Motor recomendations on a new project boat- 20foot Lowe

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Bman

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My buddy and I just got a new project boat!
Its a 70's 20foot Lowe.
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Was googling for info on it and found this site =D>

The plan is to have a big open boat with a tiller steer outboard.
Absolutely pulling all the old crap out... We may put a floor in, Bimini and may extend the front deck.

It had a 20" transom but someone cut it down to 17" for a mud motor.
Think we should bring it back up to 20"?

We are thinking about an outboard but are unsure how big we need to / Can go.
The cost guard plate has been removed long ago. Anyone have a similar boat? Can you tell me what its rated for?
Suggestions on what HP we should look at?
 
Funny, read your post on bigbendfishing and was just about to point you this way! Glad you found it and you'll get a lot of great info here. I'd look in the 50 hp range give or take. There's also a post on here from a while back where pretty much the same boat was completely redone and turned out pretty nice.
 
Found it - a good read and very similar to what you've got.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=20643
 
Cool... I may tryout that 40HP jet that MD has. I have a feeling it will be a little under powered.
 
I agree that a 50HP prop is about what you want .... although it does depend on how fast (or not fast) you want to go. If you just want to put around, even a 15HP would get you from A to B.

Don't do anything with the transom until you figure out what motor you want.
 
what is the boat rateing?Get the biggest moter for can offord.Never run a under standard peanut moter on a boat as slow boats are no fun [-X Fellows say they are happy running a peanut moter but deep down inside they are thinking they should of spent the money on a moter that wood do the job.Peanut moters are for 14s and less.20s need some power =D>
 
hotshotinn said:
what is the boat rateing?Get the biggest moter for can offord.Never run a under standard peanut moter on a boat as slow boats are no fun [-X Fellows say they are happy running a peanut moter but deep down inside they are thinking they should of spent the money on a moter that wood do the job.Peanut moters are for 14s and less.20s need some power =D>

The rating plate is missing and I can't find the info on line... 1970s hull so the current models are totally different.
I agree more is better ;-) But dont want to over power it.. and want a tiller model.
I think the center consoles always take up too much room!
 
One more note .... getting a really good reliable motor is more important than getting a high HP motor.

A clean and reliable 35HP that starts easily, runs smoothly, and runs good at full throttle would be better than a 50HP that gives you trouble.
 
maximum hull horsepower can be calculated. you said it is 20' long and the transom was originally 20" tall. how wide is the transom?
 
We ran a 70hp Johnson for 13 years on a 2060 F&F work boat that looked a lot like yours. Lost a cylinder in that motor and replaced it with a Mercury 60hp 4 stroke. It may not be optimum but I've been impressed with how well it pushed the boat.

That being said, I would bet your boat was rated for a 60-75hp max.
 

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