Fish-Hawk.Net

I just happened to look at the recommende tab fastened to the inside hull of my 12 foot aluminum from transport Canada and was disturbed by what I saw. It states that the recommended safe maximum H.P is only 7.5.
That's kinda low isn't it, I mean, I have seen lots of small aluminum fishing boats with 9.9, 15 and 20's.
It is the recommended, so I imagine it's not illegal to put a 15 on my boat, just recommended not to, right?? I mean, I won't get fined for having something higher will I?
Are they serious, is it actually dangerous to put anything higher than a 7.5?? I've had a 15 on it and I had no problems, so what gives?

Chris

I have a 15hp on a 12' aluminum at the cottage, it is over the restriction of 10hp but all we had was a 15.. it works fine, but I was alone in the boat one day driving across a back lake full speed (should have been more cautious I guess) when I hit a boat wake... normally that is okay, but the wind was also against me. It caught under the boat and raised the bow straight up in the air, we're talking 90 degrees! The back of the boat slammed down and by pure chance, the bow came down forward instead of back on top of me. I lost a bit of fishing gear and took it slow the rest of the way home.

Anyways, I guess the point is - if you go over the recommended limit - be careful!!

one other thing is if u try to make an insurance claim they will not cover if motor is over rated.

It really depends on the boat. Some are deep V-hulled models and can easily handle higher HP, although anything over 15 is probably pushing it. Some are lightweight, low freeboard car toppers where it would be too much. If there's 2 of you in the boat (one up fwd to hold the nose down) you can get away with more than if there's 200lbs of driver and 50lbs of motor and gas right at the stern, and no weight fwd.

my 12' Springbok at the cottage is rated for a max of 15. all it has on it is a 9.9 and exactly what happened to BBR happened to me on Georgian Bay. I was alone in the boat and the water was like glass. all of a sudden things headed south in a BIG hurry. waves immediately rose to approx 3 feet. i figured if i'd gun it and get flat across the tops and running headlong into them i'd be fine. WRONG! i pinned the throttle... nose went up in the air... wind caught the bottom of the boat and proceeded to slam her into the water on her side. someone must have been watchin' out for me that day cause i almost shat my pants! needless to say i trolled the rest of the way home and white knuckled to boot.

even though my boat is rated for a 15 i don't think i'd EVER put it on. the 9.9 pushes me at 25MPH which is plenty quick and i now carry a couple sandbags for front end ballast when i go out alone.

Saskie and Hoeboe are right on the money If you go over rated which you can you will need the weight in the front when out alone.

Did the plate say 7.5 hp or 7.5 kW?
7.5 kW =10 hp.
Could be listed either way.

If you are looking for recommendations, I'd offer up 225hp. Just make sure you only drive in a straight line.

M.T. Livewell

If the plate on the boat says 7.5 and you exceed it you are gonna get charged when pulled over! That is the maximum rating for that boat live by it, and I mean LIVE. Exceeding your boats max HP is idiotic and tinnies in particular can split in half when driven too hard, if you want to go faster buy a bigger boat, my 2 cents.
MT

I'm going to agee wth FFF,when I went for my Pleasure boat Operators card ..I took the course, one part of the course centered on max HP on your boat, I'll give you a example...My Boat, it is rated for a 100 HP I have a 90 on it, but I also have a 9.9 HP kicker...total 100 HP,(99.9) and I know what you are going to say...you can't run the 9.9 with the 90....well it dosen't say any thing about runnning, the key word was MAX HP.. so with my 90 and 9.9 I'm at the max for my boat, the instructor asked me if I have a electric motor ...of course I do...then you are over your recomened HP, yes there is a formula to work out HP of your electrics...not that any one ever will ....surprized the heck out of me

M.T. Livewell wrote:If you are looking for recommendations, I'd offer up 225hp. Just make sure you only drive in a straight line.

M.T. Livewell

Are you crazy???? A 225 --- he would have to add a jackplate first!!!

spinner wrote:

M.T. Livewell wrote:If you are looking for recommendations, I'd offer up 225hp. Just make sure you only drive in a straight line.

M.T. Livewell

Are you crazy????

You mean you're just figuring this out now????

Are you guys sure that it's illegal??
It says recommended, not required. I mean, will I get charged a fine for it?? I plan on going over the limit, but come on, let's get real, I'm not gonna put a 100HP motor on my 12', I plan on putting a 9.9HP instead of my 6HP, I can't see this being a problem (or idiotic ).

I'm not worried about the safety aspect, there is none with a small jump like this, but I'm more worried about if there is a legal side to it.

So in final, Legal or Illegal?

just

it's not illegal cuz you don't need to reg. any boat with motor under 9.9 (so either way...you're ok there) trouble is....if you injure someone else with a boat that is powered by a motor over the plate's rating LOOK OUT....don't matter if you've got johnny cochran jr. as your lawyer, you'd be in deeeep!!Seen it happen (though mostly on boats 150-225hp) but who knows nowadays.

G