what size outboard should i plan on?

M

michael barnes

Active member
the boat turned out to be 15'. i was told at first it was 16, i estimated at 14, and the title says 15'. so, for a 15' starcraft, what size outboard should i plan on buying? thanks, mike.
 
It should have a plate on it with the HP & weight rating. If not, you should be able to contact the maker & find out the rating.
Get as big as you can without going over the rating, more HP in reserve is better than having the motor maxed out all the time.
 
We had a 14' Starcraft when I was a kid..then I got it after I was married. It was rated for a 10hp but it wasn't a deep V. I had 3 guys that were all over 200 in it and it had about 3" of freeboard. Post up some pictures if you can.
 
It should have a plate on it with the HP & weight rating. If not, you should be able to contact the maker & find out the rating.
Get as big as you can without going over the rating, more HP in reserve is better than having the motor maxed out all the time.
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Can't go wrong with that advice.
 
thanks, i looked for a plate but couldnt find it. where should it be? its a starcraft. ill get pics posted in the next day or 2, my laptop is gone haywire and i dont have a card reader on my desktop. i get some pics posted as soon as i can. thanks, mike.
 
Different spots on different boats, I would look around the inside of the transom or on the rear bench seat. If not, get the serial numbes or model number and email it to Starcraft, they are on the web.
 
I bought one that had a 25hp Johnson and it was just to fast to be safe a friend gave me an old 18hp Evinrude and that seemed about perfect. Wish I still had that old rig as it was a great alround duck hunting and fishing rig.

Man I bet you are having fun rigging the boat out right.
Best,
Harry
 
A general rule of thumb is that it will take 1 hp per 25 lbs gross weight boat, motor, passengers and other payload to plane a boat. However, I like to get the biggest outboard a boat will legally handle.

Ed.
 
Depended on how I loaded the boat, but I never had it refuse to plane. if you decide you don't want to go through fixing it, I'll be glad to give you what you paid for it.

Come on down this season and I'll be glad to take you to what have been some good spots in the past.

Best,

Harry
 
A good number of years ago I bought my buddies old 14-ft Wolverine (V-Hull). It came with a 7.5 hp Evinrude that was totally reliable and got the boat to where you needed to go but at 7 to 8 mph. I ran with this motor for a few more years, hunting and fishing with it. First time I put a borrowed 15 hp on her and she planned I was hooked. Bought myself a Nissan 25 2-stroke that I'm still using, now on my Starcraft 14. The 25-hp 2-stroke pushes the decked over 14 SF at 25+ mph with Bogs & I, figure this is roughly a 400 lb load in her (That's including the deck & Gas wiseA$$es)

My advise to keep this years costs down is find a reliable, inexpensive 6 to 10 HP and travel at hull speed. Just remember to leave home a bit earlier. Of course if you can find a good deal on a 25 to 30 HP jump on it! You've done a good job on finding a great deal on a hull, keep your fingers crossed on finding one on a motor. Also don't stop looking at boat and motor combos, they may be a good way to get a solid motor that's hung on a worthless piece of junk that no one else want's. Then junk the unwanted hull. And if you're real lucky the unwanted hull will be fiberglass and you can sell it to some energetic duck hunter looking to cut one down to make his own decked over project.

Best
Scott
 
thank you all for the advice. gives me an idea on what to look for and what to expect. thanks for all your help~~mike.
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A 10-15hp will let you plane at 15-20 mph (20 mph for the 15) in the summer with 2 guys buzzing around fishing, and a 15 may (likely will?) get you on plane with 2 guys duckhunting.
 
I suspect that old 18 was actually putting out more hp than advertised. It was a stong and easy to start motor. It was manufactured in the 60's. They made an electric start version but mine was pull start.

I love my Yamaha 15 and i'll just bet if you coud borrow one to check your boat that you might find it more than adequate.

I resisted buying a Jap motor until a year ago but now wish I had bought one several years sooner.
Best,
Harry
 
If a 15 will get it up with the load you will carry, I would go with that. A 25 or 30 will eat gas twice as fast without a 2 times benefit. Figure a 10% fuel rate to hp at wide open. a 15hp will burn 1.5 gal per hour, a 25..2.5gph and a 30...3gph. I had a 25 Mariner that did better than that but my 30 Johnson is a gas hog. An older Johnson/evenrude from the 80's on up are some of the best motors ever built.
 
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