Outboard Advice Please - Power / Size Of Boat

[Little Fish Big Pond]

Hey guys,

Found a couple of nice looking glass rigs around the 5m mark (Haines Hunter / Sig, Allison, Freedom etc). I just wanted some advice as to the size of the outboards on them. The best value boats seem to have a 50-60Hp on the back. I'm not experienced enough to say categorically, but I would've thought you'd want maybe a 75Hp or better? And a four stroke ideally. Any thoughts / experience you can offer up would help in my decision making process. Thanks!

Little Fish.

[Kero]

A 5m glass boat with a 50 or 60 on it would be frustrating,to say the least. With any sort of load on board, it would really struggle to plane.
I just sold my 4.7m with 90 on it. Unloaded, it flew, but with any decent load in it, I wouldn't have wanted any less.

[PADDLES]

hi little fish, i think it depends on what sort of usage you're intending. if it's just going to be you and a mate fishing with not much other gear then maybe 60 might cut it, but if you intend on having a whole family and an esky in there then maybe 90 would be a minimum. remember that a lot of boats in the size you're looking at are first boats for a lot of families and are sold new as packages and nearly all of them are sold underpowered to unsuspecting buyers simply to keep the package price down. one thing i can recommend is to take a couple of your biggest mates along when you water test a prospective purchase and if it still goes good then it'll be ok.

[nigelr]

90 for 1 or 2, 115 for more on a regular basis. What's the max hp rating?

[Little Fish Big Pond]

G'day Nigelr.

I'm fairly certain the max horsepower on most I've looked at would pull up around 125Hp. I know that's certainly the case with the Allison / Freedom models. Perhaps the Haines Sig / Hunter would be higher due to build quality but I'm not sure. Cheers.


90 for 1 or 2, 115 for more on a regular basis. What's the max hp rating?

[Little Fish Big Pond]

Hey Paddles!

Fantastic advice mate. Thanks a lot!


hi little fish, i think it depends on what sort of usage you're intending. if it's just going to be you and a mate fishing with not much other gear then maybe 60 might cut it, but if you intend on having a whole family and an esky in there then maybe 90 would be a minimum. remember that a lot of boats in the size you're looking at are first boats for a lot of families and are sold new as packages and nearly all of them are sold underpowered to unsuspecting buyers simply to keep the package price down. one thing i can recommend is to take a couple of your biggest mates along when you water test a prospective purchase and if it still goes good then it'll be ok.

[nigelr]

Bear in mind how much heavier a 4 stroke motor is than a 2 stroke; read the excellent thread on the CC 510 Outsider.
Those HP ratings you have quoted may well be for a 2 stroke motor, which will generally be lighter in weight than an equivalent HP 4 stroke.

[bigbrian47]

my 17ft viking was fitted with a 175hpjohnson (great for skiing) that i replaced with a 90hp johnson years ago
this motor is 1760cc 4cyl has plenty of power
and averages 1.5kl/per litre