outboard power

[captain charlie]

While I'm not at the stage of needing an outboard yet ( I'm about 50% done), I have been thinking about one. I know John thinks that 2 HP is plenty. I was wondering what others think. I am sort of thinking of a propane powered outboard ( LEHR ), either the 2.5 HP or the 5HP long shaft (20"). Anybody have any thoughts on either the propane or HP size? thanks, Captain Charlie

[chaertl]

Hi Captain,

I orignally tried a 5hp but found it was to heavy and the external gas tank took up to much cockpit space for my liking. After that I switched to 1950 Johnson 2.5hp which after a pull cord breakage and some bad judgement left us grounded in a bog with a 30 mph wind pinning us against the reeds. After disassembling the pull starter and using the emergency pully that 2.5 was able to drag the boat out of the muck and up wind in reverse back to the launch. I'm now using a newer Johnson 3hp which seldom goes over 1/4 throttle to reach what appears to be hull speed. The motor just seems to get louder and use more gas over that. As for fuel, I can't say much on that.

Take care,

Chris

[Pascal]

I have been using 3.5 hp Tohatsu. Great little motor but probably a little too strong. I think Dave uses a 2.5 hp and I would guess that is big enough. On the other hand 6.5 hp is probably better if you want the motor to give electrical capability. The down side to that is that you will need to modify the transom. Enjoy the great Pocketship project.

[JonLee]

I have the 2.5hp Suzuki. I've used it under both relatively calm conditions and in about 15 kts of wind with a hearty chop going. 1/2 throttle has been all I've ever needed. On a calm day, 1/2 throttle was good for about 4.5 kts. On the windy/choppy day, I was maybe making 3kts against the wind. I tried opening up the throttle some, but really only got an increase noise, without much increase in speed.

My biggest problem so far hasn't been at the high end, its been getting slow enough. Even at idle, the motor pushes the boat too fast for slow, precise manuevering, at least in my opinion. Recently, when trying to get to my assigned berth at the Wooden Boat Festival, I had to navigate a narrow passage between two mega-boats. There was about a foot of clearance on each side, and I was spending a lot of time flipping the shift level F-N-F-N-F-N... in order to keep the speed down.

I'm still not a fan of the 360 deg. steering, but it works, and there is nothing in this size range that has a reverse.