Replacement of existing wood with stronger marine grade ply rather than just re-powering on top of old 4 layer factory ply and age deteriorated supports.

I would concur with some of the negative aspects mentioned if no hull reworking was done on these older boats. Although if some steps are taken in good faith to decrease the negative effects of the overpowering then I would say it's reasonable.

 

[moosehead]

Re: overpowering

Westcoaster, how does she handle rougher waters? Seaworthy for your area? Can she handle normal gear/passenger loads beyond your captain's chair? Presume you have a center or forward helm to help balance a smaller craft? Would be interested in a photo of her with the 50.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: overpowering

Not always just a matter of will the hull support the added weight/torque/hp but will the hull become unstable at speed with the over power. I know I wouldn't want to try a 25hp on a jon boat that is only rated for 5hp even if it would hold it w/o sinking.

 

[JoLin]

Re: overpowering

I thought about problems associated with going from 120 HP to 300 HP and the thought is intriguing but all of the forces applied to the hull in theory are the same with outboards.

No, they aren't. A sterndrive boat transfers most of its power to the longitudinal hull stringers to which the motor is mounted. Much less torque is applied to the transom itself.

My .02

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: overpowering

No, they aren't. A sterndrive boat transfers most of its power to the longitudinal hull stringers to which the motor is mounted. Much less torque is applied to the transom itself.

I believe that's only partially correct. With a sterndrive the transom doesn't have to support the weight of the engine, so from that standpoint there's a lot less force on the transom. But all propulsive force is still applied to the transom.

 

[JoLin]

Re: overpowering

Metric, I'm no engineer, but I see most of the torque being applied to the motor mounts, which are bolted through the stringers. Whatever torque is being generated on the transom, will be applied only to the lowest part of it, which is firmly bonded to the hull on 3 sides. I simply don't see the same twisting force on the transom.

Not insisting that I'm right, but that's what my old brain's logic tells me

 

['78 Crusader]

Re: overpowering

hay guys and gals . I was just throwing another boat together today and thought I wonder how many other people are like me and overpower there boat to the max I truelly do not mean to though. I buy boats and motors cheap and rarely together as a package to fix and make a bit of coin off of. so what I do is everytime I buy a boat I fix it up, then walk over to the engine stands and pick a motor. whatever I have is what it gets. boats sell fast where I live as 60% of the population lives on islands in the sound. I actually have lists of people needing boats and fulfill it the best I can. anyways, what is the boat you consider the most overpowered you have ever owned not including race boats? my most overpowered currently was a 15'6" hourston glascraft with a 96 Suzuki 225. it really wasn't all that bad though. just sat kinda funny at the dock. I had a 150 black max at the time too but the 225 was just an experiment as it wasn't much heavier then the 150. what got me thinking about asking this question is today I was building a 12'6" hourston glascraft which I have now decided will be a personal boat. bought it for $100 and all it needed was a floor. it is mint otherwise. I went back to my engine stands and realized all I had left in a size range for it was a 89 30hp Johnson 2 stroke, 2006 25hp Yamaha 4 stroke and a 2002 50hp EFI merc 4 stroke. now I don't know about you guys, I love BRP but I hate all things OMC. the Yamaha is also a bit of a turd. so yet again, like all my builds the biggest motor ends up on the boat. this one has me a bit concerned though. this is a small boat with a heavy 4 stroke. 247lbs dry to be exact. another few questions, have any of you owned a 12'6" hourston glascraft?, and if so what is the engine you put on them? I owned one before which I put a 50 Honda on and it was great but I just feel the extra 40lbs (which doesn't seem like much) is gonna be a lot for such a small boat. sorry for the long rant but please discuss. I must add that around here getting caught by the coast guard or police with an overpowered boat is not an issue. either they're to dumb to realize or just don't care cause like I say, all my boats seem to be over powered but I never ever get it mentioned. I have many friends in the guard though so that could be it.

To the OP....don't worry about these guys man.....we over power our boats all the time. My 1978 21' Jet Boat is pushing close to 450 hp..... and when it was new, it's did NOT have a capacity plate on it.

Most guys I run with have some serious horsepower pushing their sleds.....

I realize your original post was meant to be more fun than it turned out to be.....especially with the up tight "Know it alls'" on the boards. .

 

[JoLin]

Re: overpowering

Glad you chimed in just to insult everyone who has a concern about the OP's action. It was very helpful and much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: overpowering

So many yahoos, so little time.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: overpowering

On my sterndrive, the aft motor mounts are attached to the transom core and the forward mounts are tied into the stringers. I would think any force from propulsion would be transferred pretty equally to the transom and the stringers. I hope the transom is essential to transferring the load to the hull, given all the wood and fiberglass that went into that sucker!

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: overpowering

....Most guys I run with have some serious horsepower pushing their sleds.....

I realize your original post was meant to be more fun than it turned out to be.....especially with the up tight "Know it alls'" on the boards. .

But all those 'know it alls' realize that outboard equipped boats have maximum HP ratings and I/O's, inboards, and jet boats do not. I don't guess you caught on to the fact that this thread started out as a discussion about outboards.

I'm not a marine engineer, but have a pretty good idea that the difference is in where the center of gravity is on the different boats. The cg is going to be a good bit further aft on an outboard equipped boat than the others, making for a big variation in handling qualities.

 

[spdracr39]

Re: overpowering

The hp limitations on a sterndrive are strictly the ability of the outdrive to handle the added horsepower. The weight distribution becomes a factor when going from a small block to a big block engine but other than that the forces are more evenly distributed than on an outboard.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: overpowering

opcorn: This oughta' be good.

I called it.