I have a buddy that in the quest for speed is putting a 70hp motor in place of a 40hp motor. The boat is only rated for a 45hp motor. Is this legal? I mean far as scdnr regs. Just wondering ? Its a jon boat too.
The boat will have a USCG sticker on it giving the max HP rating. His insurance won’t cover the boat if anything happens to it and they know. If anything happens that he hurts people, they can probably take whatever he owns. If he gets stopped and checked by USCG or DNR he gets fined.
Technically yes. I looked into this a while back because I was going to put a 6hp on a square stern canoe rated for 4hp. Never actually bought either the canoe or the motor, but yes your friend can get into trouble with it.
I’ve been in a number of boats stopped by the DNR and checking the HP rating of the boat and motor was never part of the inspection, but still a possibility. The reasons Easy mentioned are more than enough reason to say “no” unless he’s just wanting to drop a 70 on for a day of hole-shot insanity before removing it.
Moral judgment under girds the entire structure of laws and is necessary for the rational structure of any significant statute. The idea that our laws can stand independent of moral foundation is senseless.----- Albert Mohler.
Just get some 45 stickers and put them on the cowling. From my experience, it will not gain a lot in the holeshot (unless way under-propped) but a ton of top end. 30mph hull running 50 is not a thrill, its scary. When DNR dude sees a Jon boat skipping along with only the foot in the water, he will know something is fishy.
Do you remember as a kid riding the red wagon down the biggest hill you could find? Remember the point when it went from chit eating grin to fear face as you accelerated to terminal velocity just before the crash?
Hydra-Sports 22 Bay Sport
225 Rude
I’ve been running a 70 on a 14’ McKee. Get a little wind chop on the water and that thing will fly. Start trimming the motor out and it will run with only about 5’ of boat touching the water. Just pray the wind don’t start blowing hard.
1720 KW 110 Johnson
16’ Bonito 65 Johnson
The 14’ Mckee is rated for a 70, or they used to be I think.
You can’t catch fish on a dry line