Help! Can Merc 20 push a Tracker 1448 SC respectably?

[fishshtick]

Sorry to pester you guys with something this basic, but I need help and need it sort of fast. [-o< I have a deal on a Tracker 1448 SC package, but it comes with a Mercury 20 hp 4 stroke (power trim and tilt). I know that most everyone always recommends maxing out hp when you can, but I don't thin I can. Still, I don't want to be plowing water. My limitation is 2 fold, I am trying to keep my boat package under 1000 lbs to help with my Chevy Tracker's 1000 lb towing capacity (its a POS car) and in truth the only tracker 1448 SC in my area is the one with the 20 hp on it.

My question is simply whether this motor will get this boat up on plane with 2 average size people and fishing gear etc. I know that Grizzlies are heavy (463 lbs in this case), and that is something of a selling point for me because I want a very stable fishing platform. I also have enough experience to know that weight is helpful in maneuvering a boat with a bit of wind. However, I would dread having a boat that just plows water because I plan to do a bit of running to fishing sites (at least 20 mph would be nice - am I dreaming?). I don't want to shed the SC console for a tiller package because I don't have a good back, so pull starting and hand raising the motor is something I want to limit. For that matter, the AWL is only 23 lbs lighter. However, the Merc 20 is both available and keeps me under my weight limit (the 20 is about 40lbs lighter than the 25).

I know that what I want is a paradox (i.e., a light but heavy boat #-o ), but your insights would really help. If it helps, Tracker sells the boat in a base package with a 15hp, but that would seem insanely under-powered.

thanks again for any insights you might have.
Mike

 

[Jwengerd]

I have a 20hp 14ft semi-v boat with a large front deck/rodstorage/backdeck/and side storage I would say my boat ways close to 450lb or more. With just me and my 3 year old in the boat it straight up gets it I havent used a gps unit but i would guess the 20hp is pushing my boat 30-35mph. With 2 full grown adults my boat does still get on plane. As far as your flat bottom I am not sure how easy they are to get on plane Im sure some flat bottom guys will chime in. You could mount some smart tabs on your boat to help get it on plane.Your power tilt and trim will really help in finding your sweet spot in getting your boat to plane out.



-Justin

 

[CarlF]

I run a 1998 18 hp 2 stroke on my 1440. It runs about 22-25 with a light load, 18-20 with a heavy load.
That newer 20 4 stroke on a 1448 should give you just as good if not better performance. You wont set any speed records but it will easily get on plane and should run just fine.
Plus you will get better mileage than my old 2 stroke.

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

tell that feller you have a handfull of cash and just want him to take you on a quick ride on the lake

 

[fishshtick]

Thanks for all the good info! It takes some weight off my mind in making this purchase. I know its not a big boat, but its a big enough chunk of my budget and fishing is my life, so this is a big step for me.

The smart tabs option seems like something I might want to look into to get on plane quicker. I didn't think of those because at work we move motors back and forth between boats for field work so much that we don't bother trying to tweak any combo for efficiency.

I did want to take the boat for a spin, but there was a bit of a logistical challenging in doing so. The boat place is not right on the water but is about a quarter mile from a small pond and that is where they usually demo their boats. However, that pond came down with a toxic algae bloom and they closed the only launch. Toxic algae blooms are rare up here in the NE and the closure was in all the papers. Nonetheless, I think the town over reacted by shutting down the launch, when all they really needed to do was to put up some signs about swimming and keeping children and pets out of the water. Nonetheless, the boat store doesn't have a convenient place to launch boats for next couple of weeks until the bloom passes.

I haven't tried fishing out of a welded jon before, as most of the time we run Lund v-hulls at work, but I can see the value of a stable jon for the kind of fishing I want to do (mostly bass). This gave me a bit of heartburn, but what can I do? Based on what I read on this site, the Grizzly 1448 seems like a good stable boat with a shallow draft and a decent fishing platform, so I am pretty exicted and reasonabl assured now that it will be a good purchase.

 

[Monarkman]

I recently got a older Monark 1444 that has a maximum rating of 20 HP listed on the rating plate. I would think you would be just fine with a 20 HP. on a 14 ft aluminum boat. Also if you have a problem getting up on plane in a hurry a "Whale Tail" or "Hydrofoil" attached to the motor works wonders on getting up on plane faseter as well as with manuverability at higher speeds.

