OT: Question for boaters

[newAD]

My family had a 16 foot boat with a 140 hp Mercruiser inboard when I was growing up. We could carry 8 passengers, and tow two slalom skiers easily. Sold the boat in 1993 and hadn't been in a Bowrider type boat since until this past week at McCaughanay.
So I've got the itch to look for a boat again. Living in Omaha I don't see a reason to get anything much larger than the boat I had growing up, since you have to drive hours away to get to any real decent sized lakes.

So comparing options on motors, I'm curious if anyone uses a boat with a 115 outboard, as that seems to be the upper end on a lot of the 16 to 18 footers. What's your towing and speed abilitiy of your boat?
Thanks in advance on replies.

 

[AdaminLincoln]

When I was growing up we had a 14' Invader with an 85hp Evinrude and towed 5 young skiers. True story, we pulled Kevin Raemakers (sp?) when he was in high school. So, I would think you would be fine with a 115 on a 16'-18' boat. Just pay attention to how the prop is pitched. A lower pitched prop will give you more hole-shot power to pull skiers up while a higher pitch will give you more top end speed. Have fun.

One quick side note: I own an 18' Lund (aluminum boat) with a 150hp Yamaha and its rated for a 175. 115 would run the boat and pull skiers, but the extra ponies are nice.

 

[Lars72]

I would agree with Adam. While there is no replacement for displacement, prop pitch can make a pretty good difference.

 

[Vandal75]

You’re probably going to want at least 2 if not 3 props to get the most out of your boat. Something in a low pitch for towing skiers, and another for speed. Make sure your props are stainless steel as they perform much better. If you are planning on Wake Boarding you’re going to need more than 115hp on a heavy boat. Make sure you test drive the boat and have it loaded the way you’ll be using it; in other words load it full of people and pull a skier. The boat if set up properly should be able to pull a fairly large person out of the water fairly quickly and be able to achieve at least 40 miles per hour. The optimum speed for a skiing is 32 to 36 miles per hour. A pad boat will give you more speed at the top end as opposed to a straight V-Hull from front to back. Avoid a Tri-Hull as they beat the hell out of you in rough water and are typically a much slower boat. I’m not into skiing anymore but I still enjoy getting out on the water. I currently run a 14.5 foot pad boat with a 75 Johnson on it. Top end is just a little over 60 miles per hour. I’m running an over and thru cleaver prop with a 22 pitch. Boat is very light and set up for only 2 people to ride in the boat.

 

[newAD]

When I was growing up we had a 14' Invader with an 85hp Evinrude and towed 5 young skiers. True story, we pulled Kevin Raemakers (sp?) when he was in high school. So, I would think you would be fine with a 115 on a 16'-18' boat. Just pay attention to how the prop is pitched. A lower pitched prop will give you more hole-shot power to pull skiers up while a higher pitch will give you more top end speed. Have fun.

One quick side note: I own an 18' Lund (aluminum boat) with a 150hp Yamaha and its rated for a 175. 115 would run the boat and pull skiers, but the extra ponies are nice.

Five is a lot of skiers. I did that once at Pawnee with 4 other guys. We were all you teens skiing slalom. Was a friends boat with a 228 Mercruiser doing the towing.

 

[mel mains]

Gawd I miss water skiing.

 

[newAD]

You’re probably going to want at least 2 if not 3 props to get the most out of your boat. Something in a low pitch for towing skiers, and another for speed. Make sure your props are stainless steel as they perform much better. If you are planning on Wake Boarding you’re going to need more than 115hp on a heavy boat. Make sure you test drive the boat and have it loaded the way you’ll be using it; in other words load it full of people and pull a skier. The boat if set up properly should be able to pull a fairly large person out of the water fairly quickly and be able to achieve at least 40 miles per hour. The optimum speed for a skiing is 32 to 36 miles per hour. A pad boat will give you more speed at the top end as opposed to a straight V-Hull from front to back. Avoid a Tri-Hull as they beat the hell out of you in rough water and are typically a much slower boat. I’m not into skiing anymore but I still enjoy getting out on the water. I currently run a 14.5 foot pad boat with a 75 Johnson on it. Top end is just a little over 60 miles per hour. I’m running an over and thru cleaver prop with a 22 pitch. Boat is very light and set up for only 2 people to ride in the boat.

