Honda 13 hp longtail

[ICY DUCKJB]

Any thoughts on the Beavertail longtail powered by the Honda 13 hp? I am anticipating a rig and the offer with the boat and trailer comes with this motor.

[over/under]

I dont know about the 13, but I have a beavertail honda 6 and its a awesome little motor.

[jpe05c]

I had the exact motor and it was OK. There is no oil pump (only a crank) so when the motor runs for long periods it dries out the front ball bearings due to the angle that it runs. To counter this, you have to stop and tilt the motor till its level and run for a few seconds. Also not a very fast motor on a 14ft jon. Only went about 10mph

[Esteban]

I currently run that motor on my 14 x 36 Jon boat and it does pretty well, get’s me in places I probably shouldn’t go but has generally gotten me out again (although I do carry a good push pole and have needed it a few times). I can’t speak for any oil issues that jpe05c refers to as I’ve run mine for 30-45 minutes straight or longer without any problems or noises so not sure what that’s all about. As for speed, it will do about 8-9 mph plus or minus with 2 guys and hunting gear. I get about 10–10.5 when I hunt by myself, and when I’m totally unloaded and by myself the best I’ve gotten is about 12.8 mph. I think I could do a bit better unloaded if I could spread out the weight and move it forward. As it is with that 145 lb motor and my 205 lbs near the back end it doesn’t plane as well as I think it could, add in the 60 lb battery and there’s a lot of drag.

I’ve actually gone to a small, lawn mower battery that’s only ¼ the weight of a normal battery but gives me plenty of juice for starting. I don’t run anything else off the battery so don’t worry about running it down. I’ve noticed that when I put a couple of normal weight batteries in the front end when I’m running unloaded it helps out quite a bit, I get better planing action. Long story short, it’s a pretty decent set up as long as you’re not in any real hurry, it gets you wherever you want to go and runs through just about everything. Another thing, it's a lot easier to load and unload than those 17-18 foot heavy metal boats with the monster motors, that can come in handy on smaller or unpaved dirt ramps.

[FastDuck]

It is anice little motor. What size boat is it on?