I ran a boat in the late 80's and early 90's that was way over horsed but was legal for it. I owned a 340 V Ranger. That boat was 16'10" and rated for a 150. It had a 150 Merc XR2 hanging off the back of it and was probably the fastest Ranger boat I ever witnessed. It ran a four blade Predator 25 inch pitch SS prop and could twist it to 6K @ the tach, no jack plate, and was basically stock. It ran fine until you cracked the 52 mph mark. Then it turned into the Fuel Altered known as "Pure Hell" from back in the 60's which was a Nitro powered drag car famous for needing the whole drag strip to make a pass. I put it into the 70's one day with my bro in law in the passengers seat and we almost crashed it after it went into one of it's insane chine walks it was famous for.............

HasBen, those #'s sound right. I was referring to the post that said the 250 put out close to 300.

I watched this week's Honeyhole All Outdoors and Bill did a segment with a Bass Pro/Nitro rep. In this segment they talked about the Pro XS Mercs and the guy talking with Bill said the XS motors actually had more HP than what they were rated and that came from the Pro XS line having technology from Mercury Racing incorporated into it........

I would never buy it. It is just like a car with an illegal engine. You might get away with it for now, but it will always be a problem and then when YOU try to sell it, the new potential buyer will come on TFF and ask the same question that you did and you will be stuck with it. Avoid that hassle and walk away.

It is pretty easy to get a new Coast Guard recommended limits plate. Some bass boats did come with the plate and the fisherman had to get one for tournament`s.

My question to the seller is why did he put a higher HP than rated. Could be a sign of abuse.

just put 150 stickers on it and be done with it. the motor probably only puts out 3/4 of what it says anyways. the newer ones are dialed in performance beasts that give it all they got and then some.

What kind of boat is it? If it happened to be a 188 ranger they changed rating from 175 to 150 sometime around 2009 if it was built at end or start of production year it could easily been powered with 175 though the new 150 bia plate was on it. After 30 years on a production line I've seen lot of these overlooks

I think that this is just another example of how tournament rules need to be reworded. Tournament directors seem to try to just stay out of the controversy. IMHO, a little proper wording would eliminate the controversy.
The problem, as I see it is:
If a new boat says 150hp maximum....and a new motor says 150hp, but....dynos at, say, 160hp then......it is not, not, not...(did I say "not") a 150 hp motor.
So, you are breaking the wording (but maybe not the intent) of the rules right off the bat. If you're gonna threaten folks with polygraphs...you should have the courtesy, and professionalism to word the expectations correctly.
Maybe something like:
Boat motors are not to exceed the maximum Coast Guard hp rating and modifications to the engine for the sole purpose of increasing hp will be reason for DQ. If the maximum hp is over the boat's rated hp either from the factory, or from normal maintenance, this is acceptable.
Or something like that...

I will play the devils advocate here, what are the chances some dummy put the 175 decals on his 150 so it would look "neat"?

Back in the day when B.A.S.S. and others had a 150 hp limit there were some pretty stout 150 engines out there. The Merc 150 XR-6 had the same bore and stroke as their 200. Big carbs along with a different gear case ratio were stock items. These engines would run with any standard 175 out there.

The problems with buying a boat with a larger engine than rated could be different than selling one.

nope....No law requires that you have a motor at or under the coast guard rating.

Once upon a time, the Ranger 390V was rated for unlimited horsepower. I actually saw one during that short period of time when Johnrude made a V-8 Outboard (No HP rating, but more than 300 at the prop). A guy in IL hung one on a 390V and I had the privilige of eating his wake on Clinton IL lake one time. By the time I got to the marina he was pulling his boat out of the water. I asked him how fast it would go, and he said he had been radared by a buddy at 94 and it still had throttle left, he just didn't have the cahones to find out. Now the 390 was a 19 footer I believe.

That was the deal with my 340 with the XR2, the XR2 was actually the smaller displacement and much lighter weight 135 hot rodded to produce 150+ horsepower. I ran that boat to 72 mph twice I think and both times it just got so crazy i had to quit. It was still pulling strong when I let up so it had more left. I just never found out what the top speed was...

I bought a new Triton 17 a few years back. It had a 90hp on it and the original rating plate said 90hp. I asked the dealer to put a 115proxs on it. He did and gave me a new coast guard rating plate that reflected the 115 hp rating. Insurance wasn't a problem and I never had any issues out of the combo. I only had the boat for two years and traded it in on the one I have now with a different dealer. I watched that dealers website and within a week my old boat sold against another of the same brand and make, one year newer, with a 90hp on it that had been there for a few months. I don't care what the women say....bigger is better!