What is the proper height for an outboard motor?
Industry standards dictate that for short shaft engines the transom height should be 15″. A long shaft engine requires a height of 20″ and extra-long shaft engines will need a transom height of 25″.
How do you know if your outboard is too high?
If It’s Too High The most obvious one is an unleveled plane. When you try to plane out the boat, the prop blowing out indicates that the overboard is too high. Additionally, having less drag is a telltale sign that the motor is too high because the motor isn’t underwater enough.
How low should your outboard motor sit?
If you have a short shaft motor, the top most part of the transom and the lower most part of the boat should be about 15 to 16 inches.
Other factors to consider when determining the mounting height of an outboard are related to performance. According to MarinePartsMan.com, the outboard can be raised 1 inch above the standard height for every 10 miles per hour of speed the boat can attain. However, the motor should not be raised more than 5 inches above the standard position.
What size outboard motor should a 14 foot boat have?
For example, you can easily find that one particular 14′ foot Jon boat can take a 20 hp outboard motor while a different 14′ model can only handle a 15 hp, even though they are both made by the same manufacturer! It seems that the gauge of aluminum used in the boat’s construction can affect the size of the motor that can be mounted on the Jon.
How to hoist up your outboard motor?
When the Swing-Lift approaches the vertical position you may find that you can cleat the halyard and simply swing the motor and Swing-Lift forward with your hand to complete the operation. The Swing-Lift is designed to support the weight of the motor in the vertical position without any halyard tension.
How to determine the outboard motor size for your boat?
Take sea trials with boats that have less-than-max motors. We’ve noted in tests that some smaller motors power boats — particularly pontoons — beautifully.