small boat
 

Hi i'm fourteen and recently got my boaters license now i want to get my own boat to learn the ropes. I'm not talking about a wakeboat i'm thinking a little john boat to hit some rails and mess around with friends. so how much horse power do I need to get a rider up and fast enough to hit a rail. thank for any help

I would think a 15hp on a 14 foot aluminum would work great. We used to kneeboard for hours behind one when I was that age before wakeboards were around. We even pulled each other up on 2 skis. Should be enough. But you are going to be able to pull around any small boat like that. If you get a fiberglass johnboat like a carolina skiff or similar you will need more motor.

What's your budget?

not very much

$100? $1200????

1500 would probably be my very max

$1500 will buy a lot of boat if your thinking small aluminum boat with an outboard.

You can start on Craigslist. There used to be third party search engines of Craigslist that gave you better search fields and broader markets than just your own city.

I used Searchtempest. But I don't know if CL has blocked it or not.

When you're buying used outboard, you want to ask if you want 2-stroke or 4-stroke. Older 2-strokes are smelly noisy things and the back of the old boats often look like they have been used to transport asphalt.

I'd go 4-stroke, and, I'm partial to the reliability of Yamaha.

I'm pretty sure you would want no less than 16 feet. I'm more sure that you would surely want more than 15 Hp.

Check marinas and/or boat repair shops around the lakes. (Too bad you're not down here around Kimberling City.) Such businesses might have or know of boats like you want that are not actively Advertised or posted on an online forum, but would nevertheless be made available.

The best thing that can be said for your plan is, fuel economy. I am looking for a bass boat myself. If I see anything along your lines, I'll let you know.

A 15hp is probably not enough. I have tried to wakeboard behind a 15 and it go only around to 7mph with me behind it. Get a 20 at least, if u can. ALso with a Aluminum John boat u get tons of bow rise so you either need to put something in the front or just put solid weight.

Yeah I'd think your gonna need something close to 30hp and in good shape/newer. Used to fish in Canada all the time with 20hp and 16ft alum boats and they'd only run about 20mph with light load.

Also no way you touch a 4-stoke motor for the money your looking at spending.

I would stay away from a 4 stroke. In the smaller sizes they are heavy and not as quick or powerful as a 2 stroke. My duck boat is a light 14 foot aluminum with a 92 15 hp johnson. That will run 22-23 GPS with just me and the boat empty. James I'm not sure what you had a 15 hp on to only go 7. In these types of boats the biggest cost is the motor. Average costs I see here for older motors (late 80s-90s) are: 10-15 hp $500-750 20-25 his $600-1000. Boats are an easy $600 plus for 14 footers and probably a grand for a 16. I think you would run out of budget with a 16 footer with more than a 20.

Around 7 with me getting towed behind it and two people in the boat.

do you think this would work

Those old "bomber" style bass boats are heavy. But it probably will plane and run in the low 20's. Just make sure you check your state regs. Here in MN the is a hp restriction (24 hp and less) until I think.

Test it towing you and make sure it will pull you.

It'd be better with a 50 for deep water starts... you might be able to prop it to pull you though...

But keep in mind me and my friends weigh less than 100 pounds

And how much will you weigh in a year or 2?

Lil advice... at 14... I wish I had started eating like a man and working out more...

This summer we sold a 16ft fiberglass fishing boat with a 75hp evinrude and trailer for 1200, it pulled my 230lbs butt on a wakeboard fine, and didn't seem to have trouble holding 22 with me back there. With 2 adults on it it would barely reach 40 mph. So I would look for something like that if I were you. We got it for free when we bought our pontoon. Took a little work to get it sellable. But you can find deals for sure. Here in texas I have seen a few running I/Os with a rotted floor go for 1k. Toss a couple pieces of plywood down and you would have a boat that can actually give you a wake to jump. Just an idea. Really depends on how mechanically inclined you or your family is. But I don't think a john boat with a 20 horse would even pull you up. But the john boat we used to have was 17ft with a 10hp on it. It would barely drag a kneeboard. I don't see an extra 10 hp doing much more.

