"Paul G." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 12' fiberglass boat that is rated for "up to 14 hp". What's
a practical size outboard for this boat? Should I go for the max or
what? Thanks,
-Paul


I've got a 14' aluminum yacht rated for 25 hp, but my motor's 15 hp. I can
hit 22 mph on flat water with two adults on board. The boat itself weighs
about 400 lbs. Check your boat's weight and that should give you a useful
guideline.

Also consider who will be in the boat much of the time. I often fish alone,
and my motor's a tiller model. So, I'm in the stern along with the battery.
That raises the bow (affecting visibility) under certain conditions and no
amount of motor angle adjustment helps. I usually put a couple of 50 lb
sandbags in the bow. Even so, this nixed the idea of upgrading to 25 hp a
few years back. That, and the fact that flat water almost never happens
around here.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Paul G." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 12' fiberglass boat that is rated for "up to 14 hp". What's
a practical size outboard for this boat? Should I go for the max or
what? Thanks,
-Paul


I've got a 14' aluminum yacht rated for 25 hp, but my motor's 15 hp. I can
hit 22 mph on flat water with two adults on board. The boat itself weighs
about 400 lbs. Check your boat's weight and that should give you a useful
guideline.

Also consider who will be in the boat much of the time. I often fish
alone, and my motor's a tiller model. So, I'm in the stern along with the
battery. That raises the bow (affecting visibility) under certain
conditions and no amount of motor angle adjustment helps. I usually put a
couple of 50 lb sandbags in the bow. Even so, this nixed the idea of
upgrading to 25 hp a few years back. That, and the fact that flat water
almost never happens around here.

A while back here, people would buy a 9.9 hp outboards to avoid the need to
license their boat.
I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.

On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 16:08:14 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:

I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.

No kidding - do tell.

A nice looking boat I assume?

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 16:08:14 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:

I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.

No kidding - do tell.

A nice looking boat I assume?

Absolutely gorgeous!
I finally drained the old gear oil and replaced it this afternoon.
I tried to use my Evinrude/Johnson grease gun on the 3 nipples but the
grease didn't seem to come out. I took the gun inside to fiddle with it and
think I just have to make sure the 'plunger' is in as far as possible before
pumping away. I'll try again.
The battery is out and in the shed. I may do a load test on it in the
spring to see if it can hold a charge for any length of time.
Looked into the six cells and the fluid level is topped up
(I'll top up with the trickle charger on a monthly basis over the off
season)
There was 3 or 4 inches of water in the plastic 'battery box'. I'll keep
an eye on that next season.
I'll have to pick up a thin walled, deep 13/16th socket for the spark plugs.
The lower one was especially awkward with my open/box end wrench.
I also have to jack up and block the trailer frame, remove the two wheels
and spare for shed storage and build a frame for my tarps.
I'm still wishy/washy about leaving the motor on the *low* transom or to
remove it for a nice comfy spot in one of my sheds.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 16:08:14 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:

I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.

No kidding - do tell.

A nice looking boat I assume?

Not really, no glitter stripe. ;)

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 16:08:14 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:

I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.

No kidding - do tell.

A nice looking boat I assume?

Nah, it was a POS, that he paid way too much for.

"Don White" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Paul G." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 12' fiberglass boat that is rated for "up to 14 hp". What's
a practical size outboard for this boat? Should I go for the max or
what? Thanks,
-Paul


I've got a 14' aluminum yacht rated for 25 hp, but my motor's 15 hp. I
can hit 22 mph on flat water with two adults on board. The boat itself
weighs about 400 lbs. Check your boat's weight and that should give you a
useful guideline.

Also consider who will be in the boat much of the time. I often fish
alone, and my motor's a tiller model. So, I'm in the stern along with the
battery. That raises the bow (affecting visibility) under certain
conditions and no amount of motor angle adjustment helps. I usually put a
couple of 50 lb sandbags in the bow. Even so, this nixed the idea of
upgrading to 25 hp a few years back. That, and the fact that flat water
almost never happens around here.

A while back here, people would buy a 9.9 hp outboards to avoid the need
to license their boat.
I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.


