How large of a boat can a 9.9 horsepower outboard motor pull - even slowly just for fishing?

Question

I was recently on a pontoon boat with a 9.9 HP motor and it went slow but it did pull it...I just want to know how large of a boat I can buy that a 9.9 HP engine could pull.

Answer 1

I recommend a:12-16ft  V, Semi-V, or John/swamp boat. A 14ft aluminum semi-v is your best bet I think.

Answer 2

ASSUMING WIND AND CURRENT ARE NOT A FACTOR, you can get a surprisingly large boat moved with 9.9 hp....the question is how fast and do you really want that motor running at full throttle all the time?  If there is any wind/current, different question.

I fish on open waters where you see boats in the 24 ft range using 10 hp's as "kicker" motors (trolling motors).

I personally wouldn't want to think about running a 20 ft or larger potoon with a motor that small....for many reasons.

If you are talking about a small fishing boat.....as a previous poster mentioned, 9.9 will move a little 16 foot aluminum boat quite nicely.

P.S.  An outboard motor, as with almost all boat motor/drive sytems (with a few exceptions) "PUSHES" a boat, not "pulls" it...:)

Answer 3

a flatbottom jon will go faster than a v-hull.  a wider boat will be more stable.  Aluminum faster than fiberglass.

14 foot would be ideal, it'll scoot along pretty good.

Wouldn't recommend much more than 16, but as you experienced, that motor will push a barge (long as it's not fighting a current).

If you're fishing in a large reservoir, look for a 16ft semiV, if you're on natural lakes with standing timber, go for the flat bottom.

When you've selected a boat, think about changing the prop, to let the motor run in an RPM band where it's not lugging or overreving.

Answer 4

i would go bigger than 16 feet