Outboard for a 14' Livingston

[KTACK174]

My son is looking to replace the outboard on his 14' Livingstone, what would be the perfect motor for use as both the main and to be able to troll down for Chinook and Coho.  It has steering and controls, current motor is a 25hp Evinrude 2 stroke.  Any suggestions ?

[davidsea]

    Some time ago, I had experience with that hull.  A good friend had one, and as I remember, it was rated for 20 HP tiller, 40HP remote steering - this was in the 2-stroke era of lightweight motors.  Bare hull weight with forward steering was 400# +/-.  I think the beam was about 5 1/2 feet, no motor well, and with a 20" transom height, the sides of the boat were only about 2" higher than that.  The tunnel between the hulls really eased the ride - it was a dream compared to the 13 - 14 foot Whalers - but it also decreased buoyancy, so they don't have a lot of freeboard at rest.   We rigged it with a Chrysler 55 - this was a 150#, 55HP 2-stroke.    :nono:   Hey, it was what we had.  The end result was awesome acceleration, and more top end than the hull was happy with.  Didn't have power trim and needed it badly. Handling at close to 40 was "iffy", and if you turned too tight, it would hook on the outside hull and loose 30MPH in a heartbeat. He got spit out of the boat more than once.
      Your 25 Evinrude likely weighs around 120-130#. Hopefully, your performance with that power is acceptable.  In the modern 4-stroke era, I think you will be stuck with 25-30 horsepower, and given the extra weight, your performance is not likely to improve.  All the available new motors in that size  - Yamaha, Suzuki, Tohatsu, Honda, Mercury, and Evinrude - are going to be in the 150-160# range, and you really don't want to add more weight than that.   Lightest is the Yamaha 25 @ 143#.  If you could find a low-time used 30-40HP 2-stroke, it might be worth considering.   :twocents: