Running A 90Hp On A 17.5/18Ft Aluminum Boat

[martintheduck]

Being in the market for a used boat, I've come across a couple 17.5-18ft aluminum boats running a 90 hp outboard (one being an express the other a triton). My question, what kind of ride would I be experiencing pushing into 40 mph? I guess what I mean is, how will these aluminum boats handle some sporty waters when going that quick? Thank y'all ahead of time!

[Fishes in trees]

I've got a similar boat.  I have a 2002 Lowe WF180.  In reality it is 17' 10".  The rating plate on the boat says it is rated for a 150.  At the time I got the boat, I couldn't afford a 150, plus I was stuck on wanting a 4 stroke motor and 150 HP ones were unavailable for the most part.  I was offered two deals.  Deal A - pay full price on a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke ( the  highest horsepower available in 4 stroke power that year) or Deal B - get a much better price on a 100 HP 4 stroke with an additional 3 years of warranty.  I took deal B.

 

So, in essence, I got a boat the same size you are looking at with a 100 HP 4 stroke engine.  With minimal gear on board, a quarter tank of gas and a modest tailwind, totally trimmed out as fast as I could go I got 43 MPH on my hand held GPS.   I don't think that 43 is that fast, I mean you have to pay attention, but it isn't that fast.

 

The rule with any aluminum boat (with a bass boat style hull) is don't do anything dumb.  Heading into the wind or quartering into the wind it is easy to get wet if  you catch a wave wrong.  If you are in 2 to 3 foot waves and running with the wind, you are going to get wet if you slow down too quick.  I've been in 25+ MPH winds and 3' or so white caps twice.  I put on my rain suit, slowed down to just above idle and putted and chugged to where I was going.  I think that trying to run on plane in that situation would have been ignorant.

 

My opinion is that in a boat the size you are looking at, with a decent sized horse power behind it, you'd have to do something dumb before you hurt your boat or yourself.  I am not charmed by the idea of running in windy, wavy weather, but I am not totally intimidated by it either.

[slonezp]

I don't believe you will be able to do 40 in a 2-3 foot chop without it being quite bumpy and possibly dangerous. There are 2 rules of thumb, and you would need to figure out where the boat fits. 1.Trim down and slow down. (This is more than likely where a 17' tin will fit) 2. Ride the tops of the waves. (This takes a bigger boat, a hotfoot, and experience)

[martintheduck]

Appreciate it fellas! Riding in 1-2' "swells" in this 94' Tracker is probably and identical ride to the early-mid 2000's model aluminum boats. I'll just bank on that for now

[J Francho]

I have an 18' Xpress with a 115.  It is different from other tinnies, like a Tracker, in that it has a pad.  I've had that boat up to 54 mph GPS.  Loaded with tackle, gas, full wells, and two guys I get about 45 mph.  I've had this boat out in 2-3 foot rollers on Lake Ontario and Erie.  I wouldn't do this in a Tracker.

[martintheduck]

I have an 18' Xpress with a 115.  It is different from other tinnies, like a Tracker, in that it has a pad.  I've had that boat up to 54 mph GPS.  Loaded with tackle, gas, full wells, and two guys I get about 45 mph.  I've had this boat out in 2-3 foot rollers on Lake Ontario and Erie.  I wouldn't do this in a Tracker.

 

Call me ignorant, but is there really that big of a difference in the hull's of a tracker-vs-xpress-vs-triton? Does the xpress handle that chop pretty well? I would love to be able to try out these various boats, but I just don't feel comfortable asking for multiple test runs in all these boats (with the idea of "let me see how this one rides -vs- that one").

[slonezp]

The Triton, Tracker, and Ranger hulls are modified v's. The Xpress is a pad hull which is more of a hi performance hull. You can run the same speeds as John's Xpress in a Tracker with a 115 properly set up. The pad hull just pulls more of the boat out of the water. The less hull in the water, the less resistance, the faster the boat. One of the reasons tin boats ride rougher is because of their light weight. The hulls you are looking at are probably around 1000lbs. A glass boat hull of the same size is going to weigh 1600-1800lbs. The heavier, longer, and wider the hull the better it will handle the chop. 

[J Francho]

Pretty much what he said. For the record, my 18' Xpress hull weighs over 1400 lbs. my 22' Bullet weighs 1300. They both can be rough, but the Xpress can take the beating. The Bullet is a racing hull, and while it doesn't like rough water, it's better in slight chop.

(null)

[FreshWaterLover]

Call me ignorant, but is there really that big of a difference in the hull's of a tracker-vs-xpress-vs-triton? Does the xpress handle that chop pretty well? I would love to be able to try out these various boats, but I just don't feel comfortable asking for multiple test runs in all these boats (with the idea of "let me see how this one rides -vs- that one").

Why not?

 

I mean these are not insignificant purchases. They represent a sizeable investment. Wouldn't you test drive a car, or even a number of cars before deciding on if it is the right choice for you? This is especially true if the boats you are looking at are used boats, but even brand new, you need to know if you are going to spend a considerable amount of money on something that you will be happy with. I don't really see it as a problem if the option of a test drive is available.

