boat\ motor question

Eric Esper

Eric Esper

Active member
Okay I'm buying a boat motor trailer after the first and I'm somewhat confused. I'm not real experienced about what would be for me a larger boat. I'm buying a 16 foot Alumacraft Yukon and was originally planning to buy a Yamaha 25 horse 2 stroke Electric start. This is the motor usually packaged up with the boat by my employer ( Cabelas) I've been told that this is a good motor and a good match to the boat. Some one else whose opinion I value says that the motor is a poor choice and I should go with a e-tec 40 hp or something similer This would raise the purchase price by 2 grand and make the purchase much more difficult. Where do you guys fall on this issue? The boat would be tiller configured and 40 is the max hp rateing. It would be used for lake Erie walleye and perch fishing (fair weather) some inland lakes and as a tender boat for layout shooting out of Luna Pier or off the Banana at Pnte. Moulliee. thanks for your valuble input Eric Esper
 
I have great confidence in a Yamaha. I have delt with Cabelas both as a consumer ond as a vender to them They are not stupid.I am inclined to thinkthat their packageing is based on the maximum bang for the buck that will make the customer happy. I have a brother who is always telling me I need it biggger or more expensive or more something else, and by the way can I take him with me in the boat. I would think that the 25 would do every thing that you want it to do. Do you need the 2 or 3 minuits that the 40 would give to you? Have a great time.
 
Eric, My buddy has a 16 foot Alluminum boat (not sure of the make) but it's pretty heavy. He runs a 35hp 2 stroke and the thing really moves. He could certainly get away with the 25hp. I personally would want my boat to be over powered just incase it's needed in heavy seas, but not for two grand more. Go with the 25hp. Good luck, Kevin
 
My .02 worth..and that's what it's worth.... If you are going to tend with it, you will have at least two guys, a layout boat and gagillion decoys in it. Add gas and hunting gear and you are really pushing a load. My question would be...will a 25 lift the bow with that load to go when the water get's rough? What if you are out there when the temps drop and you pick up ice on everything? add another 500-1000 lbs and oh momma! I'd get the biggest motor you can, it will be cheaper now rather than later when that 25 is only worth half what you paid for it at trade in time.
 
Eric,

My past experiece with fishing, ski, and hunting boats has been that they performed better with a motor at or close to the max hp rating for the boat. I would call a few different dealers who sell alumacraft and see what their experiences have been with setting up that boat.
 
I'm a firm believer in having the horses to get up and go when it's needed. With that being said, my boat is a 16 alumacraft extra wide equipped with a 25 2 stroke merc. I am not for sure how fast it will go but it can get me there faster than I need to go. I would have to guess and this is my guess, around 20-25 mph. It gets up on plane very quickly, and I never twist full throttle. I don't hunt exceptionally big water like the ocean but I have been to santee cooper and it's around 3500 acres. I would opt for something useful like gun boxes or spray in camo lining over the hp.
 
I have a 1648 tracker with a 4 stroke yamaha 25 HP motor and it really moves me along at a good clip. My boat is also rated for a 40 HP motor but I am completely satisfied using a 25 HP. You may have to give up going a few extra miles per hour but the 25 will get you there, plus keep a few extra dollars in your pocket.
 
Its been my experience that a smaller than max hp motor will work just fine and if you stay on small water you will be okay but if you use it a lot and go to big water there will come a time when you are loaded heavy and the weather changes and you would give a lot of money to have the extra power to use, just my advice but when the first wave comes over the bow and you don't have any hp to get going 2k is nothing!
 
As Lee said well, you can fit a lot of weight in that boat, a 25 won't do what you want under the worst conditions. As far as maker, that is personal preference.

T
 
My .02 worth..and that's what it's worth.... If you are going to tend with it, you will have at least two guys, a layout boat and gagillion decoys in it. Add gas and hunting gear and you are really pushing a load. My question would be...will a 25 lift the bow with that load to go when the water get's rough? What if you are out there when the temps drop and you pick up ice on everything? add another 500-1000 lbs and oh momma! I'd get the biggest motor you can, it will be cheaper now rather than later when that 25 is only worth half what you paid for it at trade in time.
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Get the biggest you can afford! A buddy of mine has a 25 on a 1648 and it is alright with a couple guys and gear. But, add some of the above and you are going to want the 40 (as he does). If you don't want to drop another 2K for a new one, I'd look for a used 35 or 40.
 
A little different point of view. I would get a little bigger boat 18 or 19' ft. and buy a used motor. 25 horse or larger. There are a lot of good used motors out there. Having lived by the water most of my life. Time after time i have seen people buy a new boat and motor only to use it one or two years and then let it sit in the garage until they decide to get rid of it. A good motor at that point is barely broke in. You will have a safer rig and what you pay extra for the boat you can save on the motor. I kick myself men y times I did not buy a 19' ft. Alumacraft in the Eighties at the end of the season from a dealer he was willing to sell it at cost so he didn't have to store it for the winter.

From what you want to use it for a bigger boat is better no matter what the horse power. A sixteen ft boat out in big water is scary. Your going to trailer it so the difference between a sixteen and nineteen won't matter much.
 
Eric,

I can't speak to your specific boat, but I have run a 25 horse 2 stroke (Suzuki) on two separate boats - an old heavy aluminum v-hull and a newer lighter hulled aluminum mod-v and it was plenty of motor for either hull for anything I wanted to do.

