Too much motor?

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michael.magorian

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So I have been sitting on an old jon boat for some time now, and decided with the winter coming on, I would start getting it back in working order again. It's an 18' shallow hull and I acquired a 65 hp Mercury for it. Is that too much motor for it? I had already planned on redoing the transom and putting some pods on it. Just curious what a few of the more experienced fellers on here thought.
 
michael.magorian said:
Just curious what a few of the more experienced fellers on here thought.
Hmmmmmm ... is your life insurance policy current?

I don't mean to be so sarcastic :oops: , my apologies. OK, I'm not a jon boat guy and I didn't sleep at the Holiday Inn last night, but I did check some OEM catalogs from the late 90s for 18' jon boats and 40hp is listed as the maximum rating.

But then again, a new 2016 year Lund jon boat model 1852 (75" beam, 20" transom, 475-pound hull weight) lists 65hp as max OB for remote steering and 45hp for a tiller motor.

My earlier catalogs don't differentiate between a controls or tiller motor, so I'd go by specs (beam/weight etc.) and cross-reference to something similar to yours.

FWIW I have a 60hp on an 800-pound 16-degree deadrise V-hull tin ... and she's scary nimble and fast, hitting 40mph (setup with controls motor). I'd imagine a jon would be screaming ...
 
My Tracker III is nothing more than a 1648 jon hull and it's rated for 60hp on the sticker FWIW.
 
Like Dale said - just how fast do you want to go ?? S A F E L Y

Here is a boat in my neighborhood that is for sale.
as you can see, it has a 90 hp motor on it.
any motor you choose will have to be your decision to carry.
Plus, checking with your local water police may be helpful.
Sea Arc.jpg
 
What body of water do you boat on? A smallish lake, it will be too much. A river, sounds nice or a larger lake. Open water not so much as you might get pounded to hell.
 

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