Boat motor on River ?

[Gamehunter034]

To those that run rivers to get out to duck hunting spots, such as stilly/skagit what is the smallest motor you would feel comfortable running? I have a 10hp short shaft for my 13 foot Livingston that I plan on painting camo later this summer. I know the water can move pretty fast on both rivers depending on water levels/conditions. I have been on both of these rivers in the past with my father who had a 25hp on a 16ft and his current 18ft with a 35 or 45 hp muddy buddy. This is my first yr with my own boat, wanna make sure i don't get over my head or my luck stuck for not having enough HP. Boat would be loaded with 2 dozen decoys, gun, dog, myself and possibly one buddy. Need to decide if I need to bump it up to at least a 15hp or stay with what I got. Thanks in advance!!

[GrampasGuns]

10hp might be pushing it, if the river is moving fast you can get into trouble real quick. I wouldnt take a boat into the river without at least 20hp or more.

[lokidog]

10hp might be pushing it, if the river is moving fast you can get into trouble real quick. I wouldnt take a boat into the river without at least 20hp or more.

Really?  Silly... unless you're trying to push a 16 footer with the 9.9....

Livingstons are a light and stable boat, 9.9 should be just fine.  Used to hunt the Chehalis all the time at flood with a 12' Starcraft and a 15 hp.  Had I only had a 9.9, it would have worked just fine.  Take your boat out before season, load it up, and see how it handles.  Put some extra weight in it as well, maybe a bucket or two of water since the rain will be coming down and Livingstons don't drain easily.     

[Curly]

I don't know Loki, I think I'm with GrampasGuns on this one.

My dad had a 13' Livingston that we took out on the Chehalis out of Porter.  It had a 9.9 Johnson on it.  I remember duck hunting there with my dad, uncle and my brother one time when the water was high and we were barely making headway to get back to the ramp.  15hp would have been a whole lot better.  I guess the 9.9 worked since we did make it, but it was really really really slow going getting back up river (we probably were making headway at less than 1 mph).

My dad was probably 190 lbs, my uncle probably 160 lbs, my brother and I a combined 200 pounds back then; I think we probably only had a dozen decoys back then.  My point is that our weight was probably close to what Gamehunter034 might have with himself, a buddy, 2 dz decoys, and a lab.  Add in a bunch of water weight if it is pouring down rain and that is tall order for 10hp.   

[Bullkllr]

10hp might be pushing it, if the river is moving fast you can get into trouble real quick. I wouldnt take a boat into the river without at least 20hp or more.

Really?  Silly... unless you're trying to push a 16 footer with the 9.9....

Livingstons are a light and stable boat, 9.9 should be just fine.  Used to hunt the Chehalis all the time at flood with a 12' Starcraft and a 15 hp.  Had I only had a 9.9, it would have worked just fine.  Take your boat out before season, load it up, and see how it handles.  Put some extra weight in it as well, maybe a bucket or two of water since the rain will be coming down and Livingstons don't drain easily.     

Good advice on trying it out before you go out at 4:00 am in December and find out it doesn't work well.

Personally, I wouldn't even try it. Simply too many variables to make that boat and motor combination viable.
Strong tide running out fast and you need to get back upstream...

Using a 12' starcraft with a 15 horse may not be a fair comparison to a 13' livingston and a 10 horse. Starcraft has to be way lighter and draw way less water.

[dreamunelk]

I spent a good amount of time during my youth running the lower Skagit in a sears 12' aluminum boat with a 2.9 merc.  We never really got into trouble.  We took it slow and easy because the motor made us.  If we have had a bigger motor I am sure we would have got in trouble.  We just learned to use the edge and low current areas and spend as little time as possible in the main current.  We did this during high water and low water.  Important part is pay attention and think before you go.  Looking back the only thing I would change is life jackets.  We did not own any and thought we did not need them.

Wow! that brought back some great memories!

[Bullkllr]

I suppose it could work, if you really know the river well and are careful about when and where you try to go. Not knowing that, it's hard to recommend.
My dad used to fish Puget Sound in a small row boat all the time; out with the tide, back with the tide. Literally the only things in the boat were a fishing rod/gear and a coffee can. If everyone tried that these days the Coast Guard would be immediately overwhelmed with lost boats, strandings, and capsizings/drownings.

[Gamehunter034]

I mainly would probably on the stilly just south of stanwood..I will try it out earlier in the season or even sept and see how I feel about doing it later on in the season. Most likely wont take it out in fast moving water hopefully those times my father and I can match up days off and go in his boat. I know the river since we've been hunting it for last 8-10 yrs just dont recall too many boats with 10's on them. Even if its slow go I'm ok with that since I'm usually never in a hurry to get back :-)...I guess the inly true way to know is get out there and try it! Thanks guys! 