 

[TrackerTom]

I put smart tabs on my tracker. It planed extremely fast with 1 person without them, but was sluggish with a heavy load. With the tabs it is no problem at all and the ride is very much improved. Putting as much weight forward as possible helped a lot too at smoothing out the ride.

On a side note, I wouldn't let 40 lbs sway me on the motor weight. The car can tote an extra 40 lbs. They have to have figured into all that for towing some cargo and passenger weight. 40 lbs is nothing.


Tom

 

[fishshtick]

Thanks again fellas. It looks like I might to need to look into some smart tabs or a whale tale. I'll obviously give the boat a try as is, since what some of you note makes me optimistic.

I agree 40lbs isn't a big deal, but it all adds up and as it turns out I'll already be over weight by 40 lbs once I add my trolling motor, battery, gas, an anchor and other gear. More importantly, its a package deal and I don't have the option of a 25 hp unless I can get one after the sale and sell the 20 hp. Still, thanks for making that point as I suspected that auto manufacturers probably do understate their towing capacities - it makes me feel a bit better about going over a bit as it is.

best regards,
Mike

 

[ober51]

Take this for what its worth but I have a 25 HP 2 stroke on a 1646 Monark mod v and it easily planes me quickly. Its a slight bigger motor but this is a bigger boat. I have full front deck, 6 gal gas can, bow motor, anchor, gear, and me. I am 230, and it planed just as easily with an additional 150lb adult. I think it would still plane with another adult. I havent hooked up my transducer yet (3M 5200 takes 5 days to cure and I want to fish!) but would expect 25 mph with just me in it. I think I can also trim it up a bit to get more speed. I think the stick steering helps tremendously with weight distribution, too.

 

[TrackerTom]

Take this for what its worth but I have a 25 HP 2 stroke on a 1646 Monark mod v and it easily planes me quickly. Its a slight bigger motor but this is a bigger boat. I have full front deck, 6 gal gas can, bow motor, anchor, gear, and me. I am 230, and it planed just as easily with an additional 150lb adult. I think it would still plane with another adult. I havent hooked up my transducer yet (3M 5200 takes 5 days to cure and I want to fish!) but would expect 25 mph with just me in it. I think I can also trim it up a bit to get more speed. I think the stick steering helps tremendously with weight distribution, too.

Wow, width is definitely a trade off on these boats. It gives stability, but kills speed. My boat is a 54" floor and takes 40HP to run 30MPH with 1 person and I read all the time about 46-48" floor boats running 25 with only 25HP.

 

[fishshtick]

Hi Folks,
I picked up the 1448 SC with the 20 hp. I took it out on Sunday for some break in running. After the first hour under half speed I opened things up to see what would happen (according to the manual this is appropriate as long as you only run full for 1 min out of every 10). Consistent with comments here, I had no problem getting the boat on plane with two adults and a child in it.

I should note that folks should be careful in trusting any specification claims made on the Tracker website or even over the phone (or by dealers - which is pretty much a given). There is no kind way to say it, other than that they are wildly inaccurate. Their website says this boat has a 20" transom and in truth it has a 15" transom (new for 2009). Their site claims its capacity is 4 persons/512 person lbs/885 lbs total capacity, when in truth the boat sticker says 3/455/780. Their website indicates that the hull/welds have a lifetime warranty, but the manual that came with the boat claims only a 5 year warranty. There is also no wiring harness for the trolling motor or camo seats, as was claimed online. The Mercury 20 ELPT is not power trim and tilt. Its just power tilt, despite the claims of the dealer that it was trim an tilt. The online Tracker representative told me the trailer weighted 425 lbs when in reality it weighs only 300 lbs (which was good in this case). I nearly didn't buy the boat just on the grounds that you have to wonder about the reliability of a company that can't advertise their products with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Indeed, it also seems questionable that the errors are nearly always in the direction of claiming of something better than what they really offer. Its a wonder Tracker hasn't been hit with a class action lawsuit for bait and switch. To top it all off, I got home and found that they gave me the wrong warranty form (for a riveted hull and not the welded). And before you ask, yes, this boat is the same model year etc as advertised on-line.

Regardless, I think I will ultimately be pretty happy with the boat. It handles well (aside from a little hitch in the steerig system that I need to ferret out) and is shaping up to be a decent fishing craft. I am also glad that I went with the power tilt motor because the distance I would have had to have reached to pull a manual tilt motor would have been nearly prohibitive (I would have had to have stood in the gas/battery well), and I will likely tilt it pretty often for fishing shallow water.

thanks again for your help!
Mike

 

[CarlF]

The Mercury 20 ELPT is not power trim and tilt. Its just power tilt

I am confused, what is the difference?
On your motor, do you still have the trim pin, that you have to adjust manually & the power tilt only tilts the motor up?
If so, that is really weird.

