Minimum hp rating for boat

[fordtruckin]

For the life of me I can't find the thread on here. People have mentioned when powering a boat to keep your hp a minimum of ?? % of max hp rating. Does anyone know what that % is? For some reason I want to say a minimum of 70% of max hp but can't say for sure.

[The Spank]

My personal opinion and experience is always max out on your hp. It's far less headache to use less throttle than it is to wish for more. Buy once and be happy.

[EZM]

When talking about anything larger than a simple tinner - I think the proper number is 100% !!!! I agree with spank - most of the boats out there are under powered.

I bet there are thousands of those cheap "package boats" out there with engines that barely get them on plane with a third person in the boat. Makes no sense to me how they could market such garbage and not disclose the performance characteristics of the $25,000 boat you just purchased in real life conditions. Seems fraudulent to me.

[graybeard]

You can add to your fact finding; boat props. The difference in your prop selection can be directly proportionate to your application.

As a result you may not have to maximize your horse power when a prop change will satisfy your problem.....speed or power!!

IMHO.....

[Ceilidh69]

Originally Posted by graybeard

You can add to your fact finding; boat props. The difference in your prop selection can be directly proportionate to your application.

As a result you may not have to maximize your horse power when a prop change will satisfy your problem.....speed or power!!

IMHO.....

So true

[TROLLER]

MAX HP or forever be PO ed for not going that route.

[ROA]

General rule is not to go below 75% of rated hp.


Lots of guys say max out hp and it is mostly good advice but there is times when this is not a good idea. An example of this would be something like a small 14 foot tin rated for 25hp. At that point some of the 25 hp jump up in weight so much that the boat ends up way to heavy in the rear. The lighter 20hp are as good or better option in this case rather than maxing out hp. Also not every one wants to be a speed deamon. A 130 may be just fine for some guys instead of a 150 as long as the 130 is propped right.

[dodgeboy1979]

also sometimes the gain you get in MPH and additional weight and cost may not be that practical to go up to a larger motor. It depends what you are after.

[fordtruckin]

I'm looking for a Lund SSV16. Max hp is 40 but I was wondering if a 25 or 30 would suffice. My guess is there would never be more than 3 adults in the boat and if we did put a 4th, most of the places we fish are within 2-300 yards of shore so I don't mind getting there slower than some guy with a 250hp bass boat. I was figuring on a Mercury for the engine if I went new, but down in Minnesota there are some killer deals on 16' Lunds. I'd just end up wanting a newer engine as I'd rather have one less thing to worry about then.

The 75% is the number I was looking at. for the SSV16 75% would make the 30hp slightly under powered, but then if a prop change could make up the difference. And I thought vehicles had too many options!

[cube]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I'm looking for a Lund SSV16. Max hp is 40 but I was wondering if a 25 or 30 would suffice. My guess is there would never be more than 3 adults in the boat and if we did put a 4th, most of the places we fish are within 2-300 yards of shore so I don't mind getting there slower than some guy with a 250hp bass boat. I was figuring on a Mercury for the engine if I went new, but down in Minnesota there are some killer deals on 16' Lunds. I'd just end up wanting a newer engine as I'd rather have one less thing to worry about then.

The 75% is the number I was looking at. for the SSV16 75% would make the 30hp slightly under powered, but then if a prop change could make up the difference. And I thought vehicles had too many options!

If you look at the other lund boats you will see they have a min and Max hp rating. Their min suggested hp is pretty accurate I would say. If you do the calculations you will find that they basically recommend no more than 12 lbs of boat weight per hp. and their max is usually 8 lbs of boat weight per hp. Given these things your min should be 30 hp (350 lbs / 12 lbs/hp = 29.2 hp)

I personally would at least split the difference between the min and max which would be 35 hp. But really unless the 40 is that much more expensive and heavy I would go max if I could afford it.

[ROA]

Your going to need to look at the weight difference between the 30 and the 40. If the 40 is a much bigger and heavier engine it may be a bit to heavy in the rear and require a lot of weight up front to keep the boat from porpoising. There is a guy on here with that exact boat and he made a few y tube vids on it if I remember right. A quick search on YouTube and here will probably find it

[cube]

Have you gone to the Merc engine site and looked at the test data?

"https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/ca/performance-tests/outboard/?hp[]=25.0_30.0&hp[]=40.0_60.0&boattype[]=aluminum-console&boattype[]=aluminum-tiller"


Find a boat with similar weight and surface area. It should give you a reasonable start.

[Ebrand]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

MAX HP or forever be PO ed for not going that route.

Me too.

Can always back out of the throttle.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I'm looking for a Lund SSV16. Max hp is 40 but I was wondering if a 25 or 30 would suffice. My guess is there would never be more than 3 adults in the boat and if we did put a 4th, most of the places we fish are within 2-300 yards of shore so I don't mind getting there slower than some guy with a 250hp bass boat. I was figuring on a Mercury for the engine if I went new, but down in Minnesota there are some killer deals on 16' Lunds. I'd just end up wanting a newer engine as I'd rather have one less thing to worry about then.

The 75% is the number I was looking at. for the SSV16 75% would make the 30hp slightly under powered, but then if a prop change could make up the difference. And I thought vehicles had too many options!

I had a ssv 16, ran a 20 on it. Moved just fine with three large guys and all our gear. The only complaint was that everyone got soaked in rough water and we had to slow down. Would a more powerful motor fix that? I don't know.

[Peace Meal Farm]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I'm looking for a Lund SSV16. Max hp is 40 but I was wondering if a 25 or 30 would suffice. My guess is there would never be more than 3 adults in the boat and if we did put a 4th, most of the places we fish are within 2-300 yards of shore so I don't mind getting there slower than some guy with a 250hp bass boat. I was figuring on a Mercury for the engine if I went new, but down in Minnesota there are some killer deals on 16' Lunds. I'd just end up wanting a newer engine as I'd rather have one less thing to worry about then.

The 75% is the number I was looking at. for the SSV16 75% would make the 30hp slightly under powered, but then if a prop change could make up the difference. And I thought vehicles had too many options!

I have the 16' Lowe equivalent with a 20 hp Merc four stroke, tiller control, long leg with electric start and manual tilt. I love the boat. Its length is perfect for small and mid sized water. (Unfortunately - so to speak - I just bought a water access cabin on a 100 km long lake and now my 16' tinner is quite undersized).

Money being no object I wish that I jumped up to max hp (30 with a tiller in my case or 40 with a console). However, the price jump was significant and I could not justify the increase. The 15 and 20 hp share a powerhead but differ on carb setup. This makes the price jump from the 15 to the 20 quite reasonable. The 25 and 30 both also share a powerhead - and again this is only a small cost difference between them - but there is a large price jump to EFI on these units compared to the smaller carb units. Essentially, the 20 and the 30 are the best value when compared to the 15 and 25, respectively.

I had a hard time justifying the extra cost for both power tilt and the extra power. If doing it all over again I would definitely splurge for the power tilt option. Wifey really has a hard time pulling that 20 hp up out of the water.

I'm still not certain that moving up to the 25 or 30 would make or break the performance. I definitely displace more water with 3 adults in the boat, but the majority of the time it is just my wife and I and we have no issue getting up on step.

[dutchpirate]

An other consideration is if you reprop an under powered motor, you run the risk of over revving it at WOT.

[fordtruckin]

I'll probably look for at least a 30 but if I can swing it a 40. When I bought my camper the salesman said no one ever wished they had less storage so get a trailer with the most storage you can afford. I guess it's the same tug boat motors.

[TROLLER]

My feeling is a 16 with a 40HP is kinda like a 5ton farm truck with a 250 6 cyl. It will move down the road but that is about it.

Big winds come up and you can have a tough time getting to plane and that means going slow and getting soaked. Max HP on a 16 is surely more than 40 as I have a 14 Crestliner with a 40. Should say had just sold today.

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

My feeling is a 16 with a 40HP is kinda like a 5ton farm truck with a 250 6 cyl. It will move down the road but that is about it.

Big winds come up and you can have a tough time getting to plane and that means going slow and getting soaked. Max HP on a 16 is surely more than 40 as I have a 14 Crestliner with a 40. Should say had just sold today.

Nope the Lund ssv16 is limited to 40hp. If you move up to say a 16 Alaskan then your go jumps to 75 if you get the console model. 60 if you stick with a tiller which is what I'm looking for.

[ditchpickle]

I have a 16' SSV with a 30hp Yamaha 4 stroke. The boat has wooden floors, battery, gas tank, anchor and I usually have a bunch of other crap adding weight. The 30hp moves it along at 40kph with one or two people and about 36kph with 3 people and gear. From standstill it will get on plane in seconds. 30hp is plenty for that boat unless you always have a big load.

Fantastic boat though. I love mine!

[Fishwhere]

I agree with maxing out hp. With 3 people in the boat and gear you wont be too far off of your max weight most likely.... so i find it safer as well to have a higher hp. If you cant get on plane it will be a make or break for your speed. You will not regret the bigger one ever - especially long term. Now that ive had a 60, i wont go lower then that

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I'm looking for a Lund SSV16. Max hp is 40 but I was wondering if a 25 or 30 would suffice. My guess is there would never be more than 3 adults in the boat and if we did put a 4th, most of the places we fish are within 2-300 yards of shore so I don't mind getting there slower than some guy with a 250hp bass boat. I was figuring on a Mercury for the engine if I went new, but down in Minnesota there are some killer deals on 16' Lunds. I'd just end up wanting a newer engine as I'd rather have one less thing to worry about then.

The 75% is the number I was looking at. for the SSV16 75% would make the 30hp slightly under powered, but then if a prop change could make up the difference. And I thought vehicles had too many options!

