Outboard Gas Motor suggestion for my SIB

[Tangolima600]

Hey guys, first post. I'm doing some research on some configuration options for my new boat. My requirements for the boat I purchased was:

1. Living in a small house with no property, I need an inflatable that I can store in a large closet with all of it's equipment. I also do not have a trailer so it would need to be transported inside my Jeep.
2. Must be modular, suitable for a variety of uses such as leisure motoring, fishing, exercise rowing, etc.
[FONT=verdana, geneva]3. Must be capable of enduring a variety of environments such as lakes, rivers with little current, bays and calm coastal seas (NJ shore).[/FONT]
4. Must have a motor mount

After narrowing down my choices, I ended up purchasing a Sea Eagle STS10 StealthStalker. I am very happy how it performs with a 30lb trolling motor and I am now looking to get an outboard motor to expand the boat's capability. My requirements are:

1. Must not exceed 45-50lbs
2. Must be under 4hp
3. Speed requirements must be minimum of 5mph of faster
4. Must be 4 stroke that is relatively quiet
5. Must be under $1,000
6. Must be able to be used in salt water as well as fresh water.

After narrowing down my options, I am now looking at a Tohatsu 3.5hp 4 stroke.

My question is has anyone had experience with this motor? Are there any red flags that I should be concerned with? And finally, would this be suitable for use in calm seas (with respect to keeping close to the shore due to safety concerns having one motor)?

I appreciate any input to my choices and/or my thought process. Thanks guys!

-Tim

 

[Sea Rider]

Welcome to Iboats Tim,

1-A Tohatsu 4 strokes weights 41 Lbs.
2-3.5 HP is preferred to a 2.5 (both weights same )
3-Speed is unknown, depends on how much drag that hull achieves and overall weight will carry, assume doesn't have an inflatable keel ?
4-4 strokes ok, good motor, probably under one grand. Saltwater or fresh water intended, just flush after use.
5-Inflatables with engine mounts have performance issues if tubes are not fully topped inflated to its working pressure once floating for some minutes. Mount will flex less but will flex no matter what you do, that's the spirit of that kind of inflatable. The more you throttle the more will flex. If tubes are underinflated, much worse, that can cancel any opt prop thrust.

Can you post a pic of the rear engine mount mounted on sib.

Happy Boating

 

[Tangolima600]

Hey Sea Rider, thanks for your feedback. You are correct that this boat does not have a keel. As you request, here's a photo from Sea Eagle's website showing the mount in detail. There are essentially 4 mounting holes, two you see on the top, then two that are on the rear of the boat. The 3.5 will meet the maximum limits of the motor mount.

What I really like about this boat is the versatility of it's design with the wood floors allowing me to isntall any sort of mount configuration if needed or adding accessories to the Scotty mounts for GPS/etc. The small footprint when packed in my closet is a huge benifit too. I'm hoping that with the 3.5 I am able to take it out to larger areas of water and enjoy a day out of motoring. Ideally, having a remote control attached to a steering wheel would be my real goal but the money needed to invest and configure it would be outside of my limits. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Searider is nicer then I am. First welcome to iboats. Second: your criteria does not match with price or specs your looking for. No keel = no plane. No plane meaning you might not even get 5mph. get a smaller boat with an air floor. Forget about this Seaeagle non sense. I know a little about Jersey I have been near jersey boarders around the ambrose/ jamaica bay area. Infact my friend launched from jersey on his Saturn 12fter and crossed it in very choppy/ bad conditions. i believe he was running a 9.8 hatsu. Sorry I speak the truth but get your self something respectable. This seaeagle is a pool toy for a lake at best. Do not go into Jersey bays with that boat. Big boats will have you all over the place.

 

[Guest]

heres a good deal
http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/boa/5115237386.html

 

[Tangolima600]

Searider is nicer then I am. First welcome to iboats. Second: your criteria does not match with price or specs your looking for. No keel = no plane. No plane meaning you might not even get 5mph. get a smaller boat with an air floor. Forget about this Seaeagle non sense. I know a little about Jersey I have been near jersey boarders around the ambrose/ jamaica bay area. Infact my friend launched from jersey on his Saturn 12fter and crossed it in very choppy/ bad conditions. i believe he was running a 9.8 hatsu. Sorry I speak the truth but get your self something respectable. This seaeagle is a pool toy for a lake at best. Do not go into Jersey bays with that boat. Big boats will have you all over the place.

Thanks for your opinion. If I did live close enough to the bay (I'm living in the Philly area of PA), I would consider bigger hull options. There already is a large lake (Marsh Creek) and a river even closer (Schuylkill River) to me so my main considerations would revolve around those two bodies of water with Barnegat bay being a one or two time per year outing. Optimally if I were to cruise exclusively in big bodies of water, I would much prefer an inflatable rigged with an outboard with remote control and a steering console, which from my research is going to be in the $4-5k minimum range with additional concerns with disassembely to fit inside of a house closet. So looking at my options, I still find my Sea Eagle as the best option I have for the type of uses I would want to use it for. As far as speed, I'm already pushing 4mph WOT on my Minn Kota 30 and I can't see the bell curve of diminishing speed increase to hp to hit the wall at 5mph. Even if 6-7 was my max, that would be fine for me as I can go almost all day at full throttle. The relatively small size also allows me to take it to places where I can store/cover it and go backpacking/camping.

In an ideal world with land to store a solid boat and trailer I'm sure I can get something decent with console and even galley for under 10 grand but being that this isn't my main hobby, I'm thinking the 3.5hp would be perfect for my location and bodies of water I would most likely be launching it.

 

[Sea Rider]

Tango,

Having made your mind already to count with that type of sib that fills all your boating requirements, must be aware of some tech flaws related to rear engine mounts :

-Engine must be trimmed to sit perpendicular to mount and water level.
-When engine pushes forward, front mount will move in that direction too.



- Will lose best mount angle along best prop thrust as prop will tend go bit upwards.
- Need to install 2 SS flanges, next to rubber mounts, the ones that are adjustable by means of a central screw.
- Both will avoid front mount to move forward when engine pushes forward.
.- Fully inflate sib to its working pressure, if with a pressure gauge, the better.
- Distribute deck weight evenly.
- Its not the same in terms of rigidity a conventional transom compared to an engine mount which will rock inevitably aft.
- Probably won't be able to plane that sib, just achieve fast displacement speeds.
- If while throttling there's too much hull drag with bow up, throttle less for sib to slide parallel to water level, will have less hull drag and engine will push at ease.



Same type sib with a 5 HP engine..

Happy Boating

 

[fbpooler]

The Peter principal states that people are always promoted one step above what the are capable of.

In the marine world it amounts to one would believe a boat can handle much more than it is capable of.

Used in sheltered waters, you will probably be happy with your rig which is very good. It is fragile and should never be used in large waters plus it would lack the speed to handle swift water and wind which could be dangerous.