# Question about 13' Gheenoe



## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

As I was pounding my way up the ICW to tuck into a remote creek, I was watching my hull oilcan. Not that I don't expect that from a canoe, especially an old one, but it got me thinking. Will one of these little boats eventually fail and leave me sinking in a chop?

Then today I was at a friend's place, and he had a new 13' Gheenoe, with no engine, to use for poling around on the flats. I could lift it, so it would go on top of my truck (one of my boat's criteria). I generally fish alone, so I don't use all 15' of my canoe.

I told him I would bring my motor down, but he's going to be out of town for a while. My question is how fast is a 13' Gheenoe with a 4hp engine? Anybody got one?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> As I was pounding my way up the ICW to tuck into a remote creek, I was watching my hull oilcan. Not that I don't expect that from a canoe, especially an old one, but it got me thinking. Will one of these little boats eventually fail and leave me sinking in a chop?
> 
> Then today I was at a friend's place, and he had a new 13' Gheenoe, with no engine, to use for poling around on the flats. I could lift it, so it would go on top of my truck (one of my boat's criteria). I generally fish alone, so I don't use all 15' of my canoe.
> 
> I told him I would bring my motor down, but he's going to be out of town for a while. My question is how fast is a 13' Gheenoe with a 4hp engine? Anybody got one?



About 12mph with a 5hp and two anglers over 200lbs.

So figure around there with a 4hp and one angler.


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

str8outha9c, if you getting 12 MPH out of a 5 HP motor with two 200# anglers thats impressive. My experience is much less speed. I would expect between 6-8 MPH from a 4 HP motor. Thats not on plane either.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> str8outha9c, if you getting 12 MPH out of a 5 HP motor with two 200# anglers thats impressive. My experience is much less speed. I would expect between 6-8 MPH from a 4 HP motor. Thats not on plane either.



Thats what we got on a 13....
Around 12mph.
And it did plane out.

And the same motor on the jon boat with 2 anglers went 14.6mph


And I should rephrase.
Two anglers at about 200lbs each.


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

I have a 3.5 merc 4-stroke and 5hp tohatsu 4-stroke.

I ran both on 13ft lowsider myself alone with fishing gear.

3.5 merc 4-stroke = I ran 8.9 MPH with fishing gear and cooler which is good for 3.5hp. Would not plane.

5hp tohatsu 4-stroke = I ran 13.4 MPH if I change to 1" more pitch and lean forward to middle bench of the lowsider.

I like 3.5 hp merc better than a 5hp because of the price, lightweight and speed. One thing I don't like about it is plastic propeller with pin that can break easily. Fits inside my toolbox with more room left.

On sidenote:

I bought 3.5 brand new and it only had 4 hours on it....not even totally break in yet.


I bought 07' hatsu used this year and it's only had about 20-30 hours on it.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I have a 4hp on my 15'4" gheenoe and I can get about 8-9mph by myself, and 6-7mph with a friend. I can't see getting anymore then 10mph out of it in a 13 footer considering it only weighs like 25lbs less then my boat.

PS keep in mind anytime you put a motor on a boat it has to have FL#'s and current registration.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

I will be testing a 13 Footer with a "5" Soon ... Need to make a Video ...

dave


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

Canoeman, if you get a gheenoe you'll have to change your screen name!

I wonder...if that 4hp won't plane it and you added a doel-fin; it might make enough difference in stern lift/bow down to get you up on plane. 

My thoughts on that combo: If you can get on plane, I'd bet you could see 12-13mph lightly loaded. I think my 13 went 14+ with one person and a 5-horse if I remember correctly. 

Two people and 4hp I honestly don't think you'll get on plane no matter what you do. Needs more oomph. And you'd probably be limited to 8-9mph or something more boring along the lines of what Tom-in-Orlando suggests. 

If you get a 13, GET ONE WITH NO CENTER BOX AND A FLAT FLOOR!!!!

Trust me, the boat will be 1,000 times more fishable. 

-T


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Sounds like its time for a test ride.


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## aaronshore (Aug 24, 2007)

Canoeman. I had a 13' highsider a while back. I flyfish so all the clutter was getting in the way. I opened it up by cutting out the center seat/well area, and then re-painted the interior. Like TomFL suggested. I also ran it with a 3hp Yamaha two stroke. I weigh 250 lbs. I had a tiller extention, and ran it standing up around 1/3 of the way up the hull. It did plane, and I got prob. 7 mph. Felt faster, but I know it wasnt. For the same scenario, a 4 or 5 hp would be better. I had no smart tabs or dol-phin. That was me, some fly rods, flies, and my camera and a push pole. Nice set-up. To be honest, I wish I hadn't sold it now. I love my canoe, but not every day......LOL


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

I had a 15'4 hisider with a 5hp mariner and it ran between 11.5-14mph depending on the load. Top speed was with just me and some gear (usually very little). Didn't do two adults much, but 11-12mph was typical with heavier loads. 

