30hp etec on 16'

S

Sturgeon

New member
Any one using the 30 etec on a 16. I know most folks use a 40-50, but a friend of mine has a 30 on a similar wt walleye boat and it moves well and it trolls unbeliebly well. I was thinking the 2 stroke torque would get the boat on a plane quickly even though might lose a little top end. I am in FL an am considering a 16 for fishing to avoid short summer showers.

Thanks for the input.
 
I never heard of anyone using a 30 but I have a 40HP honda on mine. On a really good day with two people on board I can get up to 22mph at 5.5 rpm, I usually cruise between 8 and 15 mph at 4 - 4.5 rpm (of course it depends on sea and weather conditions (This is on ocean waters in California). I think a 30 can get the job done but I wouldn't recommend it. I have a 16ft angler.
 
I suspect that you would have a hard time getting the boat on a plane. Also working any boat thru seas properly requires bursts of power and variation of speed. You would not have that with a 30. Not be as good or safe a boat. Fine for slow speed trolling.
 
My personal opinion is that 30 hp would be very underpowered, very disappointing, and also very hard to sell later. JMO.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Don't think a single 30 would be pleasing at all. Probably hard to get on plane and lucky to get top speed of ~20. Probably would troll fantastic. Anyone ever do twins on a 16? My son in law asked me that a couple years ago and I don't know if I've ever seen that except on April fools . Joe's right, if you did go with a 30, it would probably be a hard sell. Allot of people who aren't familiar with these boats are surprised they run with a 40-50. My 50 ETEC pushes mine about 30 with just me, 9 gallons and fishing tackle, add a fishing buddy, and double the fuel (for trips out to Lake Michigan and it drops to 26-27) bot rides a better in a chop. A side note on the ETEC, I had a 90 on a different boat and it trolled well. My 50 is not particularly smooth. I troll with a Yamaha T8 which is great on gas but with the power tilt and trim and electric start is heavy. I've got a friend with a Yamaha 50, 4 stroke that trolls very smooth. Might give you what you're looking for, have better re-sale and let you open it up on days that are really calm. Good Luck
 
Not directly related to the 30, but last week I had the chance to run two commercial vessels outfitted with twin 90 Etec's. Our other vessels have twin 4-stroke Merc's.

The Etec's had noticeably less low end torque compared to the 4 strokes. Once the RPM was up a bit there was a good acceleration curve. I think the top end speed may actually be a bit more (also higher RPM) on the Etec's but definitely not low end.

You never regret more horsepower but you often regret too little.

Good luck with your research.

--Matt
 
But twin 25's on my 16 cruiser would look awesome. Would have to shuffle the weight to make up for the extra poundage, but it would look Killer COOL! :smiled

Too bad the 16 isn't rated for 60 HP (Twin 30's) :smilep
 
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