2020 mercury 40hp jet

[canadianjet89]

What’s going on guys!
New to posting but have done a lot of reading on here after getting suckered into a grizzly 1448 with a 25hp jet from bass pro... should have done my research before and not trusted the sales guys “expertise”
Long story short the 1448 25hp combo has been a nightmare and doesn’t plane worth ****. So I’m looking to trade up... wondering what tracker you’d pair with a 2020 mercury 40hp jet 4 stroke. I’ve heard the 1648 would be a good match but it’s rated for 25hp and basspro says they can’t legal mount a 40hp on it. So maybe I just need to get the two and get them mounted elsewhere.
Cheers. Going in Friday to trade in.

 

[JL8Jeff]

They show the 1648 rated for a 40 hp but a 40 hp jet is really 60 hp at the head. If they have the 1654, I would go for that with the 60/40 jet but I'm sure it costs more and is also rated at 40 hp. I have a 1652 Lowe with a 60/45 2 stroke jet and the lowest I would consider on my boat is a 50/35.

 

[Pawatch]

What size transom does your 1448 have? 25hp should get that boat up on plane.
Did you think about taking it some place and having someone that knows what they are doing set it up?

To answer your question about motor size... I would put as big as motor on your boat as a capacity allows.

 

[canadianjet89]

They show the 1648 rated for a 40 hp but a 40 hp jet is really 60 hp at the head. If they have the 1654, I would go for that with the 60/40 jet but I'm sure it costs more and is also rated at 40 hp. I have a 1652 Lowe with a 60/45 2 stroke jet and the lowest I would consider on my boat is a 50/35.

Bps has a 1648 sportsman with a 60/40. I’ll spend the money to upgrade if it means having a boat that runs skinny water! Appreciate your input Jeff! If the 1648 w/ the 60/40 doesn’t do the trick I don’t know what direction I’ll go haha

 

[canadianjet89]

What size transom does your 1448 have? 25hp should get that boat up on plane.
Did you think about taking it some place and having someone that knows what they are doing set it up?

To answer your question about motor size... I would put as big as motor on your boat as a capacity allows.

The transom is 17.5, the boat will plane if I move the cranking battery and fuel tank forward plus have someone sit right on the nose of the boat. I haven’t heard many positive reviews on the 1448 with the 25hp now that I’ve gone looking for answers. Even the two private jet boat shops I spoke with said it’s not a very good combination.

 

[handyandy]

Yeah 25hp jets seem to work well on the new rafts coming in from russia designed for small jets, and it can work on a 1448 but you won't be able to carry much weight. Only guys I've ever known to run 25hp jets are guys on eleven point river in mo and upper current river where they have a hp restriction to 25hp. A 1648 with a 60/40 should be fine, a 1654 would be better just due to the weight of the engine. Lot of guys run 1752-1756 and even 1852-1854 boats with a 60/40 just fine. It won't be a speed demon but no obj boat is unless you put a huge engine on a hull that can barely float it.

 

[canadianjet89]

Yeah 25hp jets seem to work well on the new rafts coming in from russia designed for small jets, and it can work on a 1448 but you won't be able to carry much weight. Only guys I've ever known to run 25hp jets are guys on eleven point river in mo and upper current river where they have a hp restriction to 25hp. A 1648 with a 60/40 should be fine, a 1654 would be better just due to the weight of the engine. Lot of guys run 1752-1756 and even 1852-1854 boats with a 60/40 just fine. It won't be a speed demon but no obj boat is unless you put a huge engine on a hull that can barely float it.

Andy appreciate your input! 1752 seems like a really big heavy boat for a 40hp jet. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ve seen a guy put a 65 jet on the 1752 and it seems to be ideal.

 

[Pawatch]

I think that 17.5" seems like a odd size transom. I would think you would want a 20-22" transom.
It sounds like your jet motor is to low and needs to come up to get you planning.

 

[Tbradley]

Good buddy of mine has an Alweld 1852 sport jet in .080" with remote steer and 38" front deck that runs great with a Merc 60/40 4 stroke jet. Low 30's with one person and will plane with four guys in the mid 20's.

 

[handyandy]

I think that 17.5" seems like a odd size transom. I would think you would want a 20-22" transom.
It sounds like your jet motor is to low and needs to come up to get you planning.

This is also possible pictures would help determine this pics of the side showing where the intake shoe sits relative to the bottom of the boat. 1752-1852 is very common in MO with a 60/40 due to 40hp restrictions on some rivers. Tons of blazers, alweld, and weldbuilts sold in that size with a 40hp jet. When I say 40hp jet I mean a factory 40hp jet, which is a 60/40, which means it actually has a 60hp power head but at the jet it's the equivalent of 40hp roughly. Typically these boats are .080-.100" thick, but the tracker sportsman I believe are only .100 or .090 so about the same. I don't know where you live, but it may be worth your while to try and get out of the setup you got, and go some place that specializes in jets more.

 

[Pawatch]

I have a 1648 Crestliner with an 18hp Evinrude jet and it jumps up on plane fairly quick. Not a speed demon but it gets up.
I have myself 200 lbs and 6 gallon gas tank in the back...Front 2 deep cycle batteries @ 65lb a piece.
My transom is 22" all that needed done was the motor needed bolted on.

That's why I feel that 25 should get you on plane.
As Handyandy mentioned I would let someone who is good with setting up Jets look at it.
But if you want something bigger you have a good excuse to do it.

 

[Tbradley]

I think that 17.5" seems like a odd size transom. I would think you would want a 20-22" transom.
It sounds like your jet motor is to low and needs to come up to get you planning.

I agree, I'd check this first! If the intake is hanging below the bottom of the hull it's dragging in the water, which is going to hurt performance. My buddy with the Alweld 1852 started out with a Tracker 1448 .100" hull with remote steer and rod/gun box with a Merc 25 jet, it wouldn't plane, but his problem was the dealer (which doesn't do jets) mounted the motor about an 1.5" too low. I tried to convince him to move the motor up, but he ended up taking the motor back to the dealer and ended up with a Merc 60/40, but then his boat was too small and I ended up talking in him to getting the Alweld 1852....much better. So long story short, check the intake with the bottom first.

 

[JL8Jeff]

Post a picture of how your current setup looks with the motor down in the running position. Were you getting a lot of sprayback over the back of the boat? I had to unbolt and raise/lower my motor 4-5 times before I found the best location and even then, I still needed the transom wedges to tuck it in to get rid of porpoising.

 

[Fishigan]

That 1448 Grizzly is a heavy boat for its size. Even if motor is set properly I could see it struggling to get on plane. I have a 1648 Grizzly with a Merc 60/40 jet. I am running around 29-30 mph by myself and 25mph with another person. I do have my cranking battery and two trolling motor batteries up front to help with weight distribution. I have no complaints whatsoever about my set up.

 

[Crazyboat]

Why not keep the boat and trade up an engine?

 

[Fishigan]

Why not keep the boat and trade up an engine?

Max HP rating is 25 on the 1448.

 

[Crazyboat]

OK, didn't catch that.