Recommended or maximum outboard

Ron Noco · 04 June 2015, 00:20

Hi all,

I own a Funyak 450 poly type boat, she has a V hull that flattens out towards the rear, an older gentleman had it before me and he had a Honda bf10 on it as he only ever used it on the river, I use it on coastal waters and the 10 is ok but it takes forever to go even short journeys, ( kids get bored) I've found out that she can take a 50hp (100kg) but 30hp is recommended, now where I use it, flat glass days are very rare so I'm not sure if I should put a slightly overweight 50hp four stroke on the transom and rarely ever get to open her up, or should I obey the manufacturers recommend 30hp? I dont know anyone around here with a 50 that I can ask, so what to do?

jeffstevens763@g · 04 June 2015, 07:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Noco

Hi all,

I own a Funyak 450 poly type boat, she has a V hull that flattens out towards the rear, an older gentleman had it before me and he had a Honda bf10 on it as he only ever used it on the river, I use it on coastal waters and the 10 is ok but it takes forever to go even short journeys, ( kids get bored) I've found out that she can take a 50hp (100kg) but 30hp is recommended, now where I use it, flat glass days are very rare so I'm not sure if I should put a slightly overweight 50hp four stroke on the transom and rarely ever get to open her up, or should I obey the manufacturers recommend 30hp? I dont know anyone around here with a 50 that I can ask, so what to do?

i would go 30hp sounds like your hull has a planing pad at the stern. there's a guy selling these boats near me might be worth talking to him google Morton boats in Lincolnshire he is a tohatsu dealer, Ron hale marine are selling 30hp new at around £2900.00

jonp · 04 June 2015, 08:37

We have poly boats over here in Aus, Ive found they are quite popular as hire boats, I almost bought one a few years ago but found they need to be powered quite high compared to the same sized alloy or glass boat.

Here you would be looking at a 60 hp on a 4.5 m poly boat 4.50 Drifter | Polycraft from what Ive heard they cause greater drag and the ones Ive seen tend to be very scratched due to the softer hulls being dragged on sand etc. Always better to go to manufactures max meaning you can scoot along without thrashing the guts out of your engine at max rpm. There may come a day where the kids want to be towed in a tube or ski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCNbqHQvi2M

Ive got poly kayaks and fibre glass kayaks the glass one are so easy to paddle as well as lighter to carry.

Jon

Ron Noco · 04 June 2015, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

i would go 30hp sounds like your hull has a planing pad at the stern. there's a guy selling these boats near me might be worth talking to him google Morton boats in Lincolnshire he is a tohatsu dealer, Ron hale marine are selling 30hp new at around £2900.00

Hi,
my head is thinking 30hp will be grand but my heart is saying 50hp would be fun, I sent an email to Paul Morton before asking for help in figuring out the boats age but never heard back? Managed to figure it out myself with a bit of searching in the end... Boat was 8 years old but seller said it was 3, overpaid slightly but seller wasn't being deceitful, just going on what he was told by first owner ( hire company), cheers

Ron Noco · 04 June 2015, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonp

We have poly boats over here in Aus, Ive found they are quite popular as hire boats, I almost bought one a few years ago but found they need to be powered quite high compared to the same sized alloy or glass boat.

Here you would be looking at a 60 hp on a 4.5 m poly boat

Jon

Hi, I been thinking about the drag and looking at the hull it has a nice bit of damage at the rear where it looks like it came off a trailer on the road, also its trailer has rollers not bunks, rollers are great for launching and recovery but the rollers are deforming the hull, which isn't smooth and shiny like the polycraft in that video, sounds like I'll need the power ... Can't justify a new 50hp though... Is a used midrange outboard a gamble?
Cheers

jeffstevens763@g · 04 June 2015, 10:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Noco

Hi,
my head is thinking 30hp will be grand but my heart is saying 50hp would be fun, I sent an email to Paul Morton before asking for help in figuring out the boats age but never heard back? Managed to figure it out myself with a bit of searching in the end... Boat was 8 years old but seller said it was 3, overpaid slightly but seller wasn't being deceitful, just going on what he was told by first owner ( hire company), cheers

Ron

just looked one on Ron hale marine the tohatsu 50 @ 97kg & 30 71.5kg go 50 for the weight difference on eBay at the moment

cheers jeff

Poly · 04 June 2015, 16:34

I run your boats baby brother. mine is rated for 30HP max, and recommended 20HP. Lightly loaded the recommended is absolutely fine. I've occasionally thought a knot or two more might be nice, but I've never regretted it (or the extra that 50% more power would cost). I do sometimes wish I had power trim (mostly so you can easily deal with a head sea). You will find many people on here who always suggest the max power - there is a logic to it, but of course they'll never have driven your boat.

50 could be very lively on the 450.

I don't know what state your hull is in - sandpaper and careful use of a heat gun can refresh the surface (google kayak repair). Id be surprised if the surface finish was making the difference between wanting 30 and 50 HP.

