What size motor for my boat?

[washington duckhunter]

I have a 16' aluminum boat (Grumman) we have striped it down trying to eliminate as much weight as possible.It currently has a 50hp mercury side console steering motor I want a tiller motor. Can I go with a 20 to 30hp motor?

 

[boobie]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

What's the boat rated for in horse power ??

 

[coolbri70]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

^ also, how fast are you needing to go?

 

[washington duckhunter]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

It doesn't have a rating on it that I can find

 

[boobie]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

How's it run with the 50 HP Merc that is now on it ?? Normally when you go tiller you have to drop the horse power. Safety reasons.

 

[steelespike]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

What year boat? Do you have a model number?Does it have a live well,floor,built in tank
If you count jon boats there are probably 15 16 ft models.

 

[washington duckhunter]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

the boat is a 1989 gruman 16' ss . i have removed the live well ,steering console and storage boxes. I pulled the wooden floor out and replaced it with aluminum diamond plating all to reduce the weight and open up the floor.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Well, there are some commercial tiller steering motors with up to 85HP, so you will have a choice. Why did you strip her down? Was it simply to use a smaller motor?

 

[younggun]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Well, there are some commercial tiller steering motors with up to 85HP, so you will have a choice. Why did you strip her down? Was it simply to use a smaller motor?

Guessing that he's a duck hunter it was probably to open it up for duck hunting. I did the same thing to one of my boats

 

[steelespike]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

What will be your typical load?If the 50 merc is sound there is or were tiller kits for it.
I have a 1965 50 hp tiller motor and I had a 77 tiller motor.That I added the tiller to.
As far as big tiller motors I've seen 115s with tillers.

 

[washington duckhunter]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

not so much the motor size but to clear out the clutter. We hunted out of it this year and all that stuff was in the way making it unsafe in the bay.

 

[washington duckhunter]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Yes it's for hunting. I looked up the serial number and it looks like the motor is a 1989 a local boat shop said there is not a tiller kit available is that true? I would prefer to keep my motor and install a kit if I could find one.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Shilshoe Bay or Chesapeake Bay. Which Washington? And how fast are the ducks you are chasing?

sorry. Would think a tiller 30 or 40 would do the job with a hunting partner and decoys up in the front of the boat. Boat should be pretty quick, and probably w/i hp limits for that hull (which would be good to determine). 2-cycle would be lighter than comparable 4-cycle, if that is a factor (but louder. must be vewy vewy quiet when duck hunting... sorry)

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

As far as big tiller motors I've seen 115s with tillers.

Tillers are common here to 300HP, 200s are the most common though, 150hp and less is considered small.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

You can buy a tiller for yours, but it can be costly, check eBay frequently and you should be able to find one at a fair price.

 

[washington duckhunter]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Washington state. It's not about speed or noise am just having a hard time finding a tiller motor at a reasonable price over 40 hp

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

well, still thinking a 25 or 30 (40?). Can you come up with a tiller model in that hp range? It's a pretty light boat. "Older" for me is '50s or '60s, but seems like you might be able to find a deal or two on something from the '80s or '90s. Depends on what you want to spend, and how much tinkering you are comfortable with. JMHO.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

Yes it's for hunting. I looked up the serial number and it looks like the motor is a 1989 a local boat shop said there is not a tiller kit available is that true? I would prefer to keep my motor and install a kit if I could find one.

Just because one isn't listed doesn't mean they aren't available, you can get a tiller for just about any Merc made.

I've had the same issue when looking for one on a different brand, nothing listed for that model, then found out the same tiller will fit almost any motor of that brand built over about a 15 year span.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What size motor for my boat?

sounds like you might have a possible source. local source maybe. man needs a tiller.