Hey guys I was wondering haw fast I could go with this size engine the Jon is 14 ft long and 30 something inches wide, a trolling motor battery maybe a cooler and a few fishing rods will be the only cargo oh yeah and me I weigh about 120

I have a 1996, 4hp merc I use on my canoe and have used it several times on my 1436 jon. With two people in the boat, it will almost get on full plane. This is with me weighing 180 and a 140 pound passenger. It actually pushes it along suprisingly well, no TM of any size is going to come anywhere near the speed it gets.

Two words - very slow

if it's what you have.............it will be fast enough till you can save for something bigger,if it is on a boat you are looking at,again it'll be fast enough till you can save some coin.But i would not recomend it to anyone...................especially somone asking if it is fast enough

Lol thanks, very slow, I was looking for something more specific like how many mph could it go would it plane etc, etc, but yeah it's what I have, it is my first boat the boat is like 40 years old and I just got the motor on eBay almost brand new for a good price

My first boat was a 16ft jon boat with a OLD 4 hp,speed demon it wasn't but it did ok to get me where I needed to be and was a great first boat.I never checked the speed on it but it took me about 10 min to get from one end of the lake i used it on to the other(about 2.5 miles).I think you'll be surprised with how it scoots along...............as long as you arent on a huge lake

Lol thanks, all those years of bank fishing people are now going to say man I wish I was out on a boat like that guy little do they know that Ill probably be getting skunk like they do

lol......don't worry about skunked a time or 2 in the beginning.I know I did when starting from a boat,there is just so much more ground to cover and choose from.Although this place will be a good help to you.

As for the speed issue,I used to throttle back grab a drink and toss a line or 2 over the stern when I was moving from place to place.Granted it was rare to catch something,but I did manage a few nice pike and my pb walleye in the summer I had that motor

Well let me tell you i could not ask for more I took it out for the first time today and I swear I must have been doing 15mph the mOtor performed like a top the only problem I had was that when I was by myself I could not get the boat to plane I only could when my buddy was in the front when I tryed by myself the front would not come down I think there was to much weight in the front how can I remedy this when I'm by myself

I meant to much weight in the back

I had a Sears 12 foot Jonfisher, with a five hp Johnson direct drive outboard. The boat was little more than aluminum foil and very light. I weighed about 200 and the kid next door who often went with me weighed about 140.

That little ol Johnson would get the boat up on plane. I'm guessing we scooted along at a little better than ten mph. With just me in the boat it would do about 15 mph. While that's not fast, compared to rowing the jon around it seemed like we were flying.

I'd move the battery,and cooler to the front,and see if that helps or you could try a tiller extension that would allow you to sit in the middle.If that seems like too much work my buddy just tossed 2 cinder blocks in the bow.............one had a rope tied to it for his hillbilly anchor as he called it

For max speed, you'd need to shift weight around. Start with weight forward to get it on plane, then, gradually move it aft until the stern starts to squat. If you've ever seen the small hydroplanes race, the drivers start out by lying on the front deck, ahead of the steering wheel. Once the bow comes down, and the boat gets on top of the water, they move back, behind the wheel.

The extended tiller handle is a great idea. It allows you to shift your weight to maximize speed. In the case of your five hp motor, you won't need to worry about setting your hair on fire.

It's not only about the speed. You'll also improve your fuel economy considerably, if the boat is not always "climbing out of the hole".

Might want to make sure you have the trim pin in the hole neareast the transome (provided it has one). Also, as mentioned move weight to in front of the front seat. TM battery, cooler etc.