Hey guys, i have a 2003 southern skimmer fiberglass flat bottom skiff that is brand new and never been in the water that i am setting up for fishing. My grandpa bought it new and never put it in the water before his health went south and passed on. Anyways, it has/had a 1988 20hp evinrude on it, it was a motor my pa had and ever since 2003 i had never seen the motor run. Long story short i re-built the majority of the motor and got it running okay, today..the day before i am supposed to be going fishing, the motor lost all spark, i just got done replacing the power pack, coils, spark plugs, plug wires and every wire that has to do with ignition and spark. Another long story short... After getting so frustrated i nearly broke down i am going to Bass Pro to pick up a brand new 25hp long shaft Mercury tomorrow morning as soon as the doors open (its currently waiting on me).
Question is...My transom height it 17". The short shaft version is 15" and the long shaft version is 20".
Is the long shaft motor the one i need?
Question 2... is there any kind of plate to put on the transom to distribute the clamping pads so it doesnt put all of the pressure in 2 1.5" spots? Not looking for a jacking plate but not opposed.
Sorry for the long post.