1982 Alumacraft 16 ft Lunker

I recently inherited a Deep V, 16 foot Alumacraft Lunker. The boat is rated for 35 hp and has still has the original motor on it with a clunky trolling plate. I’m thinking of putting a new motor on it that can troll down to slower speeds. Here is my question. Even though its rated for 35 HP, is it possible to put a slightly bigger motor on the boat? Are the newer boat motors lighter? Or is it still a function of how much torque/stress that a higher horse power engine puts on the transom?

The condition of the boat is excellent. It’s spent 99.9 percent of its life stored in a garage and not on the lake. I’m not worried about voiding the warranty. Only worried about safety, legality and insurance.

With the old motor and original set up the boat is probably a collector’s item. But having to use the trolling plate sure is a royal pain. Plus it sure would be nice to be able to get around the lake a little faster.

Thanks

What motor is on it now?

It has the original motor on it. 35 HP Evinrude. But in order to slow down enough to back troll it needs a trolling plate.

I had the same boat years ago ,I bought it new and it was rated for a forty hp. That would push that boat very well,That motor trolled down well ,nice boat light boat easy to load ,with today’s new 4strokes you should be able To get one to work real well on that boat for trolling.
BB2

If that was my boat,I would look into a Mercury 30HP EFI 4-stroke.Not very heavy,3-cylinder design and you can get power trim on it.That 35 Evinrude was a great motor,nice and light,but idle quality was so-so.I do not think any manufacturer makes a 35HP anymore,a 40HP will come with a weight handicap for that boat.Most are 200 lbs+.

I had the opportunity to run a Mercury 30HP 4-stroke.Ran smooth as butter,could be started manual or electic.Surprising amount of power,much better than the old 25 2-cycle.

I’d just put a bow mount trolling motor on it and forget backtrolling. Or, drift sock off the bow

It is not legal to put a motor of greater HP than the USCG capacity plate allows.

You’re trying to do two opposing things here: Go faster and troll slower. So as they say, pick one.

Your 35 OMC is a great motor, bulletproof and fast, but they never were slow trollers. Just the design.

IMO, the king of slow trolling, yet peppy motors for a 16 footer would be the last generation of Mercury 20-25 HP 2 strokes. Just terrific motors, idle down so slow you can hardly see you’re moving and get up and go. My father has a Lunker 16 with a mid 1990s Merc 25 on it and it tops out at 23 with 2 guys in the boat, yet trolls down as slow as you’d want to go.

Grouse

I’m going to go against Grouse here, and say that Yamaha 4-strokes are the bomb for slowing down to almost zero. I used to be a Merc guy, but traded in and hung a Yamaha 50 tiller on my 165 Alumacraft in 2007 and have never owned a motor I loved more. (Sorry Grouse)
The Yamaha tillers are set up perfectly for trolling/back trolling with the shifter right by your hand on the throttle. It used to be 40hp and up also hand push button idle control right on the throttle handle too-I’d heard they were adding it to some of the lower HP motors too, but can’t confirm. On my 50, I could idle down and troll forward on flat water at GPS speeds just over 1/2mph; back-trolling even slower. I may sound bias, but the Yamaha has been hands down simply the best, smoothest running, user-friendly motor I’ve ever owned…

reverend wrote:

I’m going to go against Grouse here, and say that Yamaha 4-strokes are the bomb for slowing down to almost zero. I used to be a Merc guy, but traded in and hung a Yamaha 50 tiller on my 165 Alumacraft in 2007 and have never owned a motor I loved more. (Sorry Grouse)

For several reasons I didn’t view a 4 stroke as an option. I should have made that clear.

Because this was a replacement for an existing two stroke, I was assuming that the OP would be looking at used 2 strokes. Because the cost of the Yamaha alone would eclipse the value of the entire rig, I wasn’t thinking that a Yamaha 4 stroke would be a very viabl option on this rig.

I don’t disagree that a Yamaha 4 stroke would produce the lower trolling speed. One of their many fine attributes.

The final reason that I’d be hesitant about a 4 stroke is the weight. I’d want to know what the current outboard weighs and then downsize to the point where the 4 stroke’s weight was below that. A 1982 boat was not built or rated for a 4 stroke’s higher weight per HP, so I would certainly not recommend putting a 35 on and even a 25 would likely be too heavy.

Grouse

Thanks for your help guys. Good stuff.