Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Recommendation on 2.5 to 5hp Four Stroke outboard?

Looking for a small, quiet motor to push my 12' aluminum boat around the lake. Leaning toward a 3.5hp Mercury at this time, but willing to listen to any suggestions.

How big is the lake? Trolling motors work well for small to medium size ponds.

I'd go electric unless it is a pretty big body of water, or you need extra power. With the additives in the gas these days unless you are going to use it enough to use the gase quickly I wouldnt do gas.

If you do gas, I'd go with a honda, super quiet, and reliable.

We've got a guy on our lake with an 17ft bass tracker with a minnkota edrive in the back, and a 109lb thrust TM on the front, and he can hit 8mph. Really frustrating in our tournaments that I've got a 150hp Merc on the back, and I can't use it, and he beats us to the best spot

There's always propane. None of the hassles associated with gasoline. Make sure there is a dealer nearby before purchasing.

http://golehr.com/lehr-2-5-hp-4-stroke-outboard-engine/

I went with the 4HP mercury for my little boat, I never looked back. I also use alcohol free gas.

At idle, I don't bother the ducks. At full throttle, it moves quite well.

Have a 20hp on a 14 foot aluminum with a wide beam. It scoots along quite well but not as well as I would like. The trade off is the four stroke is very very good on fuel. The 15hp Yamaha on this boat as a two stroke and it would really scat.

For the weight the 20hp four stroke merc went on the 14 foot and the 15 two stroke went on the 12 foot.

Cheers Don.

Ebay has some really good prices on brand new Mercury 4 strokes of all sizes from a Worcester, Massachusetts marina. IIRR shipping is free. That's what I'll be putting on my 14 1/2 foot Starcraft semi v come spring.

You can wire a couple of deep cycles in parallel for an electric motor and get twice as much staying power.

I have a 5 hp 4 stroke Merc. Quiet, and it has the option of using the internal gas tank or hooking up an external tank. It sips gas, I'll go through less than 10 gallons in a season. You DO have to watch how you lay it down, mine has to go tiller down for transport, or vertical like on the transom because of the oil inside. It's quiet.

I picked it up from the local marina as a new motor, but I got a deal on it because it had an hour of run time on it. A customer of the dealer bought it without measuring the transom of his boat and the shaft was too short. So, he couldn't use the motor and the dealer wouldn't take it back. I guess I was in the right place at the right time. He didn't fill out the warranty, so I'm listed as the orig owner.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm a bit too lazy to carry a battery to the pond every night. I'd rather gas it up every few weeks and just walk down to the pond. I'm leaning toward the Mercury 3.5hp 4-stroke. That should be plenty of motor for my 16 acre pond, even when my boys get older and weigh more. I like the idea of buying the ones on ebay pointed out by Cecil. They are about 100$ cheaper and if the shipping is free, that saves me 80$ that it costs at most other places.

Remember too, that service after the sale means a lot. I'm not real familiar with the marine side of things, but from an outdoor power equipment perspective many dealers will not work on something that they didn't sell. It might pay to ask beforehand.

NEDOC, I have a 24 volt trolling motor on my 14" tin boat, and it scoots pretty well. I have a small conditioner/charger mounted on the boat, and I just plug it for a few hours after i pull it in. It's basically maintenance free.