I'm looking at 15-25 hp outboard to replace my 9.9. I am wondering about weight. I think my 9.9 weighs about 75 lbs. whereas a 25 is over 100. From hucking around bales of hay I know that that is a huge difference for one (older) man to heft and carry. Does a 15 weigh all that much more than a 9.9? And what about transom weight? Are the bigger motors too heavy for a 14' light aluminum?
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IMO, it would not be a good idea to go to a motor over 10 hp on a boat that small, unless it has a lot of weight up front, like a steering wheel and a windshield. Not sure how old your boat is but most boats have a metal tag on the transom that says what a boat is rated for and what is the Max size motor you can have on them. Newer boats might be able to handle a motor up to 15 hp, if they are the deep V type.
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I think it is about a 1971 boat and may not have had a tag. I found one but it was faded out too much to read--it was painted, not engraved. I think I'll just put the 9.9 on it and see how it goes. It might be just fine.
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If you haven't even tried the 9.9, you should do that for sure before looking for one bigger. I had never used a motor that big on my old 14' boat, it was about the same age as the one you were talking about, then I rented one to try it out and with only me in the boat, it almost flipped over, there was so much power. The bow came straight up and I had to throttle down to keep it from flipping. After that, I learned I always had the put some weight up front in the bow, when by myself.
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9.9 and a 15 are usually the same engine with different tunes ,ie: 9.9 is a detuned 15hp weight may be different due to other factors electric start ,tilt etc.
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Another thing to keep in mind is that there are several smaller lakes that have hp restrictions.
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I learned that recently. What does it take to convert a 9.9 to a 15? Is it worth it?
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Some outboards just need the carburetor replaced to the 15 hp carb, but some carbs for the 4 strokes are worth 500 and up, or risk a used one on ebay to save a few bucks. But its a gamble.
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most of the time they have a throttle stop on the carb that doesn't allow full throttle on the smaller engine
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[quote catchinon]I learned that recently. What does it take to convert a 9.9 to a 15? Is it worth it?[/quote]
Huntington/Mammoth is one of them that have the 9.9 restriction. Two years ago we were heading down there for the 4th so I called the DWR about taking our Lund, I asked if it was okay to use the main motor for loading/launching and the 9.9 kicker for fishing and they said it was okay. They seem mostly concerned with wakeless speeds due to the high number of non-motorized watercraft that are used there.
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