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[Gamehunter034]

Well for those of you that responded to this post last week thanks for all your input! I managed to pick up a classic '69 Johnson 20hp motor! Took it out on the lake today an it cruised perfectly it was just me and my brother but handled way better than my 10. I think I will feel a lot more comfortable now on the river when I get to test it later on. Ill be getting the boat painted and the motor cover painted by the end of summer and will be ready! Thanks guys!!


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[lokidog]

Sounds good, I just took the 12' Livingston out that I have been repairing for the the last week and a half.  With the 9.9 on it, I would go on the river.  Now, I need to find either a short shaft engine that won't dump bucket loads of water over the transom, or build up my transom to take the long shaft....  I didn't paint mine camouflage, though maybe I should have painted it open water camo for the sea ducks this winter, oh well.

[Gamehunter034]

Sounds good, I just took the 12' Livingston out that I have been repairing for the the last week and a half.  With the 9.9 on it, I would go on the river.  Now, I need to find either a short shaft engine that won't dump bucket loads of water over the transom, or build up my transom to take the long shaft....  I didn't paint mine camouflage, though maybe I should have painted it open water camo for the sea ducks this winter, oh well.

Nice! Yea mine is short shaft..took it out crabbing today and just before my second run to check my pots I went to pull and the string stayed out instead retracting...SERIOUSLY!! So my buddy and i pulled the top off and removed the top rotor and the spring that latches onto the top end to crank the motor snapped. Didnt have a spare rope and didnt wanna mess with the main line to do the "emergency" start so we used another smaller livingston that was wit us and went and pulled the pots. Ruined my day but atleast we got some keepers! Going down tomorrow to the local marine shop see if i can find the right part to get er up and going..got home and did the emergency start with a rope n fired up and flushed her out. Pain in the rear! 


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[h2ofowlr]

The 10 hp will be fine on that river.  We use one all the time with a 9.9.  Many guys will use 6hp on up.  Just watch the tides, don't over load the boat and you will be fine.  The Livingston boats are very stable and will work.  That 10 hp should push that boat between 15mph - 22mph possibly faster.  The 9.9 pushes us at about 26 mph with no gear.

[Gamehunter034]

The 10 hp will be fine on that river.  We use one all the time with a 9.9.  Many guys will use 6hp on up.  Just watch the tides, don't over load the boat and you will be fine.  The Livingston boats are very stable and will work.  That 10 hp should push that boat between 15mph - 22mph possibly faster.  The 9.9 pushes us at about 26 mph with no gear.

Something must be wrong with my 10 cuz it does not feel like it moves that fast at all  Regardless after I do the repair on my 20 I'll feel better running that forsure! And I agree on the tides definitely wanna watch those and take it easy on the low tides. Are you running that 9.9 on an aluminum I take it?

[Curly]

The 10 hp will be fine on that river.  We use one all the time with a 9.9.  Many guys will use 6hp on up.  Just watch the tides, don't over load the boat and you will be fine.  The Livingston boats are very stable and will work.  That 10 hp should push that boat between 15mph - 22mph possibly faster.  The 9.9 pushes us at about 26 mph with no gear.

Something must be wrong with my 10 cuz it does not feel like it moves that fast at all  Regardless after I do the repair on my 20 I'll feel better running that forsure! And I agree on the tides definitely wanna watch those and take it easy on the low tides. Are you running that 9.9 on an aluminum I take it?

Livingston's are fairly heavy.  Must have been something wrong with the 9.9 on my old Livingston too then.....

I had a 13' Livingston and fished out of it every day in the summers when I was in high school then every weekend while in college.  It had a 9.9 Johnson on it until that got stolen off of it, then replaced with a 20 hp Evinrude.  The 20 hp was a lot nicer motor to have on there.  If it rained a lot and the inside of boat got a lot of water inside, I could get on plane with the 20 hp and pull the plugs and drain the water out; couldn't do that with the 9.9 (except maybe if I was alone).

I duck hunted on the Columbia River with one other guy, a lab, and probably 3 dozen decoys.........but I didn't do that when it had the 9.9 hp on it.  20 hp was really good on that boat, the 9.9 was really only ok when I was alone.

I really doubt the 10hp will get that boat on plane with 2 people, a lab, and decoys.  Now, I don't know anything about the Stilly/Skagit rivers, but I can say that if there is much current at all and if there is much wind and/or rain, I wouldn't want to risk trying it with only a 9.9 (except maybe if you are alone it might be enough motor).

It's been over 25 years since I ran that old Livingston with the 9.9, but if my memory serves me right, it was difficult to get on plane with the 9.9 and another guy and a bunch of fishing gear.......

[lokidog]

I put a 5 hp Mariner on mine to get it around the island yesterday, I was able to plane it out at about 15mph with me, safety gear and a five gallon tank of gas, a little under that with two of us in the boat.  I'm pretty happy with that performance on a 225 pound boat.

I know you already have the 20 you are prepping, just thought I'd pass on the performance info.

They are an amazingly stable boat, though getting used to the flat turning might take a bit.