I recently purchased a 22 Ranger with a late 1970s 4.5 Mercury 2 stroke.

I won't turn over and the cost to rebuild is about half of a newer running motor. I think I would rather pay for a running one as time is limited at the moment.

My question is;

Where do I find how much (max) weight I can put on the back of my Ranger 22 so I know what sizes of outboards I should be searching for?

I.E -

Honda100 10hp might be too powerful, but if she can hold her and gets me on the water is that okay?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Ninjito

Evinrude Longshaft, or sailmaster! These come to mind as I owned the long shaft, and my brother the sailmaster. They are from the 70s, and 80s ! Your hp weight rating does not compute ! Hp depends more on where you boat/sail ! IE currents etc. A 9hp would work well if you are in tidal waters if on a lake, then you could get by with a 4-5 hp. But why don;t you lay the engine you have on it's mount bracket, and put mistery oil in the cylinders, let sit for a week., then try turning over. Even kerosene would work. Unless there was water in the cylinders they are probably stuck from non use, and sitting outside. Assuming store on boat outside!

Even if a 10hp is too much, I can't imagine it's a problem. I have one on my 10ft dinghy.

Be sure you know the proper shaft length needed.

What does your current motor weigh? A 4-6 HP motor (2 or 4 stroke) should be plenty for that boat unless you sail in an area with really strong tides/wind. Sailboatdata says your boat weighs approx. 2200lbs, so figure 3000 lbs loaded. At max a 6HP should be enough. Above that, you will be putting a lot of stress on your outboard bracket and transom.

Something to remember- lots of older (70s-80s) boats have brackets (and reinforcement) that were only made for 2 strokes. The newer, heavier 4 strokes, even of the same horsepower, can be much heavier.

If you're buying new, Tohatsu makes a 6 HP "Sail Pro" model. Long shaft, high thrust prop and the ability to connect to your electrical system and charge the battery. I've used one of these extensively and been very impressed.

Ah okay!

I am on the Columbia river so the current is on average about 2 knots. I am not worried about being overpowered as much as I am about the weight of a higher HP outboard weighing the stern down and pulling the bow out of the water.

For the proper shaft length needed, I haven't been able to find a user's manual or any online reference to the Ranger 22 recommendations... - Any thoughts on this?

Cheers,
Ninjito

StarwindMango - Agreed, that is what I am trying to avoid ( too much stress on the transom ). Current weight of the 2 stroke outboard is 50-55 lbs from the research I have done.

I know that some of the higher HP have close ratios of weight 60-65lbs however, will the power of a 4 stroke 10hp be too much for the transom?

Cheers,
Ninjito

I have never understood how current could matter when evaluating engine power on a displacement hull. You're only going to go your hull speed through the water, regardless of how fast the water is moving.

Weight on/behind the transom is not good for sailing performance, and being overpowered just wastes fuel with little, if any, improvement in speed under power, so I'd get the lightest engine that serves your needs.

In small engines, there are often various horsepower ratings for what amounts to the same engine. For example, in modern Tohatsus/Mercurys/Nissans, the 4, 5, and 6hp models are all the same block and weigh exactly the same each other. They just slow down the max RPM of the 4's and 5's so that they can't make as much power. So the ideal engine, imo, would be the one with the most hp for lightest block that does the trick. If you step up to the 8hp, you're using the same block as the 9.9, so you might as well go with the 9.9 since there's no weight savings between the 8/9.9. But I think that 8/9.9 is probably too big...

If it were me and I was getting something new or recent, I'd get a Tohatsu 6 (specifically the sailpro with the extra long shaft and generator). That's what I had on my Catalina 22 and it was great. They weigh about 55 lbs. and I wouldn't have wanted to put anything heavier on it. 2-strokes are usually lighter, so that's probably already a heavier engine than your 70s Merc.

Chip - Thanks for the info! I did not know that they use the same block and just slow down the RPMs. I will keep that in mind when looking. Currently I am looking at the following

Tohatsu 5
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/bpo/6068592536.html

Honda 5
https://portland.craigslist.org/grg/bpo/6062503622.html

Honda 7.5
https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/bpo/6075872215.html

Honda 10
https://offerup.com/item/detail/2544...6c1650efa9f8ed

Won't be able to purchase anything until next weekend so I still have time to research weight specs for these.

Cheers,
Ninjito

Tohatsu looks best in my opinion. {EDIT: Honda is long shaft- I can't read}. Not sure the Honda is a long shaft. I strongly suggest you don't go over about 6 HP for this boat purely for weight reasons.

From the Tohatsu website (6hp boat motor), the weight of the 6 HP Sail Pro is 55 lbs. Anything above 60 pounds is a lot for a 22 foot boat transom. What kind of outboard motor bracket do you have?

The reason I made the comment on current is that a smaller motor may not have the power to overcome the current and get you moving in the right direction, regardless of how fast you're going. I like a high thrust prop on a sailboat outboard for this reason.

I've seen some racers have this problem in Charleston, SC when they have a 2 HP motor on a J24 or something similar

BTW- really enjoy your blog. Well done!