 

[Zum]

Wow,those are some big differences.
Especially the 15" transom,glad you like it.
Hope you have years of enjoyment.

 

[fishshtick]

Carl,
you have it right. The motor can be tilted at stop, idle or very low running speeds, but cannot be trimmed up or down while the boat is truly underway. The hydraulics just don't have the power to trim against the force of the prop. The sound the hydraulics make when you try to lower the motor at running speed is really horrible - basically like a dog yelping (not a sound you like your boat to make). The hydraulics can supposedly hold the motor in place whereever you set them before increasing the throttle. According to the manual, you still set your trim pins (really bolts in this case) for when the boat is underway at speed.
I initially thought it was a silly thing as well, but apparently that is what Mercury does for all of its electric tilt motors under 25hp (25 and up is tilt and trim).
In truth, the boat still planes fine at speed, and the tilt is still much easier than hand lifting the motor every time I go into the shallows. However, it was obviously a disappointment given what was stated by the dealer etc.

best regards,
Mike

 

[fishshtick]

For the sake of posterity, I tested the Tracker 1448 SC with 20 hp Mercury today to see what it could do for top end speed. I got the boat up to 27 mph today based on GPS and that speed held consistent (not just some GPS error). I have not yet spent any time tweaking the trim pins, and had my wife and son in the boat along with some various gear (battery, gas, anchor, seats etc). There was about a 6 inch chop on the water when I opened it up. I suspect that if I were alone in the boat, played with the trim a bit, and had smooth water I could probably get the boat to 30 mph.

Regardless, for a boat this size, 27 seems quite fast enough. My worries about the boat being underpowered with a 4 stroke 20 were not founded. I am sure a 25 hp would be nicer still (maybe break 30 without even breaking a sweat), but the 20 hp is certainly adequate.

Now if I can only straighten out some last stuff with Tracker. Foremost, they are denying my lifetime hull warranty. Indeed, this should be a warning to anyone buying a Tacker Grizzly. Despite the fact that they have always offered the lifetime warranty on their welded boats, and that their website says these boats (1448 SC) have the lifetime Duratrack all-welded hull warranty (on three different pages), and the fact that their dealers pitch the lifetime warranty as a selling point, Tracker sent me a 5 year warranty and is now claiming that is what they offer on Grizzly boats and that everything else is a typo (per their phone rep). Talk about a bait and switch! You buy a boat with a lifetime warranty on the hull welds and when you get it home they say "nope sorry, we changed our mind". I don't plan to let them get away with this, as I am one of the few fortunate folks with free legal services at my finger tips. I wonder if I ought to post this to a more general part of the forum so that other recent or future Tracker buyers know the truth about the misrepresentations on the warranty (and other advertising "errors").

 

[stinkynathan]

I wonder if I ought to post this to a more general part of the forum so that other recent or future Tracker buyers know the truth about the misrepresentations on the warranty (and other advertising "errors").

Next time you talk to them, make sure they know that you've posted your experience to a public forum of tin boaters. We're the kind of people with whom they should want to maintain a positive image.

 

[CarlF]

27mph is pretty darn good with a load!
Bummer abuot the warranty issues.

 

[TrackerTom]

That thing runs great. I have a friend with a 1654 Tiller and has a 25 on it. Best he can get out of it is 19. Width is great for stability but sure kills speed. Heck my 1654SC with a 40 4 stroke will only hit 31 with 2 people and a load and I've worked to get that. Yours runs very well.

Tom

 

[AnthonySPT11]

27 sounds good man. I have a 1548 tracker with a Merc. 25. It will run around 25 with 2 people (both over 200 pounds). My GPS got up to 27 at one point, but I the 25mph was more consistent.

 

[danmyersmn]

Wow, width is definitely a trade off on these boats. It gives stability, but kills speed. My boat is a 54" floor and takes 40HP to run 30MPH with 1 person and I read all the time about 46-48" floor boats running 25 with only 25HP.

well, you also need to consider everyone that is going "30-35 mph" on this post said they are guessing and not using a gps to verify it. 35mph is going along at a pretty good clip in a 14' boat. My 16' boat does 19mph with a 20hp and a ton of weight. Thats GPS MPH for whats its worth.