1998 Crestliner 1750 Fish Hawk Build- Enough HP?

[Cattydaddy]

Good Afternoon All,

I am working on a 1998 crestliner 1750 Fish Hawk and have replaced all of the plywood with aluminum. I am contemplating removing the console and using a 45hp johnson commercial tiller outboard to open the floor plan up. The boat is listed at 1100lbs, but I think after swapping out the plywood for aluminum, it's sitting closer to 950 dry. The boat currently has a remote 90hp Evinrude SPL. I have never run the boat in it's current configuration. I am not overly concerned with speed, as most of my fishing and crabbing happens within a few miles of the ramp. Would the 45hp be severely underpowered? It is my understanding that they are geared lower than a standard 50hp, and can handle a heavier load. I will post pictures later this evening. Thanks ahead of time for anyone with any insight!

 

[Cattydaddy]

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Offhand, it seems like allot for a 17.5' boat with a load with a 45hp. I'd want to make sure it could plane out with a little reserve with your "normal" load. If you don't need it to plane out, then it should be fine.

You could always try your tiller with a "normal" load to see how it performs before removing consle or controls.

 

[jethro]

It's easy to say you don't care about speed, but when your fishing the back bays and you are 11 miles from the launch and your fishing buddy slips and takes a gaff through the spleen and is bleeding out on your deck or something stupid like that, having a boat that barely gets on plane is a real liability. Or if a funnel cloud appears and you want to get out of dodge quick. I don't care about speed either, 99% of my time on the boat I'm moving at 1.8mph, but life isn't always that easy and being able to scoot in an emergency is important to me. For this reason I would never purchase a boat that doesn't have at least 80% of max rated horsepower. But this is something you need to evaluate on your own. At a minimum you need to be able to get the boat on plane. Put a few extra people in the boat and it would probably stuggle.

 

[flatheadsteve]

The #s I see for a 1750 fish hawk is 150hp max. That's for a newer model with a console. If yours is rated similar I'd suspect it to be pretty slow with a 45 it may not even get you on plane. If that's acceptable for you and what your plans are for the boat then by all means enjoy.

 

[Cattydaddy]

Thanks to all for your input. I'll keep everyone updated on which route I take. I am tempted to try to convert the 90hp evinrude that is currently on the boat to a tiller set-up, but not sure how feasible/safe that is.

 

[LDUBS]

I agree with above. 45HP would be underpowered for that boat. OK if you like to toodle along.