Upgraded to same kind of boat but max horse power rating has changed

[Hartly]

[QUOTE=x4flatfish;6364896]I would be very concerned with insurance and warranty. Can the dealer guarantee that the boat warranty will be valid? First call would be my insurance agent. I doubt you could get that combination insured...[/QUOTE

Good point x4flatfish. We are celebrating Thanksgiving today. My Insurance company will open tomorrow. I will be calling them early morning .

[Tom Anderson]

I find this topic frustrating and silly and here’s why; you can buy a car with a 200 HP engine and tear it out and install a 500 HP engine. People do it every hour of the day. Nobody thinks anything about it; lots of folks thinks it’s cool. Nothing illegal. But put a motor on a boat 20hp over the rating and somehow it’s a big deal! It’s ludicrous. The warden gives u a ticket for the boat and ignores the 750hp pickup u pull it with. Give me a break. Put any motor u want