FS17 low hp performance

[rbecker08]

Hey y'all so if you haven't noticed I am motor shopping and a little shocked lol. Tis a market that works in strange ways, but the goal is to get the family on the water and move to a bigger boat as they grow. This isn't ment to be a superstar boat just float, get us on the water, and put some fish in it. So I don't want a 10 grand motor on the back. What would the fs17 at dwl feel like with a 25 or a 20 hp motor on the back. There is a big price jump in that range and being cheap. Thanks Rich

[R00kie]

Pretty slooow. Think Chrysler K car slow....

[rbecker08]

Pretty slooow. Think Chrysler K car slow....

Like 15mph....sorry to young for Chrysler K . Will we have planning issues I am pretty focused on a Yammy 25hp....but just curious on the user experience 20mph is good 10mph is bad do we have projected speeds by hp?

[silentneko]

With a family on board, you are looking at maybe not even getting up on plane. Small motors don't handle load well, I know this from experience. I have a Yamaha 20hp now, and won't go with less then 50hp for my fs17 because it will haul my family and gear. And after talking to some guys who have 40hp in their fs17 I'm pretty set on a 60hp.

[remedy32]

Much of this discussion revisits my post of a few years ago. Had hoped others might "bump" it from time to time with their own observations.

https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.ph ... ce#p286422

My FS17 center console was originally powered by a Yamaha 25 2 stroke twin. Older and a little tired but able to get the boat to about 25mph with 2 aboard a bit less with 3. A year or two later I switched to a Yamaha 40 2 stroke triple. Performance was much improved top speed around 30 mph, just a bit lower speed loaded to near dwl. Even at 300# over DWL we had no trouble planning with top speed still around 20kts. Acceleration was much slower but the boat felt fine even in a pretty good amount of chop.

I know others have powered with much more HP but I've been most happy with the boat's performance at around 20 kts (23mph). Go much faster and the boat pounds more than I like in even modest chop. I guess if you're in an area with generally flat water more speed would not be an issue.

I would not hesitate to power a simple tiller steered FS17 with 25-30 hp. Center console or built out with lots of whistles and bells 40-50 should keep most people happy.

Here's the boat with the original 25.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL9j2tK6GNc[/youtube]

Great little boat, enjoy it!

[rbecker08]

Much of this discussion revisits my post of a few years ago. Had hoped others might "bump" it from time to time with their own observations.

https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.ph ... ce#p286422

My FS17 center console was originally powered by a Yamaha 25 2 stroke twin. Older and a little tired but able to get the boat to about 25mph with 2 aboard a bit less with 3. A year or two later I switched to a Yamaha 40 2 stroke triple. Performance was much improved top speed around 30 mph, just a bit lower speed loaded to near dwl. Even at 300# over DWL we had no trouble planning with top speed still around 20kts. Acceleration was much slower but the boat felt fine even in a pretty good amount of chop.

I know others have powered with much more HP but I've been most happy with the boat's performance at around 20 kts (23mph). Go much faster and the boat pounds more than I like in even modest chop. I guess if you're in an area with generally flat water more speed would not be an issue.

I would not hesitate to power a simple tiller steered FS17 with 25-30 hp. Center console or built out with lots of whistles and bells 40-50 should keep most people happy.

Here's the boat with the original 25.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL9j2tK6GNc[/youtube]

Great little boat, enjoy it!

This was the answer I was hoping for and just a few questions. What was the speed when you started planning, let's me know close to the edge I am pushing? And what was your crushing speed? Both with the 25. I am not so worried about speed want to ride around get out on the water and catch some fish.

[remedy32]

Been too long to recite from memory take a look at the old post.

Transition to planning is so smooth with moderate load that it's actually kind of hard to identify, but somewhere around 10 kts but is load dependent. Any of the larger displacement 30 hp 4 strokes, many based on 40 hp frames would have kept me happy. I found a good running 40 2 stroke at a fair price and have been pleased since. Boat has a fairly small waterplane so it is a bit sensitive to weight placement; mostly to too much weight in the back of the bus! Battery placement can be a help here. I'm sure others will also offer some good advice but as I said before a good design for modest power IMO.

[Matt Gent]

I bought a Suzuki 30hp 4s EFI a couple years back for under $4k new in box, remote 20" T&T with controls & tank. Shop around and you'll find a leftover or something. I use it on a small pontoon but I think it would be OK for a light 17' skiff like an FS or an ECO18. Light is the key, performance falls off quick when loaded up. A friend had a simple Diablo 16 with an etec 25 tiller, would run his family (2 adults 2 kids) around all the time in the mid-teens mph. Occasionally 2 more adults on top of that.

You can calculate / estimate speed with different power & loads using the Crouch calculation, and it works well if you have it calibrated to an existing rig from someone here. That means real power and measured weight. It may not work as well when it comes to planing off or not planing off.

[remedy32]

You can calculate / estimate speed with different power & loads using the Crouch calculation, and it works well if you have it calibrated to an existing rig from someone here. That means real power and measured weight. It may not work as well when it comes to planing off or not planing off.

Jacques published a full analysis of the FS17 LS somewhere around 2010/11. Other than freeboard and a slight weight difference, the same hull. The performance predictions were close to my observations. Pretty sure I provided a link in my older FS17 Performance post mentioned earlier.

[remedy32]

You might find this helpful. It's just page 1 of JM's full report. Maybe he could link the full document to one of the FS17 performance oriented threads?

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=28377 Paste, the double click to view.