14' Alweld - 9 HP Not Enough?

[dsuden]

I know a lot of guys like to blaze along, but in our river here we will probably never even get up on plane; it's a no-wake zone. In our situation, is an 8-9 HP 2-cylinder motor really not enough? The Alweld dealer told me we should be looking at a 25 HP for a 14 footer, and that would kill the deal for us due to the cost.

 

[tripwire]

I fish a lot of 9.9 lakes. mostly with a lowes big jon 16x48, and a 9.9 Johnson is more than enough motor for me. I am a fishing not racing.

 

[cgaengineer]

A 9.9 will be fine, I run a 2.5 Merc on my 1236, I like tripwire am fishing not racing.

 

[overboard]

Right now I have a 9.9 on my Tracker 1654. (460# bare boat, + quite a bit of added weight). Sure won't set any speed records, but it works. 12 mph alone, 9 mph W/a passenger. That's on a lake.
In a river with heavy current I would want to go bigger, maby a 15 hp or more. With only me in the boat I barely made it up a river we fish with the 9.9. Also have a 30 hp for the boat, and if someone were with me I would throw that on.
Years ago, 2 of us in an old barebones mirrorcraft deep v couldn't make it through a riffle (whitewater) with a 9.9.
A 9.9 will work OK in flat water and some current, but with 2 people and heavier current they may not have the power that's needed.
Need to add this:
Also have used a little 4.5 merc on the river, on a 17' starcraft. It got me to where I wanted to go but never would have pushed that boat through any type of riffle.
It all comes down to what type of water you are attempting to navigate, and how much weight is in the boat.

 

[TheMaestro]

I run a 9.9 on my riveted 14. You can see pics of it on good plane in my build, and I can plane it with 2 adults and a child plus gear. The allweld is heavier, but if you are not fighting swift current or whitecaps (ie, a quiet lake) I should think the 9.9 would be fine. Plus, a bigger motor may come along later on for you.

 

[Keystone]

I'll echo what overboard said. That little outboard is fine on lakes or very slow weak currents. But any decent river will be struggling to go upstream IMO.

 

[JMichael]

A friend of mine has a Lowe 15' with an older 8hp merc on it. Both of us are well over 200lbs each and his boat will make about 13mph in still water. So factor in more or less weight, speed of the river current and you'll have a rough idea of what you can do. If you're going to be running in a no wake zone a lot, and aren't concerned about getting up on plane, I'd say an 8-10hp will do just fine for you.

 

[BoatingCop]

I have a 14' v with a 9.9 Evinrude which pushes me along at alittle over 20 mph, while loaded down. The OMC 9.9/15's are tough and powerful.

 

[TheMaestro]

Not to hijack the thread, but I seem to remember reading that the HP measurement on the older OMC motors was at the prop, versus newer motors whose HP is measured from the motor? The implication being the OMC's are more powerful?

 

[JMichael]

TheMaestro » Yesterday, 08:23[/url]"]Not to hijack the thread, but I seem to remember reading that the HP measurement on the older OMC motors was at the prop, versus newer motors whose HP is measured from the motor? The implication being the OMC's are more powerful?

I believe it's the opposite of that, the new ones are measured at the prop.

 

[BoatingCop]

It is opposite. The older ones were rated at the crank.

 

[tomme boy]

New 4-strokes do not make the same power as 2-stroke did. Especially in the smaller motors. A new 9.9 is like a old 6 hp IMO.