I'm currently shopping for a 9.9-15 hp motor for my 16ft rowboat. I'm looking at both 2 and 4 stroke motors.

I'm looking for your experiences with different brands of motors. I've been told that Mercury is the one for 2 stroke and Honda for 4 stroke. However, a friend that used to be in charge of the boats for Florida Fish and Game said he had nothing but trouble with the Mercs and loved the Yamahas.

So, I'm looking to sort out to these differing opinions.

Thanks for the help,

SF

Whether its 2 or 4 stroke,get the Yamaha.

the yamaha four strokes are really nice, or a merc 9.9 big foot 4 stroke.

Yamaha would be my choice also. One thing to keep in mind is that the 4-stroke is going to weigh considerably more. I had a 15 1/2 ft aluminum smokercraft with a 25hp 2-stroke Yamaha and it was perfectly matched. I later sold that motor and bought the 25hp 4-stroke Yami. It was ok, but the boat handled considerably different due to the extra weight back on the transom.
On anothher note, when I first bought the boat it had a 9.5 Evenrude on it. It worked out just fine with 2 people in the boat, but as soon as I added a third person or additional weight it was extremely hard getting it up on a plane. In a nutshell, my advice would be to re-think the size motor your going to purchase and consider getting a 15-25hp motor. Then consider the additional weight of the 4-stroke.

I agree with Dave. Stay away from the 9.9. I have a 9.9 Johnson on a 12' Smokercraft and it does fine in the river...with two guys. Put a third guy in and you could watch grass grow faster. I would definately go with the 15 or bigger.

Camo

Yamaha two stroke 25 with a small minn-kota for trolling. put the fuel and batteries in the bow. Any 8 hp or bigger outboard will not go slow enough for me on a 16 foot aluminum so you might as well get the 25. If you are set on trolling with the gas motor, I would only consider a Honda or Yamaha four stroke probably 5 or 8 horse.

yamaha

evinrude or yamaha

get a 25 for a 16' boat, it shouldn't be too much heavier than a 15 and you'll thank yourself later

Thanks for all of the advice.

It seems like Yamaha is the brand of choice.

The motor size is now the outstanding question. The boat I am building is a square-ender drift boat. It has less rocker than the usual drift boat and a wide, flat transom that accepts a motor. As a result, when compared with it's rockered cousin, it planes better with a motor without dropping the backend and plowing the water. However, it will still have some of these qualities. So, I'm not sure how much power and weight is too much.

Everyone that I have talked to that has the boat uses a 15hp 2-stroke. I think I'll try to rent one of these, a 15hp 4-stroke and a 25hp 2-stroke and see what works best. Then I'll drop the cash on a Yamaha of that size.

Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

SF