# New Hampshire Skiff here!



## NewHampshireSkiff (Jun 15, 2020)

Hi guys, I have done quite a bit of reading of threads on this forum, and have gotten a lot of good information. I bought a Carolina J14 to rig up for flats fishing on the coast of New England, and to use in the lakes ponds and rivers around here as well. 

It is a 1996 J14 with a 2011 9.9hp merc with a se 200 fin.

It is completely underpowered, and it is time for an upgrade.

Looking at a 2006 Merc 30hp tiller tomorrow (boat is rated for max 30hp) and probably going to pull the trigger on it. 

Big question is:

How hard is it to install a through transom motor? I plan to mount it myself. I am mechanically inclined with a whole machine shop at my disposal. I watched a video and it seems simple enough. One thing im worried about it the motor height. The 9.9 Long shaft i have sits with the cavitation plate at 24" below the transom top, and i read here somewhere that CS are built to have the cav plate right at the bottom of the transom. Should i mount the new motor with the holes drilled so that the top of the mounting bracket rests on the top of the transom? or should I line up the cav plate with the stern of the boat and mount it there, even if i have to drill the holes in a place where the top of the mounting bracket is "floating" a few inches over the top of the transom?

Other questions are, is a 30 going to be too heavy? 

Is it going to be 'too much' power for my skiff?

Please let me know where to post this if the intro area is not right for questions.

Thanks guys!


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

I had a J14 at one point with a bobs manual JP and a 25. It was a shortshaft. If you put on the JP, you can move the Cav plate above the bottom of the transom. It's not a skinny boat with a heavy 25, not sure what the 30 weighs. If the same obviously go higher hp. I would try to get the fuel tank forward if it isn't already.

But yes, its simple unless you drill through and see water leaking out if the transom.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Here’s a pic


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## NewHampshireSkiff (Jun 15, 2020)

I ended up going with a very clean manual start 2016 merc 25hp efi.
I run a transom trolling motor, and i extended the cables so the battery sits inside my folding top bench seat, which gets some weight in the front half of the boat. 
I kept the fuel container under the rear bench seat. When putting the new motor on i was nervous, as it was more than double the weight of the 9.9, so i thought when i launched the boat it would sit stern low. As soon as i put her in the water i was happy to see almost no stern drop at all, and the boat felt just as buoyant as it was with the smaller motor. K3, i know you said its not a skinny boat with a heavy 4s 25, but i found with the motor up and poling i could float in 8 inches. Im not trying to run the motor shallow, just want to be able to float in the skinny when i take friends or clients out to fish. I will be considering a jack plate in the future, but right now my wallet needs a little bit of a break. She is much nicer now than before!!


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Welcome aboard. Mercury man myself. Follow the break-in procedures, run non-ethanol gas if possible and have fun!


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

The old "new england" 8" draft.


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## NewHampshireSkiff (Jun 15, 2020)

K3, what do you mean by that?

I admit I am new to the skiff world, and don't know exactly how to measure draft. Help would be appreciated so I don't sound dumb.
Here is how I did measure:
Launched boat at sandy launch spot, pushed the boat so it was bow outward to the reservior, pulled the boat by hand back up toward the beach with the motor up until the stern just kissed the sand, then pushed it a couple feet out and measured the depth of the water with a tape measure where the boat was free floating, at 8" deep. Did I do that wrong or get some type of wrong impression of what draft means? 

I do understand that loaded it will need to be deeper. If there is a tried and true method to measure draft I would like to know how. 


K3anderson said:


> The old "new england" 8" draft.


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