This may work for your needs

Check out this item on Craigslist:

http://springfield.craigslist.org/boa/3379523267.html

-- Sent from Craigslist Mobile for Android

Ive def wakeboarded behind a hand throttle 20hp johnboat before. At the time prob weighed 150

have you thought about getting an older model 3 seater jetski? I have an older polaris 3 seater 750 that we used to ride behind and hit rails on. its faded on the outside and i'm probably too far away from you, but that might be something you can look into.

^^^i was going to suggest that but I know how i acted on my parents seadood when I was 14 and am trying to keep the population of lake lice down.

I don't realy want a jet ski I would rather have a little boat idk why i just do and i wouldn't be lake lice i would be river lice

I think this is good info.

By Shawn (skuhleman).
"This summer we sold a 16ft fiberglass fishing boat with a 75hp evinrude and trailer for 1200, it pulled my 230lbs butt on a wakeboard fine, and didn't seem to have trouble holding 22 with me back there."

This sort of gives you a Hp size that might be powerful enough for a boat with how many friends, ??? .... and still tow.

And then furthermore by Shawn (skuhleman).

"Here in texas I have seen a few running I/Os with a rotted floor go for 1k. Toss a couple pieces of plywood down and you would have a boat that can actually give you a wake to jump."

You might find that to be true yourself, and while I'm not seeing many things that low on the market here, I'm seeing pretty close.

am not convinced about this.

Todd.
"I would stay away from a 4 stroke. In the smaller sizes they are heavy and not as quick or powerful as a 2 stroke."

Two strokes are p.i.t.a.s. You play with oil every fuel up, eventually you'll have a mess with a spill. Two stroke engines at idle sound like a bunch of gears being shaken like a Martini. And they smoke. Some people don't mind second-hand smoke. But really, out on the lake where there is often a light refreshing breeze, you want to sit in a cloud of smoke? The Peanuts character Pig-pen was meant to be ridiculous. Is that how you want your boating day to be?

So again,

According to Todd
"I would stay away from a 4 stroke. In the smaller sizes they are heavy
[that's fine]

and not as quick
[I don't know if that is true but, so what, you want torque]

or powerful as a 2 stroke."
[ what ??? So, if a 15 Hp 2 stroke is compared to a 4 stroke of the same rating, does it only produce 14.696 Hp ??!? ]

This is probably likely.

Ron (Nordicron)
"no way you touch a 4-stoke motor for the money your looking at spending."

Also, regarding a small matter,
the small boats are "Jon" boats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_boat

Jonathan ("John") Bay

Since I'm bored I will attempt to shine some light into your dark world. You must have had a bad experience with a 2 stroke. They do require regular maintenance like anything else. I will hit the high points for each item you so kindly quoted me on.

I would stay away from a 4 stroke in that size: I personally would. They are 20%-25% heavier and on a small boat that equates to slower and less power. Plus if its an older boat the transoms weren't designed for the heavier motors. The older ones which would be in his price range reved very slow and were poorly rated on hp. A 2 stroke fires everytime the piston comes up and generates power much quicker in a smaller outboard. Some studies have said as much as 35% faster. There is a reason "clean" 2 strokes are still made and alot of people perfer them.

You do have to add oil, but if properly tuned the motor should not smoke a noticeable amount. Your comparison to pig pen in a cloud of smoke is crazy. If the motor is smoking like than there is a problem. If it sounds like gears grinding while idling again there is a mechanical problem. The single cylinders do chug a bit, but they also do in a 4 stroke.

They are considerably heavier: my 15 hp 2 stroke with elec start weighs 76 lbs. My 10 hp 4 stroke without weighs 110. Not as quick: see above, 2 strokes develop RPMs much faster.

Power to weight ratio isn't even close so even though they may produce the same hp on paper on the back of a boat there is no comparison. You may use your outboard on paper, but most of us run them on the back of a boat. As stated above most of the early 4 strokes did not produce anywhere close to claimed hp. Newer are much better but a new 10 hp 4 stroke is $2500-$3000 way out of the budget.

And Ron is correct no way your touching one for what your spending. Unless your going to buy just the motor. New 4 strokes are great but I wouldn't touch one earlier than about 02-03 range.

Holy cow... GOOD FOR YOU! Great to see young people taking the initiative to do this on their own AND conduct research to optimize their experience. KUDOS!

What about some of these.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/boa/3348234581.html

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/boa/3395609561.html

go offer $1400 on this one
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/boa/3402873595.html