Which boat better Utility (row boat) or Mod V Jon Boat

[Schoolbus69]

Hello All, hope everyone is enjoying summer.
I am getting back into boating but not sure witch boat would be better for the task. I am looking at a 14 to 16 ft boat length or should I be looking at the 18+ in length. Witch boat would work best for Hunting, Fishing, and Tubbing, The boat needs to be able to load on top the truck, and pulled on a trailer by Motorcycle (Max weight of 400 lbs), and to add fun to all this the one lake only allows electric motors or oars for fishing.
Next what size motor would you use for tubing on the river or large lake as i can remove the gas motor for electric only waters. All thoughts and recomendations are welcome.

 

[roffey]

sorry I cant resist, and I am a terrible speller but did you mean "Witch boat would work best for Haunting" or "Which boat would work best for Hunting".

Unfortunately I can offer any constructive advice...

 

[roffey]

oh .. and welcome abord. Most here offer good advice.... I know its bad form to pick on spelling, and I'm the worst speller.

 

[Schoolbus69]

Thank you, I to am horrable at spelling / grammer sorry. Which boat would work best for fishing, hunting and tubbing. In other words the wife said 1 boat only :grumpy:.

 

[roffey]

Personally I would think a v bottom would work best for all around. Pulling people behind the boat may require a v to hold the water. I had a flat bottom boat when I was younger and it was fun to slide around the corners and you could pull skiers but just not whip them around. As you can tell I don't know much about jon boats, so wait for someone who knows.

 

[Schoolbus69]

Thanks you roffey for the advice. The V boat you are talking about is V in front that turns into what looks like a round type bottom, Sorry I don't know boat types very well, just learning at this point.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I agree that a jon boat, even a modified V jon boat, won't be much good for pulling a tube and it won't be much fun if you're out in even a little bit of chop.

For tubing, what size gas motor are you planning to use? We used to pull our kids on a 1-person tube behind a 14' utility boat with 9.9 hp outboard. I was fun for them until they hit about 4th or 5th grade, at which point the ride was too tame. We probably could have kept it going a few more years with some additional hp, but you can only put so much motor on a 14' boat...

Neither boat is going to be great for tubing, but the jon boat is particularly poorly suited to the task.

 

[Schoolbus69]

Thank you for your imput JASinlL2006, I've got 2 kids in the 7th grade and one 3 yr old, sounds like the 16 ft Semi V would do the job nicely and be in the weight I can hand for the bike or on top of the SUV or Truck. As for motor size, I've boated before with a 1955 12 ft crestliner w/ 3 hp evenrude motor, so for boating I could do that, tubing i know (Kids Idea), so I'm learning. The boat I am looking at has a 16 ft semi-V w/ 25 hp motor, not sure of how big a motor I can or should put on it. Started comparing 16 ft crafts for max hp rating, most run around the 20 to 25 hp. How ever Lowe has 2 - 16 ft boats (1667 & 1667 WT). They look the same boat, but the 1667 has hp range of 9.9 - 30 and the 1667 WT has a hp range of 20-40. So I'm confused as to why the same boat would have 2 differant hp ranges.

 

[Silvertip]

A 16 foot V-hull (or any hull for that matter) is going to be more than you can load alone. Your 7th grader is about 13 years old and I will guarantee that a 25 HP will go out of favor from a performance standpoint (at least with him) as water sports will demand more power. Get into a 40 HP and you will now be hoisting a 200+ pound motor on and off the boat. Your current plan in my view is going to result in a new plan in just a year or two as the kids get older. As for HP ratings on what would be the same boat -- if one is tiller steer and other a side console, that's why the difference. It's all in the handling. WT in your example means something so check the specs to compare weight and features. They didn't add a "WT" for no reason.

 

[jbcurt00]

Go to the Lowe site, and look at the specs for the 1667 and 1667WT. There are differences, or at least 1: the WT has extra ribs. So its slightly more substantial then the 1667, even though it seems the rest of the 2 hulls are nearly identical.

 

[JASinIL2006]

A 16 foot V-hull (or any hull for that matter) is going to be more than you can load alone. Your 7th grader is about 13 years old and I will guarantee that a 25 HP will go out of favor from a performance standpoint (at least with him) as water sports will demand more power. Get into a 40 HP and you will now be hoisting a 200+ pound motor on and off the boat. Your current plan in my view is going to result in a new plan in just a year or two as the kids get older. As for HP ratings on what would be the same boat -- if one is tiller steer and other a side console, that's why the difference. It's all in the handling. WT in your example means something so check the specs to compare weight and features. They didn't add a "WT" for no reason.

I toatally agree with this. Even getting a 14' utility boat on top of a vehicle will require two people. I suspect lugging any motor bigger than a 10 hp will get old pretty quick.

 

[Alumarine]

Even installing a 10hp motor gets old quick.
Nothing more awkward or finger busting per pound than a small outboard.

 

[Schoolbus69]

Silvertip good guess on his age, he and his cousin are actually 12. Your point on out growing the engine size seems to be the consensus on this and many other posts with no end to engine size for more fun. The question for anyone is at what point do you stop. Next you brought up the point of hp and engine weight. I did some checking and even a 25 hp motor as some weight to it. This is something I forgot to add to my weights for towing and will do so, thank you very much. As for to moving the boat on top of vehicle and removing and installing the engine. I don't plan to load or unload on the SUV by myself at least 2 others will be there to help. As for the pick-up (our main tow vehicle) it has a bed crane on it with a pipe rack. This is done only 1 or 2 times a year when camping (electric only lake) so gas motor would come off (with engine hoist) and stay at home, and reverse process when returning. The rest of the time will be Trailer-ed. As for taking them on and off by hand, did it 10 yrs with a 3 hp and it does grow tiresome. Only did one 40 hp by hand and it took 6 guys to move it. After that we did it with engine hoist and only if absolutely necessary. What I am shooting for is a compromise and a balancing act, by what looks like should be done with 3 boat (flat bottom for fishing and hunting, power boat for tubing, and a pontoon for all to ride at once).
Thanks all for your input and experience.