Lund alaskan?

G

greg nolting

Member
Found a lund alaskan 18' with a late 90's 40 johnson tiller motor on her and was thinking it would make a good fish/hunt combo boat, any ideas as to the match of boat and motor?
 
Greg,

I don't have first hand experience with this particular boat but based on many years of boating, I'd say that you might find this to be underpowered. Depending on the width of this boat I'd guess that it's rated for either a 50 or 60 hp motor. If you hunt alone or with just one other guy you might be fine. I'm going to assume that if you are considering an 18 footer that you want to haul three or four people. That will be a good sized load for a 40hp. May work ok most of the time but get into some heavy swells and you will be wishing for more ponies.

A much quoted rule of thumb is motor size no less than 15% below max rating. ie; 60hp max less 15% = 51hp minimum.

Hope this helps.
 
Greg,

I have 16' Alaskan with a Yam 60F on it. Once she is loaded with gas(17gallons), gear etc..she still planes nicely had has power left over the nasty weather rides on the St-Lawrence and the Ottawa. On the other hand and18' with a 40hp to me seems severly under powered.

The Alaskan is a great boat, just sell the 40 and get a 75..
 
Greg,
I think the power vs under power debate is highly subject to personal preference. The yard next to the one I work in uses a 40 on a wood skiff to move boats to 50' from the lift to their docks and morrings. A forty will keep the bow up which is what matters in bad stuff. Keep it moving and you will make out fine. Extremely heavy current in inlets or very strong rivers would be the time for more power, but only to a point. After that it is only going to save you time, not increase safety. The 18 alaskan in my yard has a 60 and it is more than enough power. If you want speed then that might be important to you, but safe boat handling can be done with much less power and has been going on at displacement speeds since way long ago.
Charlie and Scott F both have a lot of experience with Lund and I hope they will give you some ideas.
 
Sounds like a nice set up...specially with gas prices the way they are. Most hunting and fishing is done at less than 50mph. If the price is right, it sounds like a combo that will make you happy for a long time.
 
That's the exact setup my brother has: 18' Lund Alaskan with a 40hp Evinrude tiller (same as Johnson). The Alaskan is a fairly light boat for its size. Most 18' boats would be underpowered with a 40, but the Alaskan gets up on plane easily. I've hunted in that boat with three guys (2 of them wearing XL "stout" waders!), 6 doz dekes, and a dog, and it had no problem getting up on plane. In the summer, when we are fishing with just one or two guys in the boat, it flies. So, I wouldn't hesitate on that deal.
Rick
 
The 18-ft Lund is maximum rated for a 60-HP tiller. I run a 70-HP (console) on my 20-ft and if memory serves me, Bill Wasson ran a 50-HP on his 20-ft. A 40-HP should perform well on the 18-ft Alaskan, it will get you there and back. If some time in the future you want to be able to go faster you can always upgrade.

I run my Lund on Long Island Sound and I have found that I rarely find the conditions comfortable for running at 30 mph (my max speed). The boat is just too wet to pound through 2 - 3 ft waves comfortably. In my experience if you want to run fast on big water your best off with a deep-V fiberglass boat with more mass and more slicing. A tin boat is a compromise, getting you lighter weight for towing, shallower draft and reduced horsepower rating. That's not to say that there are not great open water Aluminum boats but they fall into another category based on price, weight and HP requirements.

Scott
 
A forty will keep the bow up which is what matters in bad stuff.
Click to expand...


Au contraire, especially if the boat's heavy and you're pushing the hull near the limit of what it can do. These hulls can hold a LOT of stuff. Takes a lot of go (and smart lading) to make it safe if you succumb to the temptation to fill it up with people and gear... Green water over the bow of an 18 Alaskan isn't as scary as it would be in a 14 jon but I still don't like it. Apply more power and that problem gen'lly goes away.

