Horse power for tin boat???

[Steelhead S2]

What kind of HP does a guy want for a reasonably deep 14'5" aluminum boat with tiller steering? Ocean fishing so some running around, but obviously not too much. Trolling with it too, so need to go slow with it too. Two guys. I hope that 20HP is enough... but I just don't know for sure.

**I put this in the wrong section. Should be mover to the Boats section. Oops.

 

[Tyee Slayer]

Steelhead, 20 hp is plenty, I was going to suggest 15hp. Check your plate attached to the transom to see what it is rated for. I used to use a 20hp on a 16ft. Lund and it moved it along nicely. Another thing to remember when using a tiller motor is to make sure you have the safety kill switch (Cord) attached to you for obvious reasons.

 

[spring time]

there should be a metal plate on the transom that says the max hp I have a gIII and max is 25, a buddy has a lund and he's got a 20 both are good choices what ever you have will be find

 

[nedarb2]

Its a little tricky to get "comfortable" performance all around with a boat that size becasue its weighs so little, eg. any weight added or lost will have a big impact on how it handles.
I had a 25hp on my 14' flat bottom lund and it was good power for the boat, i wouldnt want much less though, once you throw all your gear and a couple buddies in you need the extra power to move. But then again, if i took it out bymyself with no gear i couldnt even get up to full throttle, it was too light and would get tossed around.

 

[Steelhead S2]

I have access to a long shaft 20 and a short 30. The short 30 is a little sketchy because its short, so based on this, 20 will do fine. Thanks for the reassurance guys.

 

[jes]

have a 14 lund use a 20 merc luv it fly fis lots but do get in the salt on a calm water

 

[vetteman]

My 13" Alaskan (deep deep boat)used to have a 20HP Yamaha 2 stroke on it.It was all the HP that I could use.It would jump up onto a plane with two people in in instantly.I changed to a 20 HP Yamaha 4 stroke and what a difference.Top speed was only down about a mph or two but it was sluggish and slow out of the hole.When I first tried it out I thought that there was a problem with the motor.It's a nice motor,it burns way less fuel,it's quiet and no fumes plus the electric start is a bonus but the performance was terrible.I spent a fair number of dollars repitching the prop just to get the performance up to a reasonable level.It's hard to beat 2 stroke performance in the smaller motors.
Dave