I have an older model aluminum tracker with a mercury 50hp on it. I love the boat but I want a bigger motor on it. I have been looking into Honda 90hp 4 stroke, the weight is only about 15lbs more than the motor I currently have, is this going cause issues or is it more thrust related to the maximum hp rating on the boat witch is 75hp???

You might want to double check the weight. I believe a Honda 90 is going to weigh a lot more than a Mercury 50.

While we have discussed this before I remember about the only major problem is that it will be virtually impossible to get insurance on an over powered boat. There are no laws in Texas that prohibit over powering your boat either.
Regardless of peoples opinions on whether or not it should be done this will be your decision and you ultimately will have to live with whatever you decide.

With that being said my boat is overpowered and I love it. I have a 16�6� boat and after all the engine work I have done I am well over 150 hp on my boat. I would definitely do it again on my next boat!

What do the engines weigh? Just wondering.
Was on another forum,about fast boats,and there are some merc 2.5s for sdale. The weights listed seemed low.

Is you Merc 50 a 4 stroke? That's about the only way those 2 might be that close in weight.

yep you guys are right, about 100lbs. differance there, it was a few months back when I was looking and thought for some reason 15-20 lbs. was the differance???? the Honda weighs in at 359lbs while a 4 stroke merc is about 240lbs. where I got off thinking it was close....who knows, well scratch that I guess, the boat sits low in the [censored] as it is know with 3 batteries back there, hmmm back to the drawing board I guess, thanks for making me re-check things guys!!!!!! that could have suck kind bad......

Might consider repositioning your batteries to the front. Get creative. Made quite a few mods to my Alumacraft to more evenly distribute the weight and has help tremendously. 'Course my boat aint overpowered, but I've toying with the idea of dropping a 75 (rated for 60) onto the back.

15lbs? I dont think so. A Honda 90hp 4 stroke weights 359 lbs. and a Merc 50hp 2 stroke weights 204 lbs. You need to add another "5" behind that 15 lbs to make it 155 lbs. Because there is a 155 lb difference between the two motors you are talking about.

ok well how about this, a merc 4 stroke 75hp weighs 399lbs. according to their website, that is the same as the 90hp, my boat is rated for a max of 75hp, but, when I bought my boat small 4 strokes werent the "norm" for smaller boats. Anyone think that much weight would be THAT big and issue, like the above post mentions it like 155lbs. more, and yes I have been thinking about relocating the trolling batteries to the front compartment of the boat to balance weight.

I was told of a weight limit on the transom, I also have been considering more horsepower, I was told my tracker pro 175 has a weight limit of 310 lbs on the transom, which is the weight of a 75 horse merc 2 stroke, the 85 to 140 johnson/evinrude with tilt and trim is 301 lbs on the early models, I'm running a 70 horse johnson on it now and get 40 mph on gps, but I would like to see 60+,

Its not as much about "balancing" the boat as it is about transom rating. Thats why i replied with how much the Honda 90 was over the Merc 50. Like you said, boats back then were not meant to be rigged with heavier 4 stroke motors. You need to find the answer to this question= How much weight can be put on the transom of my year model boat? The more hp is not the biggest issue. The big issue would be putting more weight on the transom than the transom was designed to hold. If you find out your transom can hold a total of 400 lbs of motor weight, then i would say the transom could handle that motor HANGING on it.

I expressed the word HANGING because not only does the 4 stroke weight more, it also puts out 25 more hp than is rated for your hull. If this was a 2 stroke 90hp motor and i was in your situation i would do it, but you have more weight plus more hp on that transom. Thats added weight plus more torque because of the added hp over the normal rating. Im not saying that it would absolutely not work or tear your transom up, im just saying i would investigate the rated weight that your transom is supposed to be able to support and go from there. I would rather be safe than be sorry with a over stressed transom.

I know mine is just a jon boat, but a tracker is just a glorified jon boat so here goes. I have a 14' by 36" boat with a 15 horse mercury four stroke. Yeah the boat is a rocket, it will run 30mph all day long(extremely calm water) and is easy on the gas, but it is nearly imposible to drive with only one person unless you stack all your junk in the very front seat, and if you put it in reverse and give it some gas it will flat out suck the transom under. I would be careful. Alumacrafts sit too low for my taste anyhow the added weight is just going to make it worse.

matt

That is something I would like to see!
60+ in a bass tracker!

That would be one scarry ride!!! Hold on!!!