WHAT SIZE ENGINE

W

william gaynor

Active member
Just bought a new (used) duck boat and I am debating what size engine to put on it? The boat is a semi-v 16 foot whit a 70"beam and weighs 500 lbs. I hunt primarily on small lakes and occasionally the Ohio river. I want a hand tiller and an engine that I can put on and off by my self. I am 68 so lighter is better. I am leaning toward a 15 hp what are your thoughts.
 
I have a 14' TDB with a 15 hp Evinrude on it (the max on the cert panel). I wouldn't want to have to carry anything heavier when I have to put it on, and I leave it locked on most of the time.

What does the rating plate list as a max?
 
I'm 63 and I like to keep things light weight too. I'd be open to a 9.9/10 hp. 2 stroke over 4 stroke for sure because of weight which almost certainly means a used motor unless you find a leftover.
 
I would go for at least a 20 HP. Not much difference in cost and weight. I've got a 20 Nissan on my 16ft semi-v grizzlie. Mine is rated up to a 50 HP. Most of my hunting is like you on small relatively sheltered bodies of water. The lighter weighted motor is much more convenient for dragging your rig into the shallows.
 
Just bought a new (used) duck boat and I am debating what size engine to put on it? The boat is a semi-v 16 foot whit a 70"beam and weighs 500 lbs. I hunt primarily on small lakes and occasionally the Ohio river. I want a hand tiller and an engine that I can put on and off by my self. I am 68 so lighter is better. I am leaning toward a 15 hp what are your thoughts.
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A 15 may not plane the boat with another guy a dog, blind and gear. I know it wouldn't for me and my gear.

I don't know why taking the motor off by yourself is a priority, but if you really need to take a heavier motor off by yourself use a block and tackle and lift from overhead.
 
I'm 63 too. I'vave an 18'Semi V Sea Ark with a 60 HP Merc 4 stroke tiller stearing. My recomendation is put the biggest engine you think you can handle . Remmber the bigger the engine the less work the engine has to do. When I was a youg man and worked at the Hampton Shipyard in East Quogue, Fred Scopinitch taught me to put the biggest engine you can on your boat and then use 1/3 the available horse power.
 
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I'm with Todd on this one: just dont think a 15hp is going to cut it on a boat that big & heavy.
You just arent going to have enough HP to move a load in a bad situation, barely enough without a load in good conditions.
I would not put anything less than a 25 on that boat, and would lean more towards a 30 or 40hp two stroke.
When that summer thunderstorm pops up or that cold front arrives 8 hours before the weatherman said, I want enough HP to get off the qwater quick and or have HP in reserve to deal with the conditions. 15hp isnt going to do that in a 500# boat.

Now, that said, if you are only hunting sheltered water, and you can live with barely being able to get on plane (if at all), then a 15hp Johnson/Evinrude or an 18hp Nissan two stroke are your best bets. They weigh around 80 pounds, which is as light as your gonna get unless you drop down to a 6 or 8hp.
 
William,

I'd strongly suggest you power it at about 75-80% max HP, ie a roughly 35-40 HP motor. A 40 HP Tohatsu 4 stroke weighs 206#. A 2 stroke would be lighter, but still heavy. I know it is much heavier than you'd like, but don't underpower a 500# semi-vee hull that is 70" wide. That is a fairly heavy/wide hull and you still have to throw your hunting gear into it. As suggested previously, I'd bolt it to the transom, store it in a locked garage, support the lower unit with a transom saver and rig a hoist for the rare occasions you needed to pull it off. I think you would be very unhappy with a 15 HP motor unless you plan on carrying next to no weight. Wallowing along with a buddy, dog and gear at 10 MPH at full throttle is not fun no matter how patient you are.

Nate
 
Bill, even though you want the portability, I would go with a 20 to 25 two stroke. You want that extra in any bad seas,and the weight difference is not that much.

Danny Logue
 
I got my motor new in the fall when I had a light 14ft aluminum. This motor is a 4 stroke and around 125lbs. I put it on my new 16ft grizzlie and was surprised that I could go around 20mph with it depending on how loaded I was. One of the places I hunted was an extremely stumpy oxbow that was like traveling through a mine field. One of the things that I liked about this motor is that it is light enough to man handle when needed and you could set it so that it would bounce up if I happened to hit a stump (which was often) at slow speeds. If I had a bigger motor with tilt and trim I would be reluctant to run the gauntlet and risk damaging my lower unit. But if you plan on running big open water then I would definitely get the biggest motor that your boat is rated for. Anyway, so far I've been happy with my 20HP Nissan. Very quiet running motor. It's amazing how much the cost of motors jumps up as you go up in HP. Another consideration as well.
 
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