The first boat I ever ran was a 16 foot Lund. The family still owns that boat and we have never had more then 25 hp on that boat, and no issues.

But it depends on how you equip the boat and what you want/expect it to do.
There are literately thousands of boats/ships that criss cross the Ocean without ever achieving planing speed.

We almost never load our Lund to near max so we have no issues planing out with 25hp. For a time we pushed it with a Honda 10hp, that was a bit less power then we liked but it would plane out with two grown men in the boat.

I have a fiberglass runabout with a 35hp Johnson on it. Compared to your Lund, this boat is heavy. More then twice the weight, with one occupant and gear, yet it planes out well with three men and their gear.

If you like the feeling of wind burn I'd go with 40 hp, if you want to keep weight down and get decent performance I'd go 25 hp.

Remember, what you have is a fishing boat, not a race boat.

[SamSteele]

Have a 2003 SSV16 with a Yamaha 25 hp 4 stroke since new. It's hauled 3 adults and a weeks worth of camping gear across northern sask lakes and did great. I've towed a double tube with my three little kids behind it, and even an adult wakeboarding just for kicks.

Would a 40 be good on it? For sure! But you also need electric start and power tilt/trim then (which mine doesn't have) so you added not only the weight of the motor, but a battery too. All in the stern of the boat. The 25 is easy to pull start and sips gas. I haven't found it wanting yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lok]

Heres my SSV16. Dead empty (floor, fuel, Battery with a 9.3x11p 30hp) it goes 30mph. Fully loaded with 2 adults fishing gear, downriggers ect (loaded up like in my video) it does 27 on flat calm water. 3 adults and i'm down to 22mph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTIRfMFkqt8

I bought the boat as a package deal that was used for a week and returned to the dealer. So I was stuck with the 30hp. Also didn't know much about boats and HP either as it is my first.

If your only ever going to be on small lakes the 30 will be just fine. If you want to venture into bigger water go with the 40. I have even seen a few guys with 50's on the ssv16.

In the next couple of years as the boy gets bigger I will be re-powering my boat as I'll have 3 people in it way more and I feel its under gunned...

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by lok

Heres my SSV16. Dead empty (floor, fuel, Battery with a 9.3x11p 30hp) it goes 30mph. Fully loaded with 2 adults fishing gear, downriggers ect (loaded up like in my video) it does 27 on flat calm water. 3 adults and i'm down to 22mph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTIRfMFkqt8

I bought the boat as a package deal that was used for a week and returned to the dealer. So I was stuck with the 30hp. Also didn't know much about boats and HP either as it is my first.

If your only ever going to be on small lakes the 30 will be just fine. If you want to venture into bigger water go with the 40. I have even seen a few guys with 50's on the ssv16.

In the next couple of years as the boy gets bigger I will be re-powering my boat as I'll have 3 people in it way more and I feel its under gunned...

That's what I'm looking for, any thoughts on selling? j/k. On a side note you did a great job!

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by lok

Heres my SSV16. Dead empty (floor, fuel, Battery with a 9.3x11p 30hp) it goes 30mph. Fully loaded with 2 adults fishing gear, downriggers ect (loaded up like in my video) it does 27 on flat calm water. 3 adults and i'm down to 22mph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTIRfMFkqt8

I bought the boat as a package deal that was used for a week and returned to the dealer. So I was stuck with the 30hp. Also didn't know much about boats and HP either as it is my first.

If your only ever going to be on small lakes the 30 will be just fine. If you want to venture into bigger water go with the 40. I have even seen a few guys with 50's on the ssv16.

In the next couple of years as the boy gets bigger I will be re-powering my boat as I'll have 3 people in it way more and I feel its under gunned...

Interesting. Looks like a nice fishing boat. I was wondering about the kicker when the main engine is only 30 hp. Wouldn't the latter go slow enough to troll?

[lok]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Interesting. Looks like a nice fishing boat. I was wondering about the kicker when the main engine is only 30 hp. Wouldn't the latter go slow enough to troll?

Few reasons for the kicker..... First, I already had it from my square stern canoe so it didn't cost me any extra money. Second, as a backup when out on the bigger lakes. Third, the 30 idles at 2mph, too fast for kokanee and didn't want to mess around with trolling plates ect. And last, I already have over 70 days on the water this year and will easily hit 100+. 90% of those hours are on the kicker. Keeps the hours, cost, maintenance off of the 30.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by lok

Few reasons for the kicker..... First, I already had it from my square stern canoe so it didn't cost me any extra money. Second, as a backup when out on the bigger lakes. Third, the 30 idles at 2mph, too fast for kokanee and didn't want to mess around with trolling plates ect. And last, I already have over 70 days on the water this year and will easily hit 100+. 90% of those hours are on the kicker. Keeps the hours, cost, maintenance off of the 30.

ah, I see. Thanks.