Thread: Xpress xp16pf Stick Steer .. is a Yamaha 40 /4 Stoke enough engine?

I have a 16' all welded aluminum boat with a 40 Suzuki. It does great. About 31 mph with just me n boat. A friend had a 60 on one just like mine and it was dangerous. The turning and torque is tough when u have the bigger motor on the small boat.

I had a 16' Bass America stick steer with a 40 hp and it was plenty fast with me and another fisherman. The only problem was the ride up front was too rough for me in a chop. Very low hour boat and motor. So I actually kept the motor and put it on my old Lowe boat and put the older motor off the Lowe on the stick steer Bass America and actually liked the way it handled better with the lighter 35 hp. 40 in my opinion will be plenty.

I have a 16 ft Duracraft with a 40 HP Yamaha and it is a good match. The problem with stick steer boats is that the steering ratio is like 1 to1 as opposed to a steering wheel where yo have a gear box to facilitate turning a heavy motor at WOT. Early on folks started putting oversized motors on stick steer boats and some folks got killed when the stick snapped under high torque pressure. For a while stick steering was banned in tournaments until they improved the mechanism and restricted the max HP allowed.
It takes a good bit of effort to turn even my 40 engine. I have driven one with a 25 and stick steer was a breeze to drive, but it did not have much top end. Always a compromise but a 40 is more than adequate.

Daddy has a 1642 mod v with bass boat type interior. It has a 30 hp Merc 4 stroke tiller and runs 28-29 mph (gps speed) loaded with gear and two big men.

Originally Posted by SeaRay

I have a 16 ft Duracraft with a 40 HP Yamaha and it is a good match. The problem with stick steer boats is that the steering ratio is like 1 to1 as opposed to a steering wheel where yo have a gear box to facilitate turning a heavy motor at WOT. Early on folks started putting oversized motors on stick steer boats and some folks got killed when the stick snapped under high torque pressure. For a while stick steering was banned in tournaments until they improved the mechanism and restricted the max HP allowed.
It takes a good bit of effort to turn even my 40 engine. I have driven one with a 25 and stick steer was a breeze to drive, but it did not have much top end. Always a compromise but a 40 is more than adequate.

That's some good info to know SeaRay, thanks! I hadn't thought about larger engines being harder to turn with a stick.

PS.

PM Sent
YB

I totally agree the 40 hp I had was a lot harder to steer than the 35 I had on the all welded Bass America Crappie boat. I actually liked it better with the 35 than 40.

Never crossed my mind to comment on the steering. The 25 I had was super easy to steer and as others have commented, the ride in the nose was rough and the speed was low but constant. I always thought about the ramp closest to where I wanted to fish. It was a ton of fun in tight rivers. I rode in a fiberglass one in the 70's with a Johnson 65hp "Mean Machine" on the back, and I didn't know anything about boats back then. I will say we got where we were going pretty quick and I had to sit on the cooler amidships to keep the nose from hopping. If memory serves it was a Terry brand boat, very nice for the time. I'm sure it was much heavier than an aluminum version.

I don't have a boat with a steering wheel. Steering wheels complicate things. I need simple.

I love stick steers.