I don't think it will be underpowered for you. I also don't think you'll win any races, but I doubt that is what you are out to do. I think max speed was mid to high 20s on my boat with a light load, high teens/low 20s with a heavy load (13 pitch prop).

If you buy a new motor and a new hull at retail you will likely pay a bunch more than you would if you bought a package. When they bundle the products they seem to offer a better package price than they offer for individual products.

If you want to save some money you can also buy that new hull and a used motor. iBoats often as some good deals on used or reconditioned motors.

If it was me, and I could afford it, I'd go for the larger motor, I like the idea of having the extra power in case things get nasty. On the other hand, if the extra money made it tight, I'd skip it and be very happy with the 25. I think it would be sufficient for most things.

16' seems small for a layout tender (but I don't have any experience layout hunting - t just sounds small after seeing Lou's gigundic 23' starcraft).

Charlie
 
Eric,

I have a 16' Alumicraft with a 35HP CONSOL. During the summer with the family it seems that I can not overload that boat. Fishing, putzing around, 4 people coolers etc just seem to be fine in all sorts of wind/waves and my max speed is upper 20's empty (few years back when the motor was younger low 30s') now fully loaded it is about 25 MPH give or take waves/chop.

Now, during the duck season, I layout hunt exclusivly. I put one boat on the bow, stuff it full of decoys (bout 10 doz is all I can fit under the boat, put a second guy in the boat with me with another 3-6 doz decoys behind me. Now add gear. Most days on calmer weather, I can run about 20 mph wide open. There have been a few days where the wind/chop is so bad that you just can not run that fast and have to go much slower, but I can tell you that I have had several days where I wish I had more ponies on the back of the boat, but on no day did I ever feel unsafe because of lack of power. When it gets that bad, you just plain have to slow down anyhow.

But Lee's comments about size/hunting sparked this discussion for me. I have since bought a 19' Crestliner Nordiak with 115 HP since this 16 gets small quick...tell you the truth, so does the 19' when layout hunting.

So, will it do it, sure, but at 25 HP I bet you will be sorry in the long run. I wish I was hanging a bigger motor off of mine. I probably can since it is a consol, but $$$$$....I would upsize for the 40 personally. Used is a great option.

Bro in law has a 40 on a 18' lund, tiller, fully loaded 4 guys decoys, never had issues with underpower, YET, he never layout hunted....there is a difference.....
 
Eric D,

I also have a 50 2-stroke on my 18 Lund side console and it works fine for diver hunting and the attendant junk. Would I rather run a 75? Yup! But, like you say it takes $$$$$$. I priced a new Honda 75 horse last week - they said "about $10K including rigging labor". Zoinks!

Pricing new boats, what amazed me was the difference between a 75 horse and a 90 horse on a new Alaskan 18' is only an additional $400. Sounds like a no-brainer - if you were already going to spend $20K, what's another $400.

Charlie
 
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Being a Alumacraft Dealer I like that Boat with the F40 Yamaha this year they offer that motor with the tiller handle. The Yukon is a Fairly heavy boat. Good luck.
 
Pricing new boats, what amazed me was the difference between a 75 horse and a 90 horse on a new Alaskan 18' is only an additional $400.
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It is amazing to me that from 50 to 75 seems like an eternity and a case of selling your soul, yet 75 to 90 is no biggie. You see that also in the 115 to 150...

SO Eric, what are your thoughts now???
 
A seemingly knowledgeable Lund dealer told me that the 30 and 40 are fundamentally the same motor, the 50 and 60 are the same and the 75 and 90 are the same, with the primary differences being in the fuel injection. Not sure if that is right, but he had me believing.
 
My take is, the 20,25 and 30 hp are the same series in most motors..then you jump to the 40,50 and 60hp series. The whole motors, blocks and lower are different. I can see where a 40hp E-tec is way more than a 25 2 stroke yammie..aren't the 2 stroke Yamaha motors being discontinued?
 
Eric,
I have owned the exact boat, mine was a side steering model. i had a 40 yamaha and it was perfect boat. I can kick myself every day for getting rid of it. It ran 33mph with 2 of us. Fast enough. I used mine in the Delaware bay most of the time. I think when your hauling 3 people and hunting gear etc you need the power. It would also pull my wife skiing but not real great. Hope that helps.

Pete
 
Thanks for all the input guys, It seems that the opinions are evenly divided or darn close. It also seems that Tendering is the pivot point. I'm going to get a price on the Yamaha 40 hp.and see what it costs but the finances will be tight. I like the idea of used but I've been looking for a year without any real luck Lots of flat bottoms out there but not what I'm looking for. Ideally I'd like a 18 or 20 ft Alaskan with an appropriate engine but the only used one of those I saw was still 8 grand more than I could swing. The motor and trailer I'm getting is at a great price because its the old style hull a couple of years old in white (but still new). I don't see how the whites going to water If I bout blind it it'll be covered and if I'm tendering I'll have the perch rods out or theres always the viqueen trick. I'm leaning toward the 25 but thats because I don't layout that much When I tender It'd be with2 other guys and 1 other boat (16 ft also) He decks the layout and a Lou Tisch barrel O' dekes and I'd have the rest of the dekes and the third man. Sounds like We'd be useing way less decoys than most of you guys. Thats for another thread though.
 
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