We have run SSV's and Alaskans in several configurations since the earlly 80s. Even the old SSV-18s were a little underpowered with the 40, IMO. A 50 represented a big improvement in pucker factor, a 70 2-stroke = even better, though even then I've tinkered a lot with props and such to get just the right combination, and I've still found myself in some situations where I felt underpowered. Disclaimer to above: I'm probably unnecessarily sensitive to power issues. I don't feel genuinely safe in a small boat unless it has enough motor to stand up on its hind legs regardless of how much weight I may be carrying.

Also: What year is the hull? They made a significant change in '98 or so and another one in the last couple years. The pre-98 Alaskans are skinnier/ all-around smaller boats than their later counterparts, much different in terms of ride and useful capacity, but still quite capable boats. And, you can more reasonably power one with a smaller motor.

Didn't see whether it was tiller or console. For my taste (and in my experience), the 18 Alaskan is awful damn wet to be running a tiller, unless you're talking the IPS hull.

Still: if it's a good deal, buy it. They're mahvelous boats. You may find the 40 gets it done for you... or you may wish to trade up down the road and do a repower, for which there are still several sensible options in this hp range. And at least around here, there appears to be a decent market for used 40s.
 
I also have an Alaskan 18'er (1999 version). It has a 50 horse 2 stroke, and if I would personally go bigger if $$$ wasn't an issue. I can hit 26 mph with an empty boat - fully loaded for divers, 2 hunters, dog, etc I get into the low 20s.

50 hp is good though, 40 I wonder. Especially with a tiller, with all the weight in the rear. The side console version (that's what I have) puts more of the weight forward. I agree with Matt too on the spray issue - not too bad at the console, but in hte stern you're bound to get wet. The way the water sprays off the bow the wind catches it and you can get misted. Nice on a sunny summer day, not so nice at o'dark thirty and 20 degrees air temp.

All that being said, the alaskan 18 is about as good as an all around hull as you're going to find. You can always upgrade the power later.

Charlie
 
Greg,
Sorry about that I didn't see that it was a tiller.

My 16' is a SC and it's max rating is 75hp. I guess there must of been some dramatic changes in the hull design for these boats in 2000 +. I find I have no issues running in 2 - 3 foot waves and staying dry in my 2004.

As one of the posts mentioned, the Alaskan with it's open hull causes a lot of temptation to pile extra gear in increasing , as well as unknowingly exceeding the recomened weight capacity.
 
Eric,

I think your 2004 has the IPS hull. Nice hull!

If I understand from the master (Matt Snyder taught me a lot while I was looking), there was a hull change around 1998 and again in the early 2000s (to the IPS). I think the IPS hull is probably the cats meow, and the 98+ is next, with the earlier alaskans being good but not quite as good. Any of them are head and shoulders above the other boats I've owned as far as boat for larger lakes and rivers. They can take the heavy chop and still have little enough draft that they can go in fairly skinny water.

Scott F has and Bill W had the 20'ers and those guys run the ocean or at least the big bays and sounds. I haven't ventured out to the oceam on mine 18er, but it takes serious chop on Lake Champlain and the Hudson River nicely. I had it out one day (I shouldn't have been out that day) where the boat would go into the trough of waves and I couldn't see out of them (major pucker factor). The hull and motor never worried me, water over the bow was what I was scared of. She bobbed like a cork though and didn't take on any water to speak of.

I love mine. Every time I take it out for anything (family, fishing, hunting) I am reminded how glad I am that I've resisted the temptation to sell it. I would buy a IPS hulled 18'er with a side console and a 75 horse in a heartbeat if I had the money right now!!!

Greg,

One thing to check out on an older one is the floor. They are notorious for rotting out (it is just plywood, I think). Mine is solid, but I've heard various reports of having to replace floors, which unless the price is REALLY nice, is more of a project than you should have to do on a full priced boat.

Good luck. Ask more questions if you wnt, there are a pretty good selection of alaskan owners on here.

Charlie
 
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