IMHO 5hp was the minimum "useful" HP for that hull, meaning it would plane how ever I may have had it loaded (within reason). You could get by with less HP of course, but once you loose the ability to plane, like these guys said, getting 8-9mph is the best you can hope for and you'll be plowing along too. The 13 probably planes a little easier since it has the wider transom over the 15'4, but I think you'd be happier overall with something closer to 8 or 10hp.

I second the center seat removal too. Had I kept mine that was the first "mod" on my way to NMZ-izing it. Great little hull though for the kind of stuff you do. I could envision owning another one myself for those times I wanted to poke around the marsh where the Panga can't go.


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

If you are thinking of stepping up to a larger outboard, one thing to consider when going over 5hp is that most outboards 5hp and under come with an internal gas tank, as well as the option to connect to a remote gas tank if necessary. 

On the 5hp merc I have, it holds enough gas to easily fish for the day. Once I took a spare gallon just in case as I knew we'd be going pretty far but didn't come close to needing it. It's like a weed-eater motor for cryin' out loud. 

At times in a small boat it's nice to have just the one, self-contained unit (motor and fuel) and not have the deck cluttered up with additional fuel tank, etc. 

For portaging I find this is key; less stuff to carry, and the 5hp 2-stroke is LIGHT. 

If you step up to 6hp you MAY not find any with an internal tank, but I'm not an expert on that and others might easily offer contradicting input. 

-T


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I only needed to refill my 5hp internal gas tank on two ocassions.

Once in Flamingo on the 12' jon boat which I brought a little refill tank that was 2.5 gallons.
And after I got back from flamingo, I went straight to a friends house and we hit up some local canals and lakes and did some freshwater fishing and still had plenty of gas left over.

And another time we launched the 13' Gheenoe at a lake behind a friends house and went way up to the canal and out north toward snake creek by Dolphin Stadium then headed way west just shy of reaching US 27.

We ran out of gas on our way back so we pulled over and I had to walk down 3 lights with the small refill tank to the nearest gas station. 
Filled up and made it all the way back to the house.


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Generally it takes about 1 HP to plane each 50 lbs. That is a flat bottomed boat such as a "flat iron skiff". I don't like running an engine near max just to stay on plane, so maybe a 6 HP would do what you want with a little safety margin.

I like the ease of using a motor with the self contained gas tank. I duck hunted on the Merritt Island Refuge with a 9' john boat and a 2 HP Yamaha. It fit very well in the chevy 4 wheel drive pickup I had at the time. The boat with motor installed and gun and decoys was easy for me to drag over the ***** to get to the pintail spots. I would space out the palm fronds with the round side up sort of like railroad ties and drag it easily, then reload my fronds/duck blind.


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

That's why I went to a little 4-stroke because saves money on gas and faster than a 2-stroker. ;D


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Tom, the internal tank point is very valid, especially if portaging is large part of what you do. I too, rarely needed to refill the internal tank on most trips, but usually carried an extra gallon anyway. Plus, the Mariner 5hp I had could operate on a remote tank as well. I had a little 3 gallon tank that I ended up using most of the time as the "primary" tank and left the internal full all the time as my "reserve", although I never needed it as such.

The one time the internal tank wasn't nearly enough was the father/daughter trip we did last spring from Everglades City to Pavilion Key on the outside there south of Chokoloskee. It was about 20 miles each way. If I remember my internal tank was not quite 1 gallon and would get me about 12-13 miles of average use. I think I burned about 1.5 gallons to get from the ramp in EC to the island with me and my daughter and loaded with camping gear. Pretty miserly on gas for sure. 

Snooky, one of the guys on that trip had 6hp 4 stroke on his hisider and couldn't keep pace with me and my 2 smoker. We were similarly loaded too. He even commented my engine had some obvious punch over his because he could never keep up with me.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I always heard 2 strokes had more top end speed than 4 strokers.


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

> I always heard 2 strokes had more top end speed than 4 strokers.


That has been true in the past but 4 stroke technology is continuing to progress. For example the new Tohasu-Nissan-Mercury 20 HP 4 stroke is a strong motor at a decent size and weight. My personal opinion is that 4 stroke small outboard technology is only starting to make the refinements necessary to be competitive. They still have a ways to go. I wouldn't touch an older 4 stroke small outboard if my requirements included light weight and good top end. The new 20 HPs are one of the few exceptions to that rule. 

Now if you don't care about the weight or the top end then 4 strokes are great fuel efficient and quiet motors.


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

> I always heard 2 strokes had more top end speed than 4 strokers.


 [smiley=deadhorse.gif] [smiley=deadhorse.gif] [smiley=deadhorse.gif] [smiley=deadhorse.gif] [smiley=deadhorse.gif] [smiley=deadhorse.gif]

In case you missed it: http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1248028636


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

Tom-in-Orl,

Will u consider a new hatsu 4-stroke on your LT25 if your yami quit?

:


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