Cumberland River Boat...what motor?

[LarryG]

Last june I bought a 16ft grizzly made by tracker, wish I would have bought thwe tunnel hullm but didn't.I opted for a merc 40HP 4 stroke. My old 17.5 fisher deep vee had a two stroke, was comfortable, but even though I was skeptical, this new four stroke is fantastic on gas. The only problem with the rig, is the trailer, which isn,t that good for shallow ramps.Think about a 40 or even a 25 merc four stroke.

[kyshorthair]

Great boat. Should be perfect for the Cumberland River.

I put in at Helm's most of the time and it has been tough launching the past couple years and getting the boat back on the trailer. I think I am going to upgrade my winch this year to make it a little easier getting the boat back on the trailer.

My boat is a 15 foot Alumacraft mod-v with a 25 Johnson 2 stroke. Plenty of power for that size boat. A 25 on a 16 should be pretty good too. I usually use my trolling motor to get me off the first gravel bar and up stream. I have a 65 lb 24V hand tiller on the front. It pulls the boat and 3 guys pretty good. A little bigger wouldn't hurt though. I don't have power trim or a tunnel hull so I try not to use the motor too much when the water is thin. The tunnel hull should help you a ton.

If you can find a 2 stroke you'll save some weight. I like 2 strokes myself because of the weight.

Good luck and post some pics when you get it together. Also, are you selling your 14 footer? I know a couple guys looking for a boat and might be interested.

[billyspey]

a 1650 boat makes a good fishing rig for the cumberland i have been fishing the cumberland for over 7 yrs. in a jon boatwith a jet. i have used 3 different combo started with a 21 foot 48 white river boat w50 hp jet glass then to a 1756 express tunel w115 yamaha 4 stroke jet. now i am down to a 1650 express tunnel with a 60 hp yamaha 2 stroke. the difference between tunnels , prop tunnels with a jet you have to a hydrolic jack plate to mount the motor on so you can move the motor up and down while runnning lower on take off as coming on plane raising the motorwhen on plane motor is runnnnning above the bottom of boat about 3 to 4 in. the water exit the tunnel at a greater angle now about hp get the most your boat can handle a 90 power head is a 65 hp jet a 60 is a 40 and so on. i would recommend a 90 hp etec . this will be my next motor better fuel economy. when you increase in hp on a jet you do not not increase in speed to much you increase in lift and being able to much shallower water. more later