Motor Size Help Needed

[jackblotto]

Hi, just got a new/used fishing boat after about 10years off the water. Happy to be back and my young son is ready to fish. We ended up buying a used 2017 Tracker Grizzly 1448, wanted the stability with my son on-board. But it is a heavy boat. Going to be a bit more difficult for me to deal getting in/out at the ramp when out on the water by myself, but worth the trade-off to me. The boat came with a nice trolling motor on the bow but no outboard, previous owner fished electric-only lakes. Our man body of water is a 10HP limited reservoir. Trying to figure out a couple of things to get moving and fishing. My father-in-law is giving me a Mercury 3.3 HP 2-stroke. He doesn't know if it runs or not. I'm thinking of putting some gas in it and at least testing to see if it runs and runs well. It looks to be a short-shaft. The 1448 seems to have a taller transom than some jon boats, about 17.5". Been reading that it's likely a little short since I'm measuring from the bottom to the top of the transom against the hull vs 90 degrees up. So, should I really be running a short-shaft and just adjusting the trim to see if the motor runs "good enough" for my use? I don't need to be burning around, its part fishing and part just getting on the water again. I also like that the motor doesn't weigh much.

If I decide I need a more HP, still may want to stick something like a 6HP possibly, again weight is important. BUT, it's tempting to get 8-9.9HP too since once I get the motor its unlikely I'll be changing it out. maybe the 3.3HP will run great and just be a bit slow. Saw some videos with that motor doing a good job on a 14' but I think that was a much lighter boat.

Newbie to jon boats looking for some advice.

Thanks, D

 

[MrGiggles]

Hi, just got a new/used fishing boat after about 10years off the water. Happy to be back and my young son is ready to fish. We ended up buying a used 2017 Tracker Grizzly 1448, wanted the stability with my son on-board. But it is a heavy boat. Going to be a bit more difficult for me to deal getting in/out at the ramp when out on the water by myself, but worth the trade-off to me. The boat came with a nice trolling motor on the bow but no outboard, previous owner fished electric-only lakes. Our man body of water is a 10HP limited reservoir. Trying to figure out a couple of things to get moving and fishing. My father-in-law is giving me a Mercury 3.3 HP 2-stroke. He doesn't know if it runs or not. I'm thinking of putting some gas in it and at least testing to see if it runs and runs well. It looks to be a short-shaft. The 1448 seems to have a taller transom than some jon boats, about 17.5". Been reading that it's likely a little short since I'm measuring from the bottom to the top of the transom against the hull vs 90 degrees up. So, should I really be running a short-shaft and just adjusting the trim to see if the motor runs "good enough" for my use? I don't need to be burning around, its part fishing and part just getting on the water again. I also like that the motor doesn't weigh much.

If I decide I need a more HP, still may want to stick something like a 6HP possibly, again weight is important. BUT, it's tempting to get 8-9.9HP too since once I get the motor its unlikely I'll be changing it out. maybe the 3.3HP will run great and just be a bit slow. Saw some videos with that motor doing a good job on a 14' but I think that was a much lighter boat.

Newbie to jon boats looking for some advice.

Thanks, D

Yes, since the transom is angled, it will usually measure a little bit longer. If you look at it as a right triangle, the hypotenuse (transom) is longer than the opposite side (motor), so a short shaft should be about right.

If I was going to do it, I'd just find the lightest 9.9 2 stroke that you can find, and run it. It still may not plane when heavily loaded. I had a 1448 Alumacraft Semi-V with a 9.8 Merc for a while, it would do about 17mph empty, closer to 12 loaded heavy.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Get a 15hp motor and put 9.9 stickers on it.

 

[jackblotto]

Hi folks, thanks for the responses. Interesting, just called Bass Pro Shop near me and they say get a long shaft for the boat. A bit confused about what to do with regards to that. Seems like there are mixed thoughts on what shaft length to get for the boat (think the 1648 has the same large transom). Not that I don't believe the response hear, just wish a had the same from the people who sell the boat. The guy I spoke to was young though and not sure he was 100% sure.

Regarding the HP size, I like the idea of the bigger motor too, so will starting looking for used one and see what I can find. I know about the sticker solution, kinda like that idea, but not sure I would do it .... yet. One thing I REALLY like about that is being able to use the boat on a little bigger water with a 15. Worried that if I get something too small just for where we will mainly fish for now will restrict where else we would use it comfortably. Have to juggle all of this.

One other question on this topic. What about using a stern-mounted trolling motor on the boat just for getting around before switching to the bow-mounted one for fishing? If that worked well, I could get the bigger motor for other waterways. Do people find the stern trolling motors to work ok for a decent sized lake (this one is around 2,000 acres)? If that is a good idea, particular ones people would like to recommend?

Thanks, D

 

[Weldorthemagnificent]

As mentioned, a 15 with 9.9 decals. Or a 9.9 converted. There are many threads on the conversion. Anything less will be displacement speeds only.

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

 

[jackblotto]

Thanks.

What does "displacement speeds only" mean? Just enough to move the weight of the boat (loaded) through the water?

 

[LDUBS]

Thanks.

What does "displacement speeds only" mean? Just enough to move the weight of the boat (loaded) through the water?

What Weldor means is the boat won't be up on plane. It will be plowing through the water instead. Displacement hulls, which is really a different topic, have an upper limit on speed which cannot be surpassed no matter how much power is applied. You don't have a displacement hull. You just don't have enough power to get it up on plane.

 

[jackblotto]

Ahhh, got it. Thanks.