What size Mod-V Jon boat for a 25HP outboard?

[rking453]

I'm doing things a little backwards here. I got a great deal on a '92 Mariner (Mercury) short shaft outboard. I would like to purchase a Mod-V Jon boat for this motor to go on. I'm trying to pick the right size boat that this motor will perform well on. Mainly going to use this boat for fishing smaller lakes and ponds. Five square miles or smaller. Typical gear would be 150 pounds of gear including battery and trolling motor, 300 lbs worth of people, 6 gallons of gas.

Looking online a G3 1548 is 340 lbs dry, with a 25hp rating. A 1652 is 400lbs with 50hp rating. Seems like a pretty big jump in HP rating. Would the 1652 be underpowered with only half the HP rating? The 1652s are a lot easier to find used around me, but if the 1548 would be a better match for the motor I can be patient and wait for one to come available.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear rking,

Just to give you an idea I had a Voyager 1685 jon boat with a 20 HP Tracker/Evinrude motor. The bare hull weighed 475 pounds. It easily did 20 mph on plane with 750 to 800 pounds of people and gear in it. It had a 60" flat floor which made it very easy to plane.

25 HP will be more than enough motor for what you are looking at boat wise.

Good luck,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA

 

[gogittum]

Agree. My 1663 Starcraft Seafarer is 285# bare hull and I figure that with me, gas, full gear and on the water is about 650#. My old 25 hp Johnson 2 smoke drives it to 28 mph flat out. Cruises nice at 22 mph.

That boat and my 12 ft Mirrocraft with 15 hp Johnson are for sale. I'll be posting ads soon.

 

[JL8Jeff]

A stripped down 1652 or 1648 might be ok with a 25 hp prop motor but if you start finding hulls with floors, sides, console, storage, etc. the weight will go up and slow you down. I bought my 1652 center console (with floors/sides) with a 40 hp prop motor and it was fine with that motor. Since it's a jet tunnel hull boat I sold the prop motor when I found a 60/45 jet for it. I think with 3-4 people and some gear in it, a 1652 would struggle with a 25. I think I would look for a 1548 or 1448 but it probably depends on how you really plan to use the boat. If it's just going to be 1 or 2 people most of the time, a bare 1652 should work.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I have a 25hp merc on a DMI mod-v jon 1648, and it can go mid 20's, but usually cruise at 16mph. I think it could work on a 1652, but will need to keep the mods and weight down. I would also think that many of the 1652's would be for a standard shaft outboard, not the short shaft.

1648's are a very common mod-v platform across multiple mfgs. I would think there would be more choices on the used market for them. You still may have to search for short shaft transom versions. While common years ago, they seem less so in more recent years.

 

[Alex from GA]

I have a 14' old open glass boat with a '96 25 Merc that I used for several years. With just me top speed is 29mph and it cruised @ 22-25 really nice. With a lighter boat you should get over 30. I'd keep looking for a 14 or 15' boat. Long ago my buddy had a 15' Gregor with a Rude 15 that we'd take in the Pacific. Wasn't fast but it planed with us and lots of fishing tackle.

 

[Skunked again]

I had a G3 1756, that I put a 90's 2 stroke 25HP Yamaha on. With just me, gear, 6 gallon gas tank, 4 - 27 series batteries - 22MPH (GPS). Add a person and there stuff, 17MPH.

 

[gogittum]

I had a G3 1756, that I put a 90's 2 stroke 25HP Yamaha on. With just me, gear, 6 gallon gas tank, 4 - 27 series batteries - 22MPH (GPS). Add a person and there stuff, 17MPH.

I had a similar thing with a 2003 Johnson 25 hp 2 stroke on my 1663 Starcraft Seafarer. Do yourself a huge favor and buy a Tiny Tach - spend the extra few bucks for one and forget the cheap Chinese knockoffs. They don't work well. The Tiny Tach is rock solid.

IIRC, (boat is sold and gone now) it was hitting 24 mph at 6200 rpm with the 10.5 x 11 prop.. I found a used 10.5 x 13 prop in good condition and it gave me 26 mph at 5200 rpm. Too much. Book calls for 5500 WOT.

Then a neighbor came up with a rough looking, but functional 10 x 13 prop for it and that one gave me 28 mph at 5600 rpm. Close enuf for gummint work and it's still on there. Hole shot is great and I did raise the motor some on the transom.

 

[thill]

The longer, wider boats that are lightweight in design can carry more weight and plane out with less HP.

I had a great-running 25 Evinrude, the one in my signature pic, actually, and was surprised to find that it went FASTER on a 16' mod-V Tracker than it did on a shorter, narrower Crestliner deep-V with 2 people and gear.