Ron Noco · 04 June 2015, 19:07

Hi , I spent ages researching the 390, but couldn't find one local to have a go in, hired out a whaly 435 instead and liked it so then went searching for one of them, no luck... one day a grey 450 popped up with stainless bow rails and a nice trailer, so jumped at it without thinking too much about the fitted engine only being 10hp, maybe I should halve the difference and look for a 40 instead ? Can't afford new so searching used ads at present

ShinyShoe · 04 June 2015, 19:07

Am I the only one thinking 40¿

willk · 04 June 2015, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Am I the only one thinking 40¿

*Snap!*

ShinyShoe · 04 June 2015, 19:14

No snap is the sound if your spine bouncing off the hard tubes and seats next weekend on your poly adventure...

Poly · 04 June 2015, 20:05

What size is the transom? There are quite a few ex rnli/mod 40s around, if you can get one on remotes could be ideal.

Ron Noco · 04 June 2015, 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poly

What size is the transom? There are quite a few ex rnli/mod 40s around, if you can get one on remotes could be ideal.

Long shaft 21"

Seen a few of them online but they were only 20hp...

I'll keep looking

jonp · 05 June 2015, 02:18

Secondhand anything is always a gamble, as the lads say maybe a 40hp might do the job. Boats we have here in Aus tend to be fitted with more power than Europe, one of my 4.5m glass boats had a 90 but was rated to 115hp. Tournament anglers both here and the US often have 250hp on 5m boats.

As for banging, the poly boats don't slam as bad as many of the alloy boats we have here (which are also powered high). Ive owned boats since I was 12 and now 50 and always feel a little more hp would be good on every boat Ive owned, just bought a Zodiac 550 tour and finding it very sluggish already with just a Yam F70 and a top speed of 32kn.

Re second hand, I asked my outboard dealer why he doesn't sell second hand or except trade ins on a new engine, his reply was he had been burnt (so to speak) to mamy times in the past with secondhand engines. He told me that often a privately owned engine with low hours bellow 200 had more wear or corrosion issues than the commercially used engine with 5000 hrs. His reasoning was that commercial operators tend to start and warm the engines then leave them running all day where the average boat owner starts their engine with a heap of rpm then runs flat out for 5-10 mins to get a few km offshore where they then turn off the engine drift for 10 mins then start and scream back up to the start of their drift and so on (lots of rpm on a cold engine). The commercial guys regularly have their engines serviced and clock up high hours over a very short period due to the engines being run all day. I bought a privately owned 8 year old 90 Honda with 190 hrs which was a pile of junk completely corroded from the inside out (looked ok from the outside).

There are some good well looked after second hand engines about but even a mechanic cant guaranty a secondhand engine is going to be good. At least the modern engines can be checked via computer diagnostics which can tell what rpm, hours and services etc have been done in the past.

Jon

9D280 · 06 June 2015, 01:28

You put a 30 on the transom and find it's too small for your usage? Uprate later! I ran an sr4 with a 25 for long enough. Most on here would say go with a 50. I did up to a 30 which was significantly livelier but still probably underpowered by the opinions of most.

Re the older lump on the transom if you search my threads of around 6 years ago you will find a story of how an unknown turned into a pile of scrap, was then rebuilt to the latest version (even though the latest version was 20yo by the time I did it) and I ended up with a new if old design engine of known history that cost much the same as a used one from a dealer.

papajoe · 13 June 2015, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Noco

Hi , I spent ages researching the 390, but couldn't find one local to have a go in, hired out a whaly 435 instead and liked it so then went searching for one of them, no luck... one day a grey 450 popped up with stainless bow rails and a nice trailer, so jumped at it without thinking too much about the fitted engine only being 10hp, maybe I should halve the difference and look for a 40 instead ? Can't afford new so searching used ads at present

I run a 435 with a 30

Ron Noco · 19 June 2015, 23:04

I thought I was sorted, local dealer had a 40hp 2007 Tohatsu Tldi with low hours coming in shortly, saw it today, nice and fresh but he wanted €3600 euro for it ... Search continues :-(

bmb779 · 03 July 2015, 22:54

Remember,if you fit bigger engine than manufacturer recommends you have no insurance.

Ron Noco · 04 July 2015, 22:11

I've had a look at a few 50hp and they are fairly chunky and maxing out the allowed weight on the transom,
I have a 6hp 2 stroke Yamaha that I would like to use as a kicker so I'll try and get a 30hp and fit the kicker on a bracket and that will be the best setup...

Thanks for all the good advice :-)

Ron Noco · 25 August 2015, 23:29

Just a follow up on this topic, I bought a Yamaha F30 and the boat is mighty now :-)
I haven't had a flat day yet but hopefully soon to test out top speed, went out this evening, not much chop but a good 3-5 ft swell, she ate it up

The 30hp is plenty thanks all for the advice

One Happy camper :-)