Looking For 9.9-30hp Owner's Inputs/Reviews

Well I lurked around on here for quite a while and finally joined. After joining lurked a little more. Now coming out for my first post and am looking for a little input and/or review from those of you who have/had any of the newer 4stroke 9.9hp motors out there.

First the reasoning: I have a significant amount of lakes within half an hour of my house that are no-wake over 10hp or electric only. The few that are no gas motors at all are city park lakes that have the banks very well maintained and boating isn't necessary there. Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks can have me on them within an hour, but the main areas I go to are the backwoods areas where the dirt/gravel road ending in water is the boat ramp and the water is protected and not very populated. I mainly panfish and catfish but do like going after bass occasionally. I'm also big into hunting anything with a season. Also I do not have a boat at the moment. Previously had rented an unknown year Tracker Topper 1542 with a 2011 merc 9.9ML4S from MWR on base. It actually handled good enough for me with both the wife and I, 3 gal fuel, TM battery, transom TM, and gear.

Now the delima: Which motor size do. I want to go with? Seriously thinking it will be a 9.9 4stroke mercy or yammy. Have a G3 dealer half a mile from the house that's a lil mom n pop farm supply store which will probably be where I go to. Mainly fish alone but occasionally the wife might go and the lab and the beagle will want to go sometimes too. Also still wondering on tiller, stick steer, or console. Thinking something in the 1436-1654 size range.

What I would like: Thise of you who have/had a 9.9 4stroke please tell me what your set up was and what performance you saw. Also feel free to include as many details as you wish about the size/weight/prop etc. Also would like to know how your fuel economy is. I know if I was idling a 25 on all those lakes I would probably burn less fuel than the 9.9 at 1/2 to wot.

Thanks in advance for any and all input!

I like the tiller steer boats. It's the simplest and cheapest. If you are going small motor, no advantage in console or stick. With a 9.9. A wider hull like a 1448 will plane easier plus be more stable. I've never owned a 4 stroke 9.9 but a friend does and it's extremely quiet. His boat is super light at just over 200lbs and my 14' with a 20hp 2 stroke. was about 450 with (decks and floor). I could outrun him but not as fast as I thought. That little 9.9 pushes his boat pretty good with two men in it and he uses half the fuel. Good luck in your search.


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Thanks for the input. Should've said that anything under XX48 would absolutely be ss/tiller. Main thoughts on the ss is the ability to plant thy a$$ and not have to move around switching sides of the boat etc. the less it rocks by me moving around the happier the wife would be.

A post to bump this back up a bit and to also add a little expansion to original post to include those of you running newer 9.9-30hp 4 strokes. Thinking the boat will end up being in the 15-16' range and at least 42-54" bottom.

I have a 15' Klamath with a 25 HP 4 stroke Mercury w/ power tilt/trim. It has a 74" beam, and 56" waterline width. Boat has a side console, factory vinyl floors, bow deck, and side utility trays. All this stuff adds to total weight, which without the side console is said to be 350 lbs. I would guess about 400 lbs total dry weight with the side console. Boat is rated to handle up to 45 HP. Seems kind of high to me, but that is what the spec's say.

I like the side console as it is a little easier on my aging back and shoulders. I do a lot of trolling.

With me (250 lbs) and gear top speed is right at 25 MPH. The power trim is really nice and I would recommend it highly. I can troll all day long on a gallon or less of gas. I haven't changed the factory prop it came with (9.75 x 9.5). I'm not looking for a speed boat and 25 MPH is OK for me. I can troll down to 2 MPH in still air. In a perfect world I would like to be under 2 MPH. I could look into a plate or different prop. More likely will just leave it alone and go fishing.

Hope this helps.

That does help. Good info. Thank you.

RedHatRedNeck said:

A post to bump this back up a bit and to also add a little expansion to original post to include those of you running newer 9.9-30hp 4 strokes. Thinking the boat will end up being in the 15-16' range and at least 42-54" bottom.

Click to expand...

If your concerned with stability as I noticed in one of your posts 48" would be the minimum I would consider for width.

My small boat is a 1418 and I can stand on one side and heft anything I want over the side without any real rocking. Anything much narrower and you will encounter some serious tipping when you get right on a corner.

Yeah most likely will be at least that wide.