• Help Support TNDeer:

outboard for jon boat

C

Crosshairy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2006
Messages
3,509
Location
Bartlett, TN
I'm going to be setting up a 14-foot jon boat soon. I've decided to keep the motor small enough that I can remove it if needed, but large enough that I could run it in a bit of current, like on the TN river. So it seems like the 9.9 HP route is the "Sweet spot" on size...

I've never rebuilt an outboard carburetor before, but it doesn't look especially difficult to do. That said, is it truly "worth it" to go buy a new/nearly new motor?

I'm not looking to spend every weekend pulling the motor apart and having lots of learning experiences in trying to get it to run...not that I wouldn't mind it in general, but I don't have the time for that anymore.

I think I could delay a gun purchase and scrape together the funds to buy a nearly-new motor in the next couple of weeks, or I could save roughly $1k+ on one that's 10 years old or so...

What would you do, and why?

Thanks for the input.
 
I think if I had the guns I currently needed to hunt, that I would put a gun purchase on hold and buy a better motor. Unfortunately, older motors don't just fail at the boat ramp where you can load things back up and go to the house. They can fail miles away where it can be a real chore to get back home.

If you can find a motor where you have a pretty good idea of how it has been taken care of, then you might be OK. Otherwise, you may be buying somebody else's problems.

There is a lot of "comfort" in having a dependable motor.
 
scn":2otw8o17 said:
I think if I had the guns I currently needed to hunt, that I would put a gun purchase on hold and buy a better motor. Unfortunately, older motors don't just fail at the boat ramp where you can load things back up and go to the house. They can fail miles away where it can be a real chore to get back home.

If you can find a motor where you have a pretty good idea of how it has been taken care of, then you might be OK. Otherwise, you may be buying somebody else's problems.

There is a lot of "comfort" in having a dependable motor.
Click to expand...
X's like 5 million!
My only advice would be to buy the best/most dependable motor you can afford. Here is a quick story on why I say this-
I have just about zero tolerance for small motors that won't start. From my experiences in the past I can tell you that it really takes the fun out of a fishing trip when you are on a lake 4 miles from the ramp sweating from trying to pull start a motor, have taken the spark plugs out 3 times then finally break the pull rope. Then when you get home and fix the rope it starts right up :x

What broke the camels back was the next weekend. Feeling confident that the motor was running good Shorefisherman and I took it to the Caney to catch some Trout. Stayed up river of the ramp all day "just in case". We caught a mess of Trout and made several runs up and down the river with no motor problems at all. Toward the end of the day we decided to fish a good spot down river of the ramp a bit. Caught some more Trout then decided to call it a day. Of course that's when the motor wouldn't start :bash: Trolling motor wasn't strong enough to pull us up river either and there wasn't any one around to give us a tow. To top it off we were also out of brewski :cry: That's how fast a great day of catchin turned complete crap and borderline dangerous. We flipped a coin to see who was walking and who was floatin. Dropped Shoreman off at the bank so he could walk the mile back up to the truck while I floated down to the next ramp. :tu: Not exactly an easy stroll trying to walk the banks of the Caney either. Trollin motor was about dead and had a hour or so of daylight left at this point. At that time the new ramp in Gordonsville hadn't been built yet so that meant it was a solid 3+ hour float to Carthage. If you have ever been on the Caney at night then you know it is probably the darkest place there is within 7 States :shock: When I finally got to the ramp Shoreman was waitin with the trailer. On the ride home we both had the same thought, this will never happen again, don't care what it costs.
Short story long, we took the motor off and threw it in the trash. 2 days later bought a brand new 4 stroke 20hp remote with power trim and electric start. Best thing I ever bought and have had zero problems since that day. :super:
 
Spend the money for your safety. A boat motor can last 50 years if cared for. That's not much depreciation each year for peace of mind.
 
Great advice given. I always buy used motors but they're newer. Electric start is a must have for me. The first motor i had was an old pull start junker. It shafted me as well and i said never again.
 
The 4 stroke will be around 15-20 lbs heavier. Also keep in mind with the 4 stroke you will have to store correctly when it's removed to keep from getting oil in places it's not intended.
 
I have a happy ending to the story...

The jon boat I *thought* I was going to get was sold the day before I was leaving to pick it up. There's no reservation system when shopping on Craigslist :(

I ended up spending several hours Friday night scouring the internet for another deal, and found a nice jon boat in Arkansas that was quite new and had a 15 HP mercury on the back that was still under warranty.

The price was right, so I jumped on the deal. I took it out today with my brother and kids, and we had a good experience with it. It's been a long time since I ran a tiller handle, but the rust fell out of my brain and it all started coming back to me. It ran like a top and was smooth and quiet. I've been pull-starting it so far, but I plan to hook it up to a battery, since it has an electric starter too.

I can vouch for the extra weight of the 4-strokes!! It took a little more tugging that I remembered to get the motor tilted up at the end of the trip!
 
You will be much happier with the 15 than you would be with the 9.9. Does not seem like much but it can be the difference between getting it up on plane and plowing water. After you have run it a while, you will probably be thinking that you want to bump it up to a 20 or 25.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top