low hp on a heavy v bottom

[bean210]

I have a 2003 tracker v14 superguide with a 25hp. I only fish the lake that I live on, mostly because all of the surrounding lakes have a 10hp limit.. my lake has unlimited hp, so there are usually 10-12 jetski's flying around and half a dozen people skiing during the day. I usually go out at dusk, while the whole lake is no wake. i rarely use the 25hp. i put in 3 gals each year, and usually have enough left over to run my chainsaw in the fall :shock:
it is a console boat and needs recarpeted. I was never happy with the layout, as I troll mostly. I am wanting to convert it to a tiller steer, which is simple in the boat, because it looks like the console and other pieces that go along with it, were added to a tiller boat.
since I mostly troll, I thought a 6hp tohatsu would be a good choice. I want an engine with a built in tank, and the 6hp is the largest that I have seen
the boat is heavy, .100 aluminum and a lot of 3/4" plywood decking. id say it weighs 6-700lbs.
sorry,a little long winded. my question is, does anyone else have a large deep v with a small outboard? if so, do you have any tips on prop pitch, etc?
I really like the stability of the boat. it is 74" wide and easy to walk around in (even better, once i remove the console)

 

[DaleH]

Go to website for Turning Point propellers, https://www.turningpoint.com and they have a whizard calculator for picking the right pitched prop based on your boat (or similar model), the exact motor, and load it carries.

Good choice on the motor! Them or Nissans are my favorite small OBs. Should make that a sweet rig for your use. Save the console for when you ever sell the hull.

 

[bean210]

thanks dale, I'll check it out

 

[kofkorn]

IMHO, if your local lakes are all 10hp limits, I'd go for a 9.9. That's a 60% increase in hp over the 6 and you will certainly notice the difference when moving on larger lakes.

The built-in tanks are nice, but if you move to a larger lake you're going to need an additional portable tank any way.

Good luck!

 

[bean210]

I have considered the 9.8 tohatsu. and the 8hp too. both good choices.
the 6 is about 27lbs lighter. i am trying to shave off as much weight as possible, because my grandson is a few months away from getting his drivers license , and has been claiming my truck since he was 12. if I go anywhere else, I'll have to tow it with our 4cyl car. I want to keep the total package under 1000 lbs.
i'll knock off 175-200 lbs with the engine swap, removing cranking battery, getting rid of the gas tank and console and controls.
actually, if it wasn't for the lack of reverse, I would even look at the 3.5hp tohatsu. I have been using my electric trolling motor 98% of the time.

 

[rscottp]

+1 on the 9.9hp! You may even be able to get up on plane.

 

[bean210]

I don't think it will plane. my friend has the same boat in a 16' version and had a 9.9 for the local lakes. it just plowed the water. he had a mechanic switch the intake manifold, carb etc, to convert it to a 15, and while it improved greatly, he still wasn't happy with it.

 

[bean210]

this is the 2 versions of the boat that i have.the tiller version is what I would prefer. it looks like a simple process to remove the console, etc
oddly, the pic of the console boat is a left hand drive. must be for the UK :LOL2:

 

[Zum]

Years ago, I used a 3hp lightwin, on a homemade 12' boat. We would troll all day for trout, sometimes 4 of us in the boat. Certainly wouldn't plane but trolled great all day.

 

[bean210]

we took out the boat today. fished for a few minutes and then rode around in the boat for a few minutes. the water was 49*. it topped out at 22mph.
just out of curiosity, we decided to not look at the gps and find a nice comfortable slow speed that we would be happy with. it was 5mph! i'm really getting old 8-[

 

[rscottp]

Glad to hear you got out on the water, I am jealous! I know you probably don't care but 22mph seems slow for a 25hp on a 14' vhull. Maybe the prop is miss matched?

 

[bean210]

I thought about experimenting with the prop when I first got the boat, but honestly, I never ran the outboard enough to motivate me to do it.
it was nice out there. the sun was out, but it was still chilly on the water when moving
there were half a dozen bass boats running 60+ mph :shock:
still to early for jetski's =D>

 

[rscottp]

I always thought there should be a "season" on jet skis.