I don't know if licensing is related to horsepower here, but there's one
lake where there's a 10 hp limit. My dealer has repeatedly offered to get me
a different decal for my motor, since (according to him), the only diff
between the 10 and the 15 hp motors is the carb.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Don White" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Paul G." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 12' fiberglass boat that is rated for "up to 14 hp". What's
a practical size outboard for this boat? Should I go for the max or
what? Thanks,
-Paul


I've got a 14' aluminum yacht rated for 25 hp, but my motor's 15 hp. I
can hit 22 mph on flat water with two adults on board. The boat itself
weighs about 400 lbs. Check your boat's weight and that should give you
a useful guideline.

Also consider who will be in the boat much of the time. I often fish
alone, and my motor's a tiller model. So, I'm in the stern along with
the battery. That raises the bow (affecting visibility) under certain
conditions and no amount of motor angle adjustment helps. I usually put
a couple of 50 lb sandbags in the bow. Even so, this nixed the idea of
upgrading to 25 hp a few years back. That, and the fact that flat water
almost never happens around here.

A while back here, people would buy a 9.9 hp outboards to avoid the need
to license their boat.
I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.


I don't know if licensing is related to horsepower here, but there's one
lake where there's a 10 hp limit. My dealer has repeatedly offered to get
me a different decal for my motor, since (according to him), the only diff
between the 10 and the 15 hp motors is the carb.


My 14' boat with 15 hp was automatically covered under my State Farm home
owners policy. My check on the HP limits for coverage.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Don White" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Paul G." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 12' fiberglass boat that is rated for "up to 14 hp". What's
a practical size outboard for this boat? Should I go for the max or
what? Thanks,
-Paul


I've got a 14' aluminum yacht rated for 25 hp, but my motor's 15 hp. I
can hit 22 mph on flat water with two adults on board. The boat itself
weighs about 400 lbs. Check your boat's weight and that should give you
a useful guideline.

Also consider who will be in the boat much of the time. I often fish
alone, and my motor's a tiller model. So, I'm in the stern along with
the battery. That raises the bow (affecting visibility) under certain
conditions and no amount of motor angle adjustment helps. I usually put
a couple of 50 lb sandbags in the bow. Even so, this nixed the idea of
upgrading to 25 hp a few years back. That, and the fact that flat water
almost never happens around here.

A while back here, people would buy a 9.9 hp outboards to avoid the need
to license their boat.
I have a 25 hp on a 14' 6" aluminum boat now and found the licensing
procedure to be free and relatively painless.


I don't know if licensing is related to horsepower here, but there's one
lake where there's a 10 hp limit. My dealer has repeatedly offered to get
me a different decal for my motor, since (according to him), the only
diff between the 10 and the 15 hp motors is the carb.


My 14' boat with 15 hp was automatically covered under my State Farm home
owners policy. My check on the HP limits for coverage.

I saw Christmas decorations for sale today at CVS.

(clipped)

I don't know if licensing is related to horsepower here, but there's one
lake where there's a 10 hp limit. My dealer has repeatedly offered to get
me a different decal for my motor, since (according to him), the only
diff between the 10 and the 15 hp motors is the carb.


My 14' boat with 15 hp was automatically covered under my State Farm home
owners policy. My check on the HP limits for coverage.

You might want to double check that insurance. I also assumed that my
homeowners insurance with State Farm covered boats up to 14ft and under 25
hp. as it stated. However, my agent told me that was just for loss or
liability if it was operated on waters totally within my property. Or was
stolen or damaged by wind/fire/etc. He said that as soon as I pull away
from my dock on the river, the coverage ceases and that I would need
liability coverage to protect from any injury or damage that I might cause
to anyone else. Liability on a boat is pretty cheap. I pay about $70 a
year to cover my 24 ft pontoon boat..well, maybe not so cheap since I only
managed about two weeks in the water this year due to flood waters. I've
been back in this area 5 years, now and this is the second Summer that the
Sheriff has closed the river to boating due to high waters. 50 years ago,
when I was a kid in this same house, nobody ever thought of closing the
river...we just all had the common sense to stay off when water levels were
dangerous. But then, there weren't any million dollar houses with expensive
boats and docks to be damaged by boat waves, either.

Tom G