I just bought a 1540 Riveted Aluminacraft and I am rebuilding my trailer. I am a Fisherman mainly but I would like to call Predators along the River. Every place I go is hard to get a boat in. In fact I am extending the Tongue on my trailer to try to get the boat in just a little easier. I am considering two motors. A go devil 9 and a Go Devil 16. The 16 is 30lbs heavier. Will the 9 plane out my boat? I am 240lbs and will usually have a Partner who is also large with me. Which Motor would be best? Looking at the Go Devil site the Speeds for the two motors are very close.

Give me some guidance here.

the 9 wont plane that and the 16 will be a strech.

I would steer away from the longtail and go with a smaller surface drive myself. Check out Copperhead mud motors, and most of the other brands make a smaller surface drive as well. It will be much more user friendly and you'll get better speeds out of it. The 9hp go-devil will probably not plane out your boat, especially with any weight in it.

Long tail or Crawfish Tail is a must in my area. Very shallow and Rocky.

get a 23 and thank me later.

Buddy has a 1542 with a 13 horse, he is north of 250 and it won't plane out with just him in it. When I run it in shallow water it barely planes out with me and i'm a buck eighty. I would go with the 23 like woodie stated above.

Hard to believe a 9 won't plane that hull when propped right and surely that 16 would be plenty to plane off. I have a 12x36(i think 36w) flat that I use with a POS home made 5hp longtail, uses some sort of elec trollin motor plastic prop (don't laugh, it beats rowin) and that damn thing will just about get on plane the further forward I stand, seriously. i think when I re-do the prop and repair the cav plate it might not because the new prop looks lower in pitch, but as it sits now it almost does. I'm 220 lbs but run lightly loaded, just enough to run my jug lines and carry a gallon of gas. Heres pics of my fine ass rig and if this hunk o sh!t can almost plane my big ass, a real 9hp MM on a 14 should do it lol

Agree with above post, if you can afford a 23 you will be thrilled.

I ran one on a 16x48 welded and could hit 20mph alone. My buddy runs a 25 on a similar sized riveted (with lots of wood upgrades) and is no faster than me. I have no experience with smaller motors.

16 on the low end. 18, 20 or 23 if you can find them. I have used 20 and 23 on boat that size and was pleased.

get a 23 go-devil and youll love it. same weight as the 16

I run a 23 on a heavy 16 ft express with 3 in guys and all our gear in duck season and its perfect for where i am, its got enough power to get you off the stumps and through the shallows. It'll plane with two guys and a 5000 watt generator and a deck when we bowfish also.