Preferred outboard motor

T

TEDDY MOORE

New member
Hey guys I'm new to the forum, but have found alot of yall's discussions helpful. I am building a duck boat for some Texas duck huntin' and am looking for an outboard to throw on the back of my boat (not literally). I have a 14ft aluminum flat bottom john boat. I was thinking about a 5hp outboard, but am afraid it will be to slow with 2 guys and all or equipment. Could anyone with some experience with these gimme some pointers. Oh and my budget for a motor is about $800. In Texas we mostly hunt lakes, so I'm not going through really really shallow water. We currently have a trolling motor for our motor (after 1 trip with nothing but oars, we went out and bought a trolling motor!),it works but its slow and we have to keep charging the batteries. Sorry if I rambled....... but any insightful knowledge would be helpful.
 
you can try doing a search on craigslist for your area and see what's available within your budget or do a google search . when you find what your looking for you'll know it . good luck
 
First, what size and kind of duckboat are you building? If it is fixing up the 14' jon boat, you need to stick with it's max hp rating. If it is a different boat, go with as close to max hp it will be rated for.
 
Find some one who sells motors near you and ask if they have any used motors.
They usually do but in the back room. Dealers usually stand behind what they sell as least can repair it or get parts.

As for size a 8 ,9, 10 horse should move your 14ft Quite well, Again a Lee said look at the capacity plate. Don't exceed.
 
a boat/ blind mix, most of the hunting we do we sit in the reeds/ timber line but i would like the capability to hunt in the boat. Plans are to put on a scissor blind by November. We mainly just use the boat for ferrying us to the hunting spot. (we have limited where we hunt due to our lack of access with a reliable boat, we are hoping this boat will change that) The hp rating is max 25hp, but i think that might be a little big. The main thing that i am worrying about is getting a motor too small that will push the boat way to slow, but i also dont want a speed demon. My max trip over water would be about two miles (as of right now). I have searched craigslist extensively and there a lot of different outbaords ranging from 2-50hp within my budget. I am just trying to find the right amount of motor without over-doing it. ill post a picture of my boat once i get over to where it is stored. I guess I'm looking for some experience with people who have bought motors and hated them or something like that.
 
Sorry, no bad experiences to report, I've had good luck with the motors I've had. One issue to consider if you don't do your own mechanical work is the availability of service in your area. If you do your own work parts availability is sometimes an issue. With the Internet, the parts issue is a lot less of of a problem than it used to be. Also, if you buy a very old motor, or off brand, make sure you can still get parts. Some motors are difficult to get bits for, and even if everything goes right mechanically, you'll eventually need wear items like impellers.

I wouldn't underestimate how well a low hp motor can push a small boat. A friend has a small merc (8 horse) that makes his jon boat scoot right along.

Charlie
 
Find yourself a 15hp Johnson or Evinrude in the mid 90's vintage and you can work on them yourself if you ever have too.
 
Get the 25 i have a 25 mercury on my 1448 and i love it. I can even tow my oldest daughter around on a tube with it lol. Its slow but shes six so it works. Plus i can do 30mph unloaded according too my gps and 26 - 28 loaded for bear with lots of dekes and a full compliment of dogs and guns and ammo and such.
 
Since your 14' boat is rated for a 25, I am going to assume that it is a 1448. My advice is find a used 25 johnson, Nissan or Yamaha 2 stroke. Lots of power and not too much weight.

I have a 1440 mv jon (rated for 20hp) with an 18 hp nissan. It does fine with me & all my gear. Through another guy & a dog in and I am wishing for more HP. But the boat is only rated for 20, so I actually need a bigger boat! I did actually run a 25 on it a couple of times with a full load & it jumped up on plane and ran about 25 mph.

Just remember:
Having reserve HP is always good. Being a bad weather spot without some reserve HP is not a good thing.

If you cannot find a 25 in your price range, then I highly reccomend the Nissan 18 2 stroke, if you can find one. Most guys who have one arent going to part with it.
As other reccomended, the old 9.9/15 Johnson 2 strokes are quite possibly the best motors ever made. They are indestructable (almost), have lots of power for thier size, a easy to work on & are everywhere. I had an '86 model 9.9 on my boat back in the 96-98 seasons and it worked ran great, started within a couple of pulls even on the coldest mornings. I just wanted more HP, so I got the Nissan (wanted electric start too).
 
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