Motor size on a P15K

[Tollerowner]

The marina a half mile away I have used for 5 years to launch my P15K has raised their price from $25 to $1,040.  (well, they will only launch boats that pay them $1,000 for winter storage)

The only other ramp with water deep enough to launch is 7 miles to the north.  Out wind is always from the south and very inconsistant, so sailing it down from there is a serious problem.

I got permission to use a crane at a camp a half mile away.  But before I had a chance to do it, they put a hoist and boat under the crane, so that is out.

A friend has a 4.5hp motor that weighs 50 pounds and a 2hp motor that weighs 35 pounds.  My new plan is to launch at the 7 mile away ramp and motor down.

Assuming either motor works, which do you think would be the better choice for the project?
The motor mount is a polyethylene piece bolted to the transom.

[Straander]

Id go with the 2hp. I have a 2hp honda I sometimes use for my P165 and never go over 2/3's throttle on it.

[Brian N.]

The Honda 2HP is the best choice in my experience. I've used it for 15 years on my P165. I think you'll need the long shaft, which I believe is 38 pounds. I've pushed a fully loaded boat against current, wind and waves and it has always performed well. Plus at 38 pounds you can handle it without killing your back. It sips gas too. Straander is correct about 2/3 throttle being enough. Lastly, it is air cooled, so no impeller or flush is needed. One negative is it is noisy, but not so much as to prevent conversation. The other negative is there are no gears (reverse, neutral, forward).  It may take a little practice to learn to "feather" the throttle or spin the motor for reverse.



   

[tjspiel]

The marina a half mile away I have used for 5 years to launch my P15K has raised their price from $25 to $1,040.  (well, they will only launch boats that pay them $1,000 for winter storage)

The only other ramp with water deep enough to launch is 7 miles to the north.  Out wind is always from the south and very inconsistant, so sailing it down from there is a serious problem.

I got permission to use a crane at a camp a half mile away.  But before I had a chance to do it, they put a hoist and boat under the crane, so that is out.

A friend has a 4.5hp motor that weighs 50 pounds and a 2hp motor that weighs 35 pounds.  My new plan is to launch at the 7 mile away ramp and motor down.

Assuming either motor works, which do you think would be the better choice for the project?
The motor mount is a polyethylene piece bolted to the transom.

If you're borrowing one of these motors from your friend just for the 7 mile trip, I'd go with whichever one your friend thinks is more reliable. Not having reverse could be a problem if you're not used to motors like that even if the Honda might be more desirable from a weight and long term perspective.

If this is something you'd be using in an ongoing basis, I'll defer to the 165 owners.

[Brian S]

A couple of thoughts. Yes, a 2hp motor should be fine for a 15' dinghy. I used a 2hp 2 stroke Suzuki on my 15" Boston Whaler Harpoon.

Now, that boat was a planing hull, although on the heavier side (legendary unsinkable foam filled Whaler) and I did have her on plane while sailing reaches (initially felt sketchy, then settled down and was just fun.) So if I had one to play with, I'd likely have thrown the 4.5hp on just to see if she'd plane out, and how she'd feel doing that.

So, maybe given a nice, strong motor mount, you could get the P15K onto plane, or semi-plane with the 4.5hp. This would make your trip faster. But of course the 2hp is more than adequate, and would use less fuel. I'll post a pic of the Harpoon running a pleasure cruise. I rarely ever ran the Suzuki at WOT unless I was running from a storm.

Other considerations are launching the P15K. Sure, you need some deeper water, but do you have a trailer tongue extension? Or a jockey wheel or tongue jack with wheel that would allow you to strap launch? If you have a ramp that is long enough, or that doesn't have a nasty dropoff at the end (honestly most shorter ramps do have dropoffs because of power boats motoring up onto their trailers and scouring out the sand/mud after the pavement stops,) you could get the boat back farther and into deep enough water to launch. We do both methods are our lake to launch fixed keel boats with 4.5' draft, but we do have nice, long concrete ramps.

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