9.9 or 15 hp 2 stroke?

I have recently purchased a Alumacraft T14S with a 9.9 2stroke and wondering if it would be worth the trouble to upgrade to a 15? Any opinions out there?

What is the main purpose of the motor going to be? To get you from point A to point B to fish? Will you be mostly trolling, anchoring, or using a electric trolling motor to fish? How much weight for gear and how many fishermen in the boat on most outting? How much would it cost you to trade as your motor, if bought new with the boat, is now considered a used motor which means you take a hit on trading it. The 15 hp should give you 2-3 more mph in speed is what I’m told. How big of a body of water will you mostly be fishing? I know, alot of questions but it all depends on your answers [use of boat] that will help to answer that question. I’m in the same situation sorta as a couple years ago I bought a 14′ jon boat with a 9.9 Johnson motor. Your boat weighs 209 lbs and mine weighs 205 lbs I believe. Your boat is rated for a 15 hp motor and my jon is rated for a 20 hp. I wanted a 15 hp motor but my dealer was out of them at that moment so I went with a 9.9 hp at a great price. I still wish to this day that I would of waited til a 15 hp motor came in but I didn’t. My 9.9 works fine for me for what I use it for but a jon boat is so light in the front that its harder to get the front end down the way I want it with a 9.9 and my weight and trolling motor battery in the back. I moved the gas tank up farther and will probably have to do the same with the battery. On the other side of the coin, concerning your boat, my first boat was one like yours with a Johnson 6 hp motor. It wasn’t fast but it worked great for fishing at the time. I guess it depends on what you really want and how you will be using the boat. Do I need the 15 hp? No, not really but will someday probably trade for one. They both weigh the same and I don’t want the extra weight of a 20 hp motor on back.

Thanks, Bill

I have heard that the only differance between the 9.9 and 15hp is the carb and with a little tweeking or by putting the 15hp carb on the 9.9 one can make the 9.9 perform the same as the 15hp. Would be cheeper then up gradeing the entire motor. Perhaps someone with more mechanical knowledge in this topic will chime in to help you out.

As others have stated, the only difference is the 15 has 50% more power. This will let you plane the boat out easier when you have more weight in the boat, and acheive higher speeds overall. At low speeds the motors should perform the same(slow trolling, etc).

I dont think your going to hear anyone say go with less power. A little more never hurts, too little will someday leave you wishing you had more. If you are like me and have a bunch of heavyweight fishing friends(and 2 skinny ones), more power will make your time on the water more enjoyable.

I had a Lund WC 14 that was capable of a 25 HP but only had the 9.9 Yamaha two stroke on it. The 9.9 was about the right fit, however, more horsepower wouldn’t hurt it either. It was a great little boat, light, and with two adults it got on plane fairly quick. Speed of the boat I was unsure of, but I’d like to know what a 25 HP would have done to it. I did see a 25 HP for sale at a fishing show. It was on the back of a 14 ft Alumacraft. Reason for the sale, boat was too fast. I don’t know why he just wouldn’t throttle down.