 

All that said, we have a Bass Tracker Pro Team 175 TF with just a 75 hp Optimax and just flat out love it. It jumps up on plane in seconds, handles great, although I wouldn't keep up planing speed over 2 foot wakes, 1 foot it handles quite well. Does it slam hard sometimes... yeah, it does. But it handles it like a champ and remains quite handlable. Also, when there are large wakes over a foot, I definately would slow to no wake speed and take it easy, but I'm not an extremely experienced bass boat driver either. Also, I've found that over 1 foot wakes it helps to trim up just a tad (doesn't take a lot--just a tap or two) for a smoother ride. Now consistent waves, I slow down, but again, it is a lot because I don't feel experienced enough to plane over consistent 1 foot chop or waves. I have been in a glass bass boat, but it was years ago and I can't really remember enough to compare, my choice of the metal tracker now was partly price consideration, and partly space consideration (very narrow, short garage).

[martintheduck]

The Triton, Tracker, and Ranger hulls are modified v's. The Xpress is a pad hull which is more of a hi performance hull. You can run the same speeds as John's Xpress in a Tracker with a 115 properly set up. The pad hull just pulls more of the boat out of the water. The less hull in the water, the less resistance, the faster the boat. One of the reasons tin boats ride rougher is because of their light weight. The hulls you are looking at are probably around 1000lbs. A glass boat hull of the same size is going to weigh 1600-1800lbs. The heavier, longer, and wider the hull the better it will handle the chop. 

 

So essentially, as far as handling and ride of an aluminum boat, Xpress is the best option...? I've got two options lined up, one being am 01' 17.5 Express w/ 90 Mercury in d**n good shape for $7000 (could probably get him to 65), and the other an 07' Tracker 175 w/ a 50 merc for $6500 (in mint shape).

[slonezp]

The 50 on the Tracker is way underpowered. Send J Francho a PM. His Xpress is for sale and it's in your price range. The Xpress is the 2nd best riding tin rig. I own the best riding tin rig and I'll sell it to you for 50k   

[martintheduck]

Too bad y'all live 20+ hour drive from me 

[J Francho]

That's about what I'm asking for my Xpress.  I'd buy the Xpress you described ten times over before I bought the Tracker.  Go up to them, and knock on the hulls.  If that doesn't make up your mind, I don't what will.  There's other things that you discover down the road, like rewiring and attaching a new trolling motor.  Pretty straight forward on the Xpress.  The Trackers I've helped buddies with, this was a pain.

[J Francho]

Here you go...ask clayton86 about the ride.

 

[Nice_Bass]

Trackers do ride just fine- mine runs gps around 43 loaded with a 75hp.  a 50hp may be underpowered though but you would get on plane and ride just fine even in choppy water. Wiring and TM is just plain simple on it as well so I would not let that concern you.  Took 2 hours to replace trolling motor mount and rewire, maybe the same or less to run new wiring for hds systems as well.

 

Storage, live well space, and HP may be what you want to look at as they (boats) all will handle water as good as you are able to.

 

I use my boat in 900 acres lakes up to over 55,000 acres and never had an issue, and my lakes are plagued by pleasure craft large and small.  

[Blake94]

I have a 2005 triton aluminum boat. It's a 1652. I have a 90hp 2 stroke. With a 13-1/8 diameter, 19 pitch Michigan wheel apollo prop stainless steel. I have my motor all the way up and it bounces a little, but I'm only running 40mph, I have friends with identical set ups, running 50-53. Any opinions?

[mrc.in.wi]

I think your friends maybe fudged their numders a lil.

I have Triton TX18 with a 90 Etec fastest so far was 39.7, but that is fully loaded with gear.

I'm adding a JP. Should bump me up a couple mph.

[LuckyGia]

Have A yamaha f60 pushing my Smokercraft 171 pro bass which is 17'10" . I eas stuck at 30mph until recently. I purchased a new ss prop 1" bigger diameter and am now pushing 36 mph.

Next is moving up to a 90hp

[A-Jay]

Oh, how times have changed ~

Here's my 18 ft aluminum hull enjoying all the benefits of 

 a 4.6L V-8 200 HP unit.

 There's No replacement for displacement.

 

A-Jay

[DanielG]

So, sort of related question here. I'm just curious and wondered if anyone could give any insite.

 

When I was a kid, in the 60's. My family had a 60 hp Mercury outboard on a glastron hull. It had a two blade prop that wasn't great to pull up skiers but it would fly after the boat planed.

The motor was only 60 hp but it was a vertical 6 cylinder model. You may have seen one or remembered them White at top with a black center cover.

At the time, that boat was the fastest thing on the lake. The 18 ft glastron would be out of the water with just the tail end bouncing at full speed. I don't know the speed but remember people talking that the speedometer read about 45 mph.

Later on we got an 80 hp  4 cylinder Johnson on a glastron but it wasn't nearly as fast.

 

I live on a lake now and I see outboards commonly between 100 and 200 hp printed on the side. And yes they're fast, but it seems that 100-150 hp seems to be about the speed of the old Mercury 60. Do I imagine that?