HP HP HP Motor

[jetboatn]

I have a Hunter 23.5 with a 9.9 Yamaha 25" shaft, electric start and trim. This motor seems too heavy for this boat. Someone wants to trade me a longshaft Yamaha 4hp and cash. What is the smallest motor recomended for this boat? Thanks, jetboatn---soon to be sailboatn!

 

[JoeWhite]

I had a Hunter 25.5 and 9.9 long shaft. Sometimes I though it was too big - but I was glad to have the extra power when I had to fight 25-30 Knot winds and waves. If you have to deal with 20 knot wind you may consider keeping it. Otherwise 4 HP will be OK.

 

[kloudie1]

Don't think I'd go as small as 4 hp on that boat.. I had a 6 on a similar boat and was really pleased to get a 7.5 ..

 

[Rick Webb]

Is it a Long Shaft?

What ever you use it will need to be at least a 20" shaft. 4hp is just adequate 6hp is plenty and anything over 8hp is a waste.

I have a 6hp Merc on my 23.5 and do more than six knots at 3/4 throttle.

 

[Bill Jones]

Re: Is it a Long Shaft?

I agree with Rick. I have a long shaft Merc 6 hp four stroke. It gets the boat to hull speed without causing a weight problem.

 

[Mike in Cape Cod]

Too small a motor leads to overheating and blown head gaskets. Keep this in mind when considering a purchase. The 23.5 was designed to run a 9.9 engine at part throttle you can hit hull speed without consuming a lot of gas and no strain on the motor. If you ever got caught in a blow you would be glad you have the long shaft and the extra power. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[jblersch]

I have a 6hp, 20" shaft on my 240. It's generally plenty of power for me except for the couple of occasions when I've gotten caught in a pretty sudden and strong headwind. Those are times when I've wished for a little extra hp or a longer shaft. Personally, I wouldn't want to go lower than my 6.

 

[DJN51]

6 hp Yamaha 4 stroke with Dual thrust prop works great on my 23.5 on Lake Michigan.No matter what motor the Dual thrust prop will make a big difference in reverse ,backing out of slip barely at idle.Not a high thrust motor just prop.Bigger than standard,they are design for sailboats,pontoon boats.designed so your not pulling or pushing into cavatated water.Made a big difference.

 

[soling42]

Could DJ mean a High thrust yamaha? Before I would give up a great motor like you have I'd check to see if your battery, motor, galley and cooler weight are all on the starboard side as I suspect.

The engineer who came up with the weight distribution on these lightweight boats (23.5/240/26/260) overlooked the obvious heavy gear creating a list to starboard. In both my 240 and newer 260 I had to move the battery(s) to port and redistributed galley weight which alleviated most of the imbalance due to the OB/batt/cooler/galley wt.

I bet your buddy wants to help you get rid of that 9.9 yam w/pwr tilt. The motor on my 260 is listed as '04 8hp yam/4stroke/high thrust/long shaft/elec tilt/pedestal control but it's virtually the same size/wt motor which is now designated as a 10hp. http://www.outboard-engine.com/enginespecs.php?recordID=200 I have over 1k hrs on it and wouldn't trade that elec start/tilt for ANYTHING.

If it's newer than 6-7yrs old, it's a great motor design. Unless it's physically larger or older than the link or motor pic below I'd look elsewhere in the boat for your weight distribution problem.

Good luck in your new boat. Mike