When we sold our boat, I was about 185 pounds. I'm about 205 now. Our 140 Mercruiser inboard had no problems pulling me at 35 mph on one ski. It also had no problems pulling a tube with 2 of us on it.

I don't have a lot of experience with Outboards, but at about the same time we had our boat, my uncle had a boat about the same size. It had an 85 hp outboard, but I really don't remember what it was capable of.
So I'm curious. Let's say I got a Glastron 160, with a 115 hp 4 stroke outboard engine, which is the biggest engine I can get on it, with a good prop for skiers, how do you think that'd compare to the 140 inboard? I'm not saying I'd get that one, it's just a starting point. I just wonder if it'd be enough for towing one or two skiers, and maybe 2 kids on a tube.

I agree on the tri hull. Ours was a tri, and was rougher than others in rough water.

 

[AdaminLincoln]

Five is a lot of skiers. I did that once at Pawnee with 4 other guys. We were all you teens skiing slalom. Was a friends boat with a 228 Mercruiser doing the towing.

We were all kids. I was 6 at the time and I think the oldest was 16-18 maybe. We used to ski a lot.

 

[summersatthelake]

When we sold our boat, I was about 185 pounds. I'm about 205 now. Our 140 Mercruiser inboard had no problems pulling me at 35 mph on one ski. It also had no problems pulling a tube with 2 of us on it.

I don't have a lot of experience with Outboards, but at about the same time we had our boat, my uncle had a boat about the same size. It had an 85 hp outboard, but I really don't remember what it was capable of.
So I'm curious. Let's say I got a Glastron 160, with a 115 hp 4 stroke outboard engine, which is the biggest engine I can get on it, with a good prop for skiers, how do you think that'd compare to the 140 inboard? I'm not saying I'd get that one, it's just a starting point. I just wonder if it'd be enough for towing one or two skiers, and maybe 2 kids on a tube.

I agree on the tri hull. Ours was a tri, and was rougher than others in rough water.

An outboard should be faster/have more pulling power because it will be much lighter. Years ago I bought a new Bayliner 16' with 4 cylinder and I think it had about 120hp...it would pull 2 skiers if the skiers weren't too heavy but had one heck of a time getting one skier up on 1 ski. I have a 23' with 7.4 330 hp Bravo 3 now and no problems with any skiers

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Before the 500 year flood that took out the Anchor Inn about 3-4 years ago, my cycling buddies and I would ride out to the turret bridge that extends half way into the river by Epply airfield and sit on the edge, hanging our feet off, with a few cold one's, and watch all the boating scenery float by. Man, the stuff we'd see up there was awesome. Boating scenery rules, everyone's is in the mood to have a good time, and by the time they floated back down to Omaha, they were ready to...ummm....do "stuff".

 

[IMZAND]

If you are looking at doing a lot of skiing, i'd do more than a 115. that's what i have on my boat that i use for fishing and we do pull skiers, but the kids say not as good as other boats for skiing.

 

[Vandal75]

First of all Glastron makes some pretty good boats. Just like all the new boats they are much heavier than the older ones. Four stroke motors are also much heavier than the old two stokes. To give you an answer as to a boat and motor combination and how it will perform is tough not knowing the weight of the boat and the motor, they type of bottom on the boat and type and pitch of prop. I run a 75 Johnson two stroke with a long shaft, and a few engine mods. The boat weighs with me (230lbs) in the boat with a full tank of gas, battery and motor 887lbs. It’s a pad boat so it’s pretty easy to get the boat on the pad and get most of it out of the water. I prefer two stroke motors because of the weight, cost of parts and ease of working on them. One import tip to pass on if you go the outboard route is to disconnect the gas line at the boat dock and run all the gas out of the motor before taking it out of the lake. This will guarantee no build up in the carburetors when not in use.