Bassman<br />I have a 15 HP 1975 Johnson that came standard with 3 blade 9 1/2 inch by 10 pitch aluminum. Used on a 14 foot Klamath boat would plane with 2 150 pound people. Add the fishing gear and ice chest and would not plane.<br /><br />I changed to a stainless steel 3 blade 9 3/8 by 9 pitch and it help a little but still not enough power.<br /><br />I feel for a 16 foot bastracker you need more power even if you fish alone. You can try another prop but you will still be under powered.<br /><br />What is the max HP rating for your boat?
I had a 1978 Basstracker(16ft) that had a 40hp max, but we'll see what he says, it could be a slightly different design than what I had, which had a 35 on it, and it "needed" all 35....
the motor came with a 9 pitch prop and the boat is rated for a 40hp. the only prob i have is that i fish a bunch of small lakes and cant use a bigger hp motor. i have contemplated going to one battery or perhaps moving one up front to lighten the rear end up what you think about that? any help would be greatly appreciated..
Bassman<br />I understand some of the lakes out here limited to less than 10 HP and most of them also have a 5 mile per hour speed limit.<br /><br />You can try moving stuff around or another prop but I think it is not going to make much difference.<br />Has your boat ever got up on plane??<br />If your motor is a older motor you might get about 10 percent more power with a newer model. I think about 1984 they started rating the HP at the prop shaft instead of the power head and that resulted in about a 10 percent increase of power. If your boat has nevered planned then I would not spend the money. I feel you need at least a 25 for that boat and a 35 would be better.<br />Sorry not much help but I just do not think you will get a 15 HP to plane that big a boat.
