I'm looking for a new motor for my 17' drift boat. I can't decide between the small 2-4 HP 4 stroke gas motors, or the 74 or 101# Minn Kota Vectors. Opinions from others using any of the above would be greatly appreciated. If you have an electric, how well does it push/pull your boat, and do the batteries last for a full day of fishing? Thanks for any info!!

Just some comments:

1st let me tell you my boat is a small jet boat, but that being said......I have an Minnkota 50, 2 batteries, and a switch to go from 1 battery to the other.

The extra weight of the batteries, is more than some of the 4 stoke motors weight. The charging gets to be a pain, and bottom line they just don't have as much power.

I'm seeing more and more driftboats, with small power motor..........that's the way I'd go and will in the near future........

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

6h.p. 4-stroke is what you need.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

one of my fishing partners just bought a 6hp 4 stroke yamaha for his drift boat.. it works great and were haveing a great time with it..

have a motor guide on a 16ft willie, pulls the boat up river great, if u throw in a couple of rows in with it u can fly up stream, and the battery will last a full day easily

oh and the weight from the battery and the motor isnt even enough to make a difference, its about the same as having an extra 30lb king in the boat

i have a 6hp 2 stroke on my 16 ft does great.I ll be getting a electric for the low water steelhead soon also.The 6 does good remeber you can only push those drifters so fast they just are not meant for high speed

Used a 7.5 long shaft merc. for 22 years. Now use a 8hp. long shaft honda or a 36lb. thrust minn kota depending on type of water.

I use a 8 hp long shaft Honda classic and love it. I have used the same motor on both my 19 ft Preditor and my 16x54 drift boat

One thing about having an electric is that you can place the weight where you want it instead of all the way at the back of the boat. You just have to have longer/heavier cables to run to the batteries under the seat!

One thing to think about is if you put a gas powered motor on a boat you have to license tha boat. And if you did'nt pay sales tax on your boat you'll have to do it then. I bought my Willie boat in Oregon new and to license the boat it would have cost me $400 plus to use a motor a couple times a year. For me anyway it was a waste of dollars at that time.

I don't know if they would tax you on the price on the title when it was put in your name or the current value.

If you have already paid the tax you'll be good to go.

I have had a 4 hp. 2 cycle Yamaha on a 16 ft. wide bottom koffler. it was light and had an internal tank. i had no problems with power. because it was an internal tank, there wasn't a tank to kick around on the floor. It would run for 2 trips on 1 tank.
BTW it was a short shaft in a motor well.

Early one morning I got up and American Outdoor Journal was on TV and they were fishing the Rogue River for Kings. It was a North River drift boat with a kicker motor. They got some really nice kings and when they were done they fired up the motor and went back up river! This was really slick. Never seen this done.

Does anyone know what is the largest outboard you can use on a 16 ft drift boat? I know the design only allows them to go so fast, so I wouldn't want to get a motor that is too large.

IMHO no reason to go more than 8hp.

FISHNBRAD, I thought you didn't have to license a boat if you have a motor under 10hp. I was told this is why everybody makes a 9.9 hp. Any body know for sure? I have a 9.9 hp 4 stroke merc and it's too heavy for my 16x54 Alumaweld. A 6-10hp 2 stroke is what I'm looking for.

This is from the DOL web site.

What size boats with a motor are required to be registered?

All vessels with propulsion machinery are required to be titled/registered including sailboats 16 feet and over without any propulsion machinery. For information on other exemptions, please contact your local county auditor's office or closest vehicle licensing office.

Here's the link
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vs/vs-faq.htm#size

I wish it wasn't the case, but there gonna get us any way they can.