25" transom- mistake?

[Tim/GA]

Ok, I have the core for the transom glassed together and ready to go in, but now I am wondering if cutting the transom height at 25" is a mistake.  The boat is a 1972  19' 6" AS.  I am not sure what I am going to hang on the stern yet, either a 130 or 140HP V-4 or a 150 V-6.  

Started thinking about it and am wondering how hard it will be to find a used one with a 25" shaft, if I don't buy new.  Any ideas?  I really like the extra height on the transom though.

Also any suggestions on horsepower for this boat?  It is not the flat back and I am not worried about going the very fastest.  At the same time I don't want to be underpowered.
Thanks

[protek9543]

I would put a 150 V6 on that. Won't be hard at all to find a 25" shaft.
Anything less and you'll be under powered.

John

[fnichols]

I have a 25" Suzuki 140HP 4 stroke on my 71-222 and I love it.  I also added a CMC powerlift jackplate; the height of the engine prevents the saltwater from running up on the engine like it might on 20" motor.  My boat does 30 mph cruising at 4300 Rpm and about 38 full throttle.  Plus I save gas compared to my buddies that are running the 200HP motors.

[ddd222]

i believe in maxing hp for many reasons, to the specific hull, but fnichols does have a great point about fuel burn, he speaks the truth. JUST don't go too low or u will not enjoy the boat 1st and foremost. Just had a friend who bought a boat we salvaged. Motor still ran but lower was for the most part toast, so he looked for a 20 inch replacement lower unit, very few and far between choices. He then decided to trash the motor. Looked for a replacement motor used w/ 20 inch shaft. Again, very few a far between choices. Then the only route was a jack plate(not a power one), and just found a beautiful used yamaha w/ a 25 inch shaft. Point being is that he had ton of choices for motors and sooner or later for parts for 25 inch shafts. His boat will be in the water in a few days, will keep updated

[GoneFission]

When you look at all the 100-200 HP outboards on eBay, most are 25":

http://motors.listings.ebay.com/Outboar ... ngItemList

You will be happy you went 25 versus 20 - especially with less water over the stern!  

[John Jones]

You will be happy you went 25 versus 20 - especially with less water over the stern!

Amen to that!

[Tim/GA]

I am sure I will be happy with the 25", I always had problems with water hitting the bottom of the powerhead pan when coming off plane, especially in following seas and was often getting water in the motor well.  Thanks for the replies.

[obsessed]

We just repowered my son's 19'6 20"  with a 70 hp Johnson. It handles fine and still gets up on plane easily with three of us onboard. Our top speed (on the GPS) was 22.4 Not bad for a 70hp
So any motor between 70 and 120 should be fine

[sturgeon]

what was your cruising speed and how well did it plane.  I like smaller motors myself and since I might be going overseas where gas cost double I am very interested in performance of the 60-70 hp's.  thanks for the help.

[scott_gunn]

I have a 150hp on a 19.6 and would be happy with less horsepower.  70 sounds really low, but I bet 115 would still do really well, plus the light weight of a 4 cylinder would be really nice.

[sturgeon]

Since this started on a thread for 25" transoms I will post a new thread to discuss it and not confuse the threads.  Thanks.

[Bluesbrother]

I have a 115 HP 4 stroke on mine and it rides and planes just fine.