I have a 16' short transom sears v-hull.  

A local man here in Kansas is selling a 5 hp internal gas tank sea king for $85.  I would like to buy it, but am wondering how well it will do with my boat.  I'm not looking for a lot of speed (mostly fish 50-500 acre lakes, and when I do fish bigger water tend to launch near my spot) just something reliable that will push me faster and more efficiently than my 40lb. trolling motors, and some safety for windy days.  What do you think?  Seems like a pretty cheap deal.

If it runs good it's a good deal. At that price it would be good to get then upgrade later and at that price you could resell and get your money back.

Boat looks great.

a 5 isnt going to get you screaming across the lake, but it should be ok. if it runs, its a steal. i really like the engines with the internal fuel tank. boat looks awesome

Yeah, I got the boat/trailer for $400 too, so this is shaping up to be a really nice fishing boat for very little $$.  I also have a 50lb. MK endura for the back and a 40lb. Edge for the front.  I was going to get the 40lb. endura, but with the rebate going on right now I decided to go for as much thrust as I could afford.  She should be ready to fish out of in about 1 wk.

A friend of mine has a boat VERY similar to yours if not identical and he has a five on it. It is not a speed demon but it moves the boat very well. Even fishing all day he can't run through five gallons of gas and doesn't have to worry about keeping enough juice in his trolling battery to get back to the ramp from a mile or so away.

Just what I was hoping to hear.  I'm going to look at the motor and see it run in about 10 min.  If it runs good and starts well I'm going to buy it.

A friend of mine has a boat VERY similar to yours if not identical and he has a five on it. It is not a speed demon but it moves the boat very well. Even fishing all day he can't run through five gallons of gas and doesn't have to worry about keeping enough juice in his trolling battery to get back to the ramp from a mile or so away.

Well, I went to see it.  Guy said he hasn't used it in 2 years but he rebuilt it completely.  Sticks it in the water in a trash can, and it starts on the first pull!  Ran smooth, pumped water well.  Holds 1.5 gallons of gas internally.  No reverse, you just spin it around, but long story short, I paid the guy his $85 and mounted it on my boat.  Really nice older motor.

You might want to consider carrying an auxillary 2 gallon gas can around until you know for sure exactly how long the motor will run on its internal tank. Of course you'd still have your trolling motors to fall back on in case you did happen to run out of fuel. Just an idea.

Oh yeah.  I'll be carrying a 3 gal. can with me whenever I'm on a lake bigger than 200 acres.  Nobody wants to get stranded.

You might want to consider carrying an auxillary 2 gallon gas can around until you know for sure exactly how long the motor will run on its internal tank. Of course you'd still have your trolling motors to fall back on in case you did happen to run out of fuel. Just an idea.