Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

[Dan Salvin]

I have a 1972 14' Starcraft Holiday (the orange boat). It has a 16" transom. My 1971 40hp mercury had died and I'm in the market for a used engine. The old engine had a 20" shaft but I'm wondering if i should now be looking for a 15" shaft. Is it ok to have a shaft one inch shorter than the transom? Is 15" or 20" better for my Starcraft. The boat is rated for 40hp max. Thanks for the help! - Dan

 

[jestor68]

Re: Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

Your 16" transom is intended to accommodate a "short" 15" shaft motor.

How did you have your old 20" motor mounted? You must have had it raised 4-5 inches somehow. Since short shaft 40-50 hp motors seem to be harder to find, you could get another 20" motor and mount it the same way.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

How well a long shaft motor works on a boat with a short transom apparently depends on the boat. I have used a long shaft motor on a 14ft LoneStar boat with a short transom many times. It worked perfectly with no problems of any kind. I have heard other people say that doing that same thing on other boats resulted in steering problems. There's no reason why you would have to raise the motor at all to use it on a short transom boat as long as it works to your satisfaction.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

When was the last time your transom was replaced? If not recently it probably wouldn't hurt to replace and modify it to accomodate a long shaft motor. You can make it look like a nice factory install with the perfect height.

 

[Dan Salvin]

Re: Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

I've only had the boat for two years so I'm not sure when the transom was last replaced. Bit is still solid at this point. I thought about replacing it soon in any case but don't know how to raise it. I've researched how to replace the existing setup - including a detailed thread on this forum for this boat. Can you point me to instructions about how to replace it to make it longer and have it still look good? Is a transom elevator possible or not a good idea with an old boat and transom? The old 20" motor was just mounted on the transom and not raised - that is how I purchased it. It seemed to run OK. I did have a fair amount of water that would splash up under the motor and into the splash well during high speed.

 

[pootnic]

Re: Short Shaft for Starcraft Holiday

That last statement in your post was because of the motor being a long shaft on a short transom.(more drag in the water)
Do a google search for transom replacing or even jack plates.
This site as well as others have some good information on the subject.