buying new boat,is motor to small

[Prohunter270]

I'm buying a 16' welded semi v sled.it has new merchant 9.9 and a 92 merchant 50 with jet pump. Do you think the 50 is enough to power it?

[Bill W]

What's the previous owner's take on it?

A 50 Jet is probably more like a 30 hp as a jet isn't as efficient as a prop.

[turkeyfeather]

What's the previous owner's take on it?

A 50 Jet is probably more like a 30 hp as a jet isn't as efficient as a prop.

Can the jet pump be removed and have a prop put on it? If so I think a 50 hp would be fine. 30 is a tad small and will certainly leave you wanting for more.

[h2ofowlr]

It would probably push it fine with up to two people and limited gear. Depends on weight of boat.  The older jets were less efficient than the new ones.  I ran a 60/40 jet.  You may not like fuel bill on it.

[baker5150]

18' Lowe with a 50 Merc.  2guys and gear it's fine.  Anymore weight and I feel like I could use more.
Prop not a jet.

[Cap.Silver]

Not to be the one to tell you ...in swift water you will wish you didn't go with the 50 . My friend has 17 ' with 75 hp jet ..... it is slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwly getting out of the hole .....more like slug crawling . Just 

[Kuduman]

Boat manufactures typically underpower New boats to allow for upgrades and inexperience. If this is a factory set up 're probably fine. Check the capacity plate for max hp and weight capacity. Also be careful if you exceed the hp rating it might void you insurance coverage.

[WAcoueshunter]

My bro in law has a 15' Smokercraft with a 35 HP jet.  It won't plane with three guys, but will plane with two (although certainly not fast).  I'm guessing a little bigger on the boat and the motor would probably have similar results. 

[wildmanoutdoors]

What's the previous owner's take on it?

A 50 Jet is probably more like a 30 hp as a jet isn't as efficient as a prop.

Can the jet pump be removed and have a prop put on it? If so I think a 50 hp would be fine. 30 is a tad small and will certainly leave you wanting for more.

Not that easy. There is a 5 inch difference in a prop and a jet.

[wildmanoutdoors]

Boat manufactures typically underpower New boats to allow for upgrades and inexperience. If this is a factory set up 're probably fine. Check the capacity plate for max hp and weight capacity. Also be careful if you exceed the hp rating it might void you insurance coverage.

Boat manufactures have little to nothing to do with this. Dealers rig boats with motors, not manufactures. Dealers usually use less moter to keep price down.

[wildmanoutdoors]

It would probably push it fine with up to two people and limited gear. Depends on weight of boat.  The older jets were less efficient than the new ones.  I ran a 60/40 jet.  You may not like fuel bill on it.

Only one company makes outboard jet lower units. They have and still lose 30% of the rated hp. Only sport jets by merc have better efficiency.

[wildmanoutdoors]

Get on outboardjets.com and read up. It's all about weight with jets. If that boat is a 50 with the jet it's gonna be ok. If it's a 50 and converted, it will be a slug...

[Stein]

I have a 16' riveted boat with a 40 hp prop and wish it was a 50.  With max rated load, I top out at 22 mph and my boat probably weighs a couple hundred less than yours.  At max weight, it bogs down when going over tide rips when you hit them from behind.  That is salt water performance which is much easier than dealing with river currents.

Unless there was some specific reason, I would tend to power nearly any boat at or very near maximum nameplate hp.

[Bofire]

 :)My rule of thumb for boat motors is: read the plate on the boat what ever it says is max, get that!! power wise and weight of motor.
Carl

[Camo]

For reference, my previous boat was a 16' smokercraft sportsman with a Yami 60/40 jet. This was a tiller model with a built in 16 or 18 gallon fuel tank. With me and my gear it was a 29mph boat, with another guy it was a 23 mph boat. With 2 average guys and myself, it would get on plane but that was it. And that was running it on the wall and trimmed up. To keep weight down, I went back and forth between the 6 hp kicker, or the extra battery and bow mount trolling motor, depending on what I was doing. It was never a problem if you have patience but I always wanted more and I don't like to run a motor wide open.

[L-ofalab]

It was never a problem if you have patience but I always wanted more and I don't like to run a motor wide open.

 

I had 16 ft Hewescraft with 75 merc and added jet pump. it would barely get on plane with 3 guys and it was wide open throttle all the time which has to wear the motor out faster and use way more fuel.

[cohoho]

I ran a 50/35 Honda jet for years on a 18 ft flat bottom 1860 ATEC boat with tunnel, ran shallow for sure, just not fast- but could go anywhere the airboats did.  Well almost.....  The impellor must be trimmed and adjusted if it becomes sluggish, super easy to do.  It is 100% about weight distribution. water to the jet and hull design.    Semi - v is the big question, as it will divert water away from the pump instead of towards the pump.  If it does that, your losing performance big time. 

[C-Money]

Take it out for a test drive before you buy it. If they wont let you , walk away. I test drove my boat before I signed papers, and it answered a lot of questions and was excited to get it bought!!

[floatinghat]

Take it out for a test drive before you buy it. If they wont let you , walk away. I test drove my boat before I signed papers, and it answered a lot of questions and was excited to get it bought!!

 

[Angus]

Under powered boats won't save you a dime when you're replacing powerheads and lower units. I've run 8-10 different boats over 20+ years of fishing in Alaska and the biggest problems came from the under powered boats. The worst was a 25' boat rated for 400 hp that had a single 250 Yamaha, took for ever to get it on step and was hell on powerheads and lower units, I racked up a lot of frequent tow'r miles in that boat.

[BABackcountryBwhntr]

It's underpowered,  if you wanted a jet a 90/60 is needed. Prop wise 60 or 65 hp min and your good. I have a 24 ft wca 225 for comparison.

[4fletch]

It's underpowered,  if you wanted a jet a 90/60 is needed. Prop wise 60 or 65 hp min and your good. I have a 24 ft wca 225 for comparison.

+ 1.      Better to have enough H P

[4fletch]

Take the boat to a river with  2 medium size guys and one larger one with a extra 40 lbs and see if you are pleased how long it takes to get on plane