Thread: 2.5 hp How much boat should I get?

Hey y'all I'm a 16 year old kid in north carolina, so my income is less than ideal. But recently while mowing my girlfriends lawn I discoverd a mercury 2.5 outboard motor in their shed, when I asked about it they said I was welcome to have it if I could use it. I have never owned a boat or a motor for that matter and I don't know much about them, I was planning on buying a small jon boat for my brother and I to fish in, what size could I get to maximize speed? If it helps I weigh 205lbs and he ways around 170.
Thanks any advise helps

Originally Posted by talldude33

Hey y'all I'm a 16 year old kid in north carolina, so my income is less than ideal. But recently while mowing my girlfriends lawn I discoverd a mercury 2.5 outboard motor in their shed, when I asked about it they said I was welcome to have it if I could use it. I have never owned a boat or a motor for that matter and I don't know much about them, I was planning on buying a small jon boat for my brother and I to fish in, what size could I get to maximize speed? If it helps I weigh 205lbs and he ways around 170.
Thanks any advise helps

You two are pretty good size fellers. I personally would get at least a 1448 Jon. You young fellers would probably do better with 2 paddles than that dink motor. But, hey, the motor has a good price tag.

12 footer jon would do but yall arn't gonna break any land speed records. But hey you sound excited and I know I would be if I were your age so go for it. I bet you could find a small boat to put in on for free.

I'm with Cane Pole. Being large myself (6'2" 260) I tend to like a little more boat under me. A jon with a 30" floor when you're as big as me might as well be a canoe. It can be done, and if I found one close to the price of the motor that would be what I would use. The bigger - the better. If I was to buy a new one, I wouldn't buy one with less than a 36" wide floor. Flat bottom boats are so slick on the bottom that you'll get where you're going no matter how big a boat you buy, just takes a while. Have fun no matter what you get. It's where I started and just got out of a 16' jon 5 months ago. I'm 52. Took me a while to get over my "little boat" stage I guess.

Lake fishing or river?
Build your own ?
A 15'8" fishing punt | Free Boat Plans

I'd agree, no smaller than 1448. Your motor is not gonna shove you two guys very fast, no matter what size boat you get, but you'll get there. Get an appropriate size boat now, and upgrade your motor later.

I had a 3.5hp tohatsu on a 1232 Wally World jon boat. I weigh 120 and my partner weighs 145, we do just fine along in. It pulled behind a ford taurus sedan pretty well ( tranny says different) Heck I had him, myself, and another buddy that weighed 245 in that lil boat in Lake Wylie during Memorial Day weekend. Thank God for built in floatation, we nearly swamped that thing with all the yachts around. At least with two big friends, instead of backin the trailer in the water to take up time, they just carried up out of water, walked up the lot 50 yards and put the boat on trailer. The thing about shed sittin motors is that they may have sat along time which causes water pump impellers to rot and any gas in the motor to go bad which may affect the carbs. If the motor is free like u say it is, use the grass cuttin money and take it to a shop that works on em. It shouldnt cost much for a lil motor. If jon boat dont work out, try a square stern canoe from dicks sporting goods.

Thanks for all your help y'all, the motor had never been used up until I tested it out about two weeks ago so gas hadn't sat in it long, it has gas in it now but hopefully it won't be too long before I use that up , what are the rest of yalls opinins on square stern canoes? Should I get the jon boat now an upgrade the motor later or get a square stern canoe and stick with my present motor?

Depends if you want to use this as is for years to come or upgrade as you go. Try to look ahead to what you want in the end. You'll probably never get rid of the " power paddle" but you will want to cut down on the travel time. Squarebacks work very well. Once again, the bigger the better. You might look up a used gheenoe, a modified canoe design. Super stable. Another question is how big are the waters you plan to fish. Little boats and big winds are not brothers. Think alot, ask even more questions, and always look for "the deal". If I had it to do over I would have bought a 16/48 and a trailer under it in my twenties. My "next boat" would have been in the driveway, and I would have been looking for the "next motor". Welded aluminum boats last a very long time.

Listen to what these guys are saying. Get a decent size boat, you can upgrade to a larger engine later. You can even use yours as a little kicker to troll with. Think safe, before fast. Good luck, have fun.

You might want to see if they have the title to it as well. Don't know how it works there but here in TX we have to register both engine and hull