The smaller boat sat deeper in the water with that load and plowed water more. The bigger, wider boat hardly felt 2 people, and just skimmed across the top of the water. Lesson learned. I sold the smaller boat and kept the larger one.

 

[moedelawn]

Keep in mind that some manufacturers measure the LOB on a V bow differently than a Jon boat. I absolutely had to have a 1548. I would not consider a 14ft. I bought a new 1548 hull. Everyone that saw it asked if it was 13ft. I put the tape to it to find out that is actually 14'3". If I measure along the gunwale and around the point, it's exactly 15ft. If I had known that I would have gotten a 1648. I know Xpress and G3 measure transom to bow in a straight line. I know it is common to round up but I felt like they got me on this one.

 

[thill]

I just sold a Tracker and the title said 17, but the boat was 16'3". Not a big deal, but I understand your feelings of being had.

 

[plumbob4u]

I have a 14' old open glass boat with a '96 25 Merc that I used for several years. With just me top speed is 29mph and it cruised @ 22-25 really nice. With a lighter boat you should get over 30. I'd keep looking for a 14 or 15' boat. Long ago my buddy had a 15' Gregor with a Rude 15 that we'd take in the Pacific. Wasn't fast but it planed with us and lots of fishing tackle.

I have a question about your Mercury 25 hp. Do you have a manual pull start and does it pull with reasonable

 

[LDUBS]

I don't know much about Jon boats. Are they commonly for short shaft motors? If not, make sure the transom is for a short shaft.

 

[LDUBS]

Keep in mind that some manufacturers measure the LOB on a V bow differently than a Jon boat. I absolutely had to have a 1548. I would not consider a 14ft. I bought a new 1548 hull. Everyone that saw it asked if it was 13ft. I put the tape to it to find out that is actually 14'3". If I measure along the gunwale and around the point, it's exactly 15ft. If I had known that I would have gotten a 1648. I know Xpress and G3 measure transom to bow in a straight line. I know it is common to round up but I felt like they got me on this one.

I just sold a Tracker and the title said 17, but the boat was 16'3". Not a big deal, but I understand your feelings of being had.

Shoot, now I want to go out and measure my 18' Gregor. Or, maybe I don't want to know. Spec's say "bottom length". I don't really know what that means.

 

[MN Fisher]

Shoot, now I want to go out and measure my 18' Gregor. Or, maybe I don't want to know. Spec's say "bottom length". I don't really know what that means.

My F-9 is the father to the V-14. Pamphlet shows two measurements. 15' from bow to stern along the gunwale, 14'2" Prow to center of the transom.

A 14' semi-V should be good for up to 30hp - my F-9 is rated to 35, but the newest V-14 has lowered that to 25.

Older model semi-Vs had two different transom heights - 15" and 20" (short-shaft and long-shaft respectively)

 

[Pawatch]

If you have a short shaft motor. Try and find a short shaft transom. 15"
You will save yourself a lot of headache.
If you don't have the need for speed 25 should move the boat fine.

 

[Macintosh]

Its all about the prop—pitch it right and you will be fine, wrong prop and it’ll be sluggish. my 16’7” v hull tin weighs between the 1548 and 1652 weights you cited, also wears a mid ‘90’s mariner 25hp—with trolling motor, 2 big batteries, gas, fishing gear and me (200lb) I get 33mph Gps speed. Add my wife, the dog, camping gear, and a 110l cooler full of ice and beves and food, I still get 28. I agree with post #9 above, if you have a set amount of cargo you are going to bring, a similar boat with a higher displacement is going to be less affected by additinal weight and will plow water less. weighing only 60lb more I would be surprised if the 1652 wasnt just fine with a strong 25 on it, and would not be shocked if you only lost 1 or 2 mph fully loaded to the smaller boat. If you bring a friend or two you’ll appreciate the extra width and size anyway.
also agree with keeping mods and weight down. If you add 200 pounds of plywood and carpet to it you will want a bigger engine regardless of which hull you get.

 

[dcbz]

I'm curious RKING453,
Have you found a boat to use with your 25 HP Mariner?

 

[Crazyboat]

For a 25 HP something 14'-16', 17' is probably too big. I'd prefer 14' or 15' for max speed but if room is more important then speed, go big.

 

[Attwanl]

I have a 15/48 mod-v polar kraft with a floor, front & rear casting deck, trolling motor, two batteries, side console, with a 1998 25 hp 4 stroke Yamaha. I love it…..fuel consumption is great, running solo and no gear, it will do 30 mph, with gear and another person around 24 mph.
I really like my boat, it goes fast enough for me, easy on fuel, plenty of room for one. Two people its cozy but, very doable.