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Location: Des Moines IA | I have a 14 ft aluminum V hull with a 7.5 merc. It almost planes out, but not quite. Will a hydrofoil wing help? Would it help if I extended the tiller handle and sat in the middle seat? I just mounted a trolling motor up front with a 31 size battery. Which should help. I don't want to go through all the work if it isn't going to help. Any thoughts........
Mike |
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Posts: 3918
| The 7.5 is too small. There are safety considerations here - that motor is too small to run for cover adn too small to ride the rollers if you do get caight out in the open. Start shopping for a 15-20hp. |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I agree with Ranger, sell that one and use the money for something a little bigger. Should be able find a decent used motor for under $500.00 I would think. I think if you extend the handle that much you will lose quite a bit of control and the hydrofoil will be minimally effective at best with your setup. |
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Location: Des Moines IA | The 2 lakes I fish most are 10 horse restrictions. I just wanted to see if I could find a way to get the boat to plane out ,in case I was ever on bigger water. The biggest water I fish around here (chicagoland) is the Fox Chain. I wasn't planning on taking this boat out on big water. Just wanted to get a few more MPH out of her. I thought that if it got up on plane it would go a litlle faster. Thanks for the opinions....
Mike |
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Posts: 1120
Location: West Chester, OH | See if you can swap up to a 9.9.
Had a 7.5 Johnson, which had lost some of its sting, on the 14' cottage boat. Traded up to a 9.9 Merc & found it to be a ton more motor than a healthy 7.5.
The 9.9 2-strokes are easily converted to 15's w/carburetor swap - common practice on the 10HP "sailboat lakes" here in OH. |
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Posts: 3918
| I have a merc 15 on a 14' alum boat. the motor is a 15, but the sticker says 9.9. merc put the two motors in the same housing, stichers are the same size. ever see a 9.9 go 23mph on a 14' boat? bet not. but that's where i top out, conditions favorable. |
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Location: Des Moines IA | That's a great idea. Could probably just change the decals. I saw 9.9 Merc decals on ebay. Now the only problem is I will never get the $ out of this 7.5 that I put into it! It's a 1969 Merc. Runs like it's brand new. I don't want to buy another used motor either! After all the trouble I had with this one. So I think I am just going to Tuff it out til I can afford a Tuffy Tiller. This little boat should do me fine for my first few yeras. If nothing else it wil make me appreciate a real boat even more.
Edited by MuskieMike 3/27/2005 12:31 PM
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| The first boat I was allowed to use was a 14 footer with a little 67 3hp Johnson motor. I would get going with the boat, then move up to the middle seat. Never would get up on plane, but would move a bit faster. I would bet that if you moved up to the middle seat, set your trim bar up one more hole, you might get it up on plane. By no means will it be fast, but at least a little more efficient.
I would be you could get a tiller extension and do just fine... Or...if the boat is small enough, move over to one side and lean. Father used to do that with the 3hp on a grumman sport boat.
Steve |
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Location: Des Moines IA | I was told by the guy who sold me the motor ,that the only difference between the 7.5 and the 9.9, was a jet in the carb? Does anyone know if this is true? It's a 1969 Mercury 7.5 ? |
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14 ft V hull ... 7.5 merc