Recently bought this little 14 ft skiff. Its 32in wide bottom, 14in sides all 1/8. I fixed up an old 7.5 merc a buddy gave me to get her going for now. Im pretty happy w/ the boat, she runs 17 topped out with me and maybe 70lbs of gear, but really need a longtail to put on it. The question is what size motor? definitely don't want no 6.5hp like I had on the 12fter. Too slow and not enough torque, but on the same token im worried a 16hp might put me in the water. What yall think? Budget is a big issue so definitely looking used and cant afford a copperhead or anything for sure. Heres a few pics of the rig

Looks good man.

I go with a 13 hp lone tail

Any thing biger may be to heavy

I'd look into the backwater swomp lite. The 10 only weighs 115 but if you jump up to the 13 your looking at 175.

I got a 13 hp on my 14 foot John does fine it do 15 mph with just me in the boat

But how wide is your bottom? I'm not saying it won't do fine. In fact I have a 35 swomp on a 14' crawfish skiff right now and it does fine but the bottom is 49" in the front and 46" in the back.

Dang ol cool paint job on dat dere thang!

3 foot wide

In that case why not look into the 23 swomp. It weighs the same as the 13.

Most 13 hp long tails only weigh about 140 to 150 pounds

On a 23 ur looking at about 180 to 195 pounds

According to the backwater website both the 13 and 23 are 175 lbs

http://www.backwaterinc.com/swomp-23.html

http://www.backwaterinc.com/swomp-13.html

I really like the idea of the 13hp but i rarely see them for sale used. Same thing with the backwaters, id love to have one but theyre not super common down here. Im gonna be on the hunt for a 13, but im gonna buy a 16hp if i find a good deal. If its too much motor then ill sell it or trade down. Trying to keep this thing low budget as hell. I have a big boat to suck up all my money...

i have a 16 hp longtail godev on my 14 36... it will push the boat with me my dog a buddy and gear but don't get in any kind of a hurry.... my buddy used to have a 14 32 with the 23 godev it pushed us great with a full load.... definitely not the stability of a 15 48 but thats a given