 

[TNtroller]

I vote for the 9.9 for a several reasons. You can get a 3 gal tank and the 9.9 will run a long time on 3 gal of gas. You have a bit of extra power if the need ever arose, bad weather, or whatever may happen. Don't know the trolling speed(s) you need for your fishing, but you may have to run the 6 above idle speed and it will be noisy if you convert to a tiller. You don't have to remove the console to run a tiller, but the weight savings and more room will be a benefit. If the 9.9 is too much power for your trolling, you could put a trolling plate on it to slow it down, or use a drift sock.

I was in a glass flats boat last weekend, hull weight of about 450#, 2 guys at 400#, TM battery and TM, very light gear and we put my 5hp 4s on it for giggles (guy does not have a gasser yet) and we were on a small river in Middle TN, at WOT the 5 pushed this weight to 7.2mph per a phone gps app (not very accurate but close), and sitting there with the 5hp at WOT only going 7mph the sound of the motor got old fairly quickly.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Why not add your 6 hp as a kicker motor? Best of both worlds

 

[bean210]

I really want to eliminate the tank/gas lines in the boat, that is the reason for the 6hp. and the new tohatsu engine has the connections for a 3 gal tank built in, so I could have the further range, if needed. I don't really fish any big water now. I used to go to Canada and a few of the large southern lakes, but i'm happy on the smaller lakes. a few I have fished in the last few years are electric only. one of the better lakes near me is paddle only. I used to fish it out of a canoe.
I have considered the noise factor. I am hoping I can run the 6 at 1/2 throttle and hit 5mph. that is about as fast as I can go before leaving a wake. the lake goes no-wake about an hour before sunset. that is my favorite time to be on the water. I can get in 2 hrs of fishing before it gets too dark. thats the old saying, the fish hit just well enough in the last hour of fishing to keep you coming back for more.
open season on jetskis. i like it
we'd have to come up with some sort of bag-limit :twisted:

 

[ccm]

I have a 4hp Tohatsu with the internal tank. The internal tank has given me nothing but problems. The vent cap on top of the tank lets in quite a bit of moisture if gas is left in it for any period of time. The tank is a real pain in the rear to remove to drain gas/clean. Plus the internal tank is only a little over a third of a gallon, not really a whole lot of fuel but for small waters its fine. You don't always have to fill an external tank to capacity either, lets say 1.5 or 2 gallons in a 3 gallon tank.

 

[bean210]

rscottp,
you've got me to thinking. I was checking out replacement props for a tohatsu 9.8 4stroke tiller. stock prop is 7" pitch. there is a 5" & 6" pitch prop available. if I thought I could get my boat to plane and top out at 12-14 mph, that would be perfect for me. I could use my boat at the 10hp lakes and still troll at low speeds with the 9.8 at home.
the 25hp hp has a 13 pitch prop. it gets out of the hole ok, but if i reduce the throttle at full speed, it starts to go off plane. I dont have a hydrofoil.
I hope to lighten the boat a few hundred pounds. hopefully, that will help some
I have to admit that this is beyond my boating knowledge. it would be a good choice though

 

[bean210]

ccm,
other than the tank, what is your impression of the tohatsu?

 

[ccm]

It's a great little motor. I do think the gear cases ( lower units ) are a little weak. I had to get mine rebuilt after finding the one solid laydown in a known running lane during low water. :evil: This is a rubber core prop & it didn't even put a scratch on it but I was going close to half throttle when I hit it. The 4, 5, & 6 hp models a pretty much the same motor with only the carb being the difference. I plan on upgrading when my motor goes out of warranty. The thing that I really like about it is how quiet it runs along with the super low idle. If you want a motor that can troll all day long & not have to choke on 2 stroke fumes there's really nothing of better value and price than these little Tohatsu's. Mine is a 2011 model which I bought new in January of 2013 for $650 tax included & I also got a full warranty with it. I have my motor on a 14ft v hull Sea King built by Arkansas Traveler. Not a speed demon by any means but it gets me where I need to go reliably.