08-29-2007, 05:19 PM
This is a pretty loaded question. There are a lot of factors that can affect what size motor you need here. The first is the boat itsself. Some are a bit wider and sit on top of the water more, while some are narrower and sit deeper in the water. These could affect how much drag the boat has on the water. The other thing is the type of motor. 2 strokes handle a lot differently than the newer 4 strokes. With a 2 stroke, it also depends on how well the motor is tuned, how you set the mixture, elevation, pitch of prop, etc.
With these smaller boats I would probably get a motor that is near the maximum size and just put a trolling plate on the motor. This will usually slow the motor down enough to troll. I don't recommend these for the larger boats / engines, but they would do great on the 20hp motors.
Another post mentioned wanting a larger (9.9 or larger) motor with a top mount gas tank. I don't know if these are even available. My one concern with that is how much gas the tank can hold, and how heavy it would be to lift the motor to the boat since you don't have a trailer. Yes, it's more trips to haul the motor then the gas can, but it's a LOT less weight. The other thing is that these motors go through a lot more gas than the little 4hp motors do, and you might not last through a day with a top mount tank. I use the 5 gallon plastic gas cans you can get for this specific use (they lay down with a low profile). I got mine from WalMart, and use the hose with the quick disconnect. I used these on my 12' aluminum, my 14' foot aluminum, and still use it on the 19' I/O boat I have now.
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With these smaller boats I would probably get a motor that is near the maximum size and just put a trolling plate on the motor. This will usually slow the motor down enough to troll. I don't recommend these for the larger boats / engines, but they would do great on the 20hp motors.
Another post mentioned wanting a larger (9.9 or larger) motor with a top mount gas tank. I don't know if these are even available. My one concern with that is how much gas the tank can hold, and how heavy it would be to lift the motor to the boat since you don't have a trailer. Yes, it's more trips to haul the motor then the gas can, but it's a LOT less weight. The other thing is that these motors go through a lot more gas than the little 4hp motors do, and you might not last through a day with a top mount tank. I use the 5 gallon plastic gas cans you can get for this specific use (they lay down with a low profile). I got mine from WalMart, and use the hose with the quick disconnect. I used these on my 12' aluminum, my 14' foot aluminum, and still use it on the 19' I/O boat I have now.
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