# 18hp GD & 1448 Alumacraft



## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

so, I'm a little paranoid. I ended up buying a 1448 Alumacraft boat. I like the boat alot. I'm putting an 18hp Go Devil surface drive that weighs 217 lbs on it. Is that too much weight to put on this transom?? 15" transom.

I don't think so.. its only another 40-50 lbs more than some of the longtail people run and its rated for 4 people or 885lbs max working load. I just want some opinions. I'v got the motor hooked up to the boat and I'm going to demo it on saturday before I fork out the money. infact, i'm buying it. I just want to make sure it performs the way I want it to. 

so back to the question, is 217 lbs too much for my 1418 NCS 15 transom??

does anyone have a similar set up?


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

I cant wait to get it on the water. I think this thing is going to scream!


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## carp slayer (May 20, 2013)

You'll be fine. I'm running a 15-48 with a 23hp surface on it. When you test run it put a (hunting load) in it and make sure it will do what you want. Weight kills the little surface drives. Let us know how it does.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

That boat is rated for a 25 HP motor. I would get a 25 HP surface drive, it won't weigh much more, and it will handle heavier loads better. ;-) You always hear guys talking about getting the biggest motor you can get/afford, there is a reason. Just remember most duck boats are overloaded and underpowered. Either way I think you will want to add pods on the boat with a 18 HP or a 25 HP surface drive though. That's a lot of weight on the back of a 14 footer. Remember you are going to be standing back there too with a full gas tank and a battery. Let us know how it runs with a load in the boat.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

My only words of wisdom would be to be a little cautious coming to a stop. Try not to go from on step @ wide open throttle to a stop if at all possible (without pods anyways). I've seen more than 1 boat swamped that way by the wake overrunning the transom.


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## travis madden (Sep 29, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> Just remember most duck boats are overloaded and underpowered.


^^^^^^ This is 100% the truth!


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

FM. it is rated for a 25hp motor, but a 25hp outboard mercury only ways like 140 lbs.

Guys, I know the boat can handle it, i'm more nervous about the weight when it is being trailered to and from the water. when I hit bumps on the freeway. thing like that. will a boat transom like mine support the bounce of a nearly 220 lb motor?

I mean, my transom has all kinds of supports in it for sure.

and FM, i'll have to look into getting pods on the back, that would be cool, but I think it will float it just fine. i'll be running my gas tank up in the front by the way.


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## Dweeker10 (Dec 10, 2012)

I run the exact same boat with a 27 Go devil surface drive and it runs awesome put your fuel tank and battery at the front


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## Dweeker10 (Dec 10, 2012)

If you're worried about the transom just put a support from your trailer so it can't bounce I strap my motor so it doesn't bounce during transport


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

You could also get some aluminum and bolt it onto the transom, lightweight and really strong.


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

Dweeker10 said:


> I run the exact same boat with a 27 Go devil surface drive and it runs awesome put your fuel tank and battery at the front


A 27 GD on a 1448............DAAMN!! that's got to boogie.
yeah, I'm going to build some sort of transom support and ******* it all up.

I'm going out tomorrow for my test run. I'm taking 2 guys at around 200 pounds and about 5 doz decoys. we'll see what my results are. I'll post them here


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

results on the 1448 jon boat with a 18hp GD surface drive. I topped out at 19.2 mph with just me and 5 dozen decoys. then me, my buddy weighing in at 230lbs and 5 dozen decoys topped out at 16mph and held steady. could probably get more if we balanced different. then me and 2 other guys both weighing 230 lbs and 5 dozen decoys topped out and held 13 mph... 

rarely do I haul the weight like I did yesterday on a hunting trip.
i'd say 85% of my trips consists of just me and 8 decoys, or me and 1 guy and 8 decoys.


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## Dave Adamson (Sep 13, 2007)

It seems like a lot of weight to me. A 25hp 2 stroke Merc weighs 112 and a 4 stroke 157. I have a 2011 Lowe Roughneck 1760 that's 82 inches wide at the stern with a 20 inch transom. It's rated for 75hp and I have a 2009 50hp 2stroke Merc on it that weighs 208. I guess my question is when they rate boats are they for 2 or 4 stroke motors since the 4's weigh so much more


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Boat HP rating is a formula set up by the US Coast Guard that is based on the displacement and shape of the hull, it doesn't have anything to do with how the boat is built or the weight of the motor. I can tell you that unless it's a company that makes dedicated mud hulls they aren't thinking of mud motors when they state the rating. A mud motor puts more stress and torque on a hull than an outboard, which is why true mud hulls are usually built much stouter than an equivalent recreational hull. You can't really decide what mud motor to run based on the HP rating of the hull, the stated weight capacity is more important in that regard. Deciding which mud motor to run is much more of a guessing game than deciding which outboard to try! Sounds like you got a good one though Goosefreak.


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## fish-n-fool (May 26, 2009)

goosefreak said:


> Rarely do I haul the weight like I did yesterday on a hunting trip.
> i'd say 85% of my trips consists of just me and 8 decoys, or me and 1 guy and 8 decoys.


Sounds like you need something more like mine.  Your boat will be faster though.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Back many moons ago my dad decided to put a larger motor on an alumacraft 14 foot 36" wide hull. The transom flexed in and out somewhat so we took a piece of iron bar about 4 inches wide and maybe a 1/8 to 1/4" thick and made a kind of bracket. It bolted to the sides of the hull angled in to the transom and went across the transom to the other side of the hull and bolted into the other side as well as to the transom. That piece of iron bar significantly upgraded the strength of the transom and we got very little flex on it. Of course it was stupid fun to go from a dead stop to wide open as fast as you can and I only crashed it once...:shock: We never clocked it but I suspect we were hitting around 40-45 mph wide open on that little hull. It wasn't as fast as my brothers ski boat which topped out at 55 but it was significantly faster than my boat which topped out at 28.


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