Building a boat for Lee's Ferry

[CannonBallZ]

On 8/20/2024 at 2:14 PM, sjpitts said:

I have wanted a boat to use a Lee's Ferry for a while.  A long while.   In fact, I hiked 50 miles through Paria Canyon with scouts in 1982 or so, and we came out at Lee's ferry.  I remember seeing fishermen pulling trout out that were bigger than I had ever seen-- by a factor of 2 or 3.   I have wanted to fish there ever since.

So 40+ years later I finally bought the shell of a boat that I think might work.  It is a 90's Alumacraft.  16 feet long.  But no motor.  See picture below.

The boat has a rated capacity of 5 people and 1240 lbs.  And the recommended horsepower range is between 15-45HP. 

I would like to be able to take me and a couple of my friends or adult kids all the way up river, and maybe even take a little camping gear if possible.  I would also to be able to use it on the mountain lakes when I get the time--- those that are restricted to electric or 9.9 hp motors. 

And I would like to keep the boat as light as possible-- since I don't have a lot of horsepower in my tow vehicle.  

My first idea was to just buy a 9.9 HP motor that I can also use on mountain lakes and go for it.  However, I am a little worried that 9.9 won't be enough to get me and my friends upriver. 

My second idea is to get an older 2 stroke motor in the 15-25 HP range.  One that might even be light enough to easily remove or swap out for 9.9 or smaller when I want to.   But even then I am little worried.   I see that NPS requires 25HP or more when the water flow is high.   

In either case I would probably convert the boat to tiller steer, just because it is simpler and easier.   

So does anyone have any thoughts and recommendations for this?

Thanks

Jared

     

 

Any updates? I've never fished Lee's Ferry before, but finally graduated college and have a stable job so I'm looking to start saving up to buy a boat that'll let me fish all over AZ.

[wildwoody]

On 8/21/2024 at 10:51 AM, PRDATR said:

 

IN AZ the gas motor can stay on the boat for electric only State Owned lakes. I' don't know about REZ Lakes.

Never had problem but I've taken my gas tank out and have 6 lithium battering . So the 40 hrs is just a declaration.

[sjpitts]

On 7/13/2025 at 3:39 PM, CannonBallZ said:

Any updates? I've never fished Lee's Ferry before, but finally graduated college and have a stable job so I'm looking to start saving up to buy a boat that'll let me fish all over AZ.

So here is my update-- as you can probably guess I let this project slide for a while, but I am picking it back up with the hopes that the boat will be ready by early spring.   I have decided I need to replace all the decking wood, so that is going to take a while.  And I still have not decided what to do about an engine.  So I will have a new post on that soon. 

[sjpitts]

So as I said above, I have not really done anything on this project other than some boat cleanup and stalking Craigslist for outboard motors.  But I am starting back up with the hope to have this done by early spring.

Based on everyone's recommendation I have decided to go with a larger motor and not worry about trying to make this boat work for mountain lakes.  I really want to be able to get three people and camping gear up the river.  So based on this I am going to be looking for engines between 25HP-60HP.   

With that being decided I have a bunch of questions for the Lee's Ferry experts

1.  Console Steering vs Tiller-- the boat currently has a console for steering, and it even has a steering cable of unknown origin.   But the condition of the console is a little sketchy so my original idea was just to remove console and go with a tiller outboard.  But now that I am going with a larger engine I am not sure anymore.   Looking at the example boats I can see that CouesPursuit has a tiller and HuntnTAT2 has a steering console.   So does it really matter?  Tiller seems to be simpler to set up and maintain-- but it also seems like it would be easier to see where I am going with a console, but I have never driven a boat on a river so maybe that does not matter.  Any thoughts?

2.  Electric Tilt and Trim ---  am I going to want electric tilt and trim on the outboard?  It seems like it would be very nice, but it does add significant cost.   And I am not sure if they are commonly found on the size of engines I am looking at.  I know I have seen electric tilt and trim on 50HP, but I am not sure how common it is on 25HP.   

3.  Jack Plate to raise/lower the engine ---  similar question --- am I going to want one of those?  It seems like a fancy hydraulic jack plate would be very useful in shallow water.  But they are also very expensive so it may not be worth it.   But maybe just manual jack plate that lowers or raises with the turn of a handle?   See On the Fly. I can't really tell if CouesPursuit or HuntnTAT2 has a jack plate on their boat- but they might. 

4.   What about a Jet Drive outboard ---  I have seen a few of these for sale.   But they are expensive-- more than regular outboards.    And I am guessing that they are more difficult to maintain.   And they are supposed to be not very efficient.  So if I got a 60HP outboard with a jet drive it would really be like a 40HP with a prop.

And one more big question---    

5.  Do I have the right boat?     My boat is nice aluminum fishing boat, but it has relatively deep V hull.   I can't help but notice that both CouesPursuit and HuntnTAT2 have a more flat bottom boat-- I would call them jon boats but I am not sure if that is the right terminology.  So am I going to regret trying to build a Lee's ferry boat with a V hull?  Should I be looking for jon boat to build up instead? 

Maybe I should have started with that question

Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks again for the help.  

Jared   

[PRDATR]

Ask about outboards with jet drives on here as they are fairly common in AK.

 

https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forums/alaska-power-boating.52/

[CouesPursuit]

Skip 25hp if you want 3 guys and gear.

1. My boat used to have a console but 35 year-old failing parts were easy to rip out when a tiller became available on this site. For a boat this size and the utility I use it for, I couldn't be happier. I wouldn't go out of my way to replace a working console setup, though. 

2. Buy a CNC for whatever outboard you get, this also takes care of 3 and is just sweet to have. Each adjustment of the trim through various parts of the channel, in different wind conditions, with different loads, or a dog walking bag and forth, is money well spent.

4. Yes.

5. You don't track deeper than your prop. My 14ft experience was in your same hull. I wouldn't be concerned any more with your boat than being new to running the river with any boat with an outboard. HuntnTAT2's advice on following guides without jets is key until you start learning the seams, as well as understanding the current river elevation. Dam operations allow for some shortcuts that one ought not assume in all conditions. 

[sjpitts]

3 hours ago, PRDATR said:

Ask about outboards with jet drives on here as they are fairly common in AK.

 

https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forums/alaska-power-boating.52/

Thanks for the link.  I spent some time reading some threads-- very interesting---those Alaska guys are serious about their river boats.   

[sjpitts]

2 hours ago, CouesPursuit said:

Skip 25hp if you want 3 guys and gear.

1. My boat used to have a console but 35 year-old failing parts were easy to rip out when a tiller became available on this site. For a boat this size and the utility I use it for, I couldn't be happier. I wouldn't go out of my way to replace a working console setup, though. 

2. Buy a CNC for whatever outboard you get, this also takes care of 3 and is just sweet to have. Each adjustment of the trim through various parts of the channel, in different wind conditions, with different loads, or a dog walking bag and forth, is money well spent.

4. Yes.

5. You don't track deeper than your prop. My 14ft experience was in your same hull. I wouldn't be concerned any more with your boat than being new to running the river with any boat with an outboard. HuntnTAT2's advice on following guides without jets is key until you start learning the seams, as well as understanding the current river elevation. Dam operations allow for some shortcuts that one ought not assume in all conditions. 

 

1.  I think you are right about not removing a working console.  I will take a closer look at the structural integrity of my console and existing steering set up.  

2.  I am not sure what you mean by a CNC?  

5.   That is good to know.   It seems like a flat bottom boat would be slightly preferable, but I am glad to know that this will work.  I like this boat overall.  

[CouesPursuit]

2 minutes ago, sjpitts said:

 

2.  I am not sure what you mean by a CNC?  

Sorry, typo, CMC.

https://www.amazon.com/PT-35-Hydraulic-Tilt-Trim-52100/dp/B0000AZ499

[PRDATR]

5 hours ago, sjpitts said:

Thanks for the link.  I spent some time reading some threads-- very interesting---those Alaska guys are serious about their river boats.   

Believe it or knot some also use air boats, albeit they can be sketchy and are prone to flipping. You can ask Tom Cruchshank what happens when the rivets let loose on the hull.

[trphyhntr]

Throw it in the gutter and go buy another. (That’s already in working condition at a fair price) 

[sjpitts]

15 hours ago, trphyhntr said:

Throw it in the gutter and go buy another. (That’s already in working condition at a fair price) 

What is the fun in that? 

[sjpitts]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:02 PM, CouesPursuit said:

I have a 40hp on a 16' and it works well with the boat at capacity. I have a buddy that runs a 35hp on his 16' and he is much slower upriver but it works.

 

CouesPursuit-- so I did some online research on outboard motors and I read a lot of good things about the 80s-90s era Evinrude/Johnson two strokes like the one you have.   Do you like the motor?  Anything you don't like?    Any problem getting parts to keep it running?

The 40HP like you have seems to be pretty common and not too heavy, but there are also a lot of 50HP and higher out there.    

[CouesPursuit]

This 40HP is a workhorse and I really do love it. That load pictured runs about 24 MPH upstream, 28 MPH downstream, 29 MPH empty on a reservoir. 

My previous 60HP on the same boat was 35 MPH empty for reference. A previous 55HP powerhead in the original 60HP outboard was about 33 MPH. The 40 - 60 HP OMC's in that era have mostly interchanging parts, including the prop size.

Yes, I've had multiple engines and almost every repair imaginable to keep it running over the last 20 years that I've owned it. Lessons learned -

60 HP - change the impeller every year, especially when in service as a duck boat.

55 HP - running an engine with a sieve-leaking carb, even to get back to the ramp safe in bad circumstances, will scour cylinders!

40 HP - regular maintenance and learning the engine is worth every penny and effort. Keep fuel stabilizer in the tank and run the engine frequently.