Looking for a motor for a 16' fiberglass Clackacraft for use on lakes/protected areas in the salt. Any recommendations on motors and places to buy?

Thanks,

Fishpirate

FiahPirate,

I recomend a 9.9 or 15 horse Merc. 2 stroke.
Check them out at Three Rivers in Woodenville or
Olympic Boats in Everett.

Cigar

I run an electric on my drift boat, a 70lbs thrust Minn Kota Rip Tide. It works nice for pulling plugs and running through frog water but won't push the boat upriver too fast.

You might mave a max HP rating of either 8 or 10 HP. So keep that in mind.
With Merc 2 strokes there isn't much weight difference between the 6-15 hp units, same block I think.
My 3 hp rated electric Minnkota will push my aluminum DB about as fast as my 8 hp Merc without the weight and noise, just less torque.
You get to a certain point with the 8 HP and I don't think more throttle will help go any faster. Just pushes more water and raises the bow more.

Thanks for the help. After looking through the posts, I would like to concentrate on electric motors. What should I look for in terms of thrust?

Thanks again.

I would get a minimum of 50lbs thrust and anything bigger would be okay. As you get to a certain size the motors go to 24 volt rather than 12, something to keep in mind.

Pirate,

I would look at gas motors if I were you, electrics are nice but it's really no fun at all losing battery power in the middle of a trip. Get about a 6 HP outboard and you will be most happy, anything else is just what was said above, additional weight without the speed, much like my ex-wife now that I think about it, good luck!!

RM

I have an 18' Eastside with a center motorwell. Up until it puked, I was running a 5 horse 4 stroke Honda. Our gas share was about $.50 a weekend! We have fished Puget Sound, the Columbia, the Cow and many others in the past year. This weekend I rented an 8 horse Diahotsu (gesundheit!) it was just enough to keep even on the Cow (which is running around 11,000 cfs!)

24 Volt Electric sounds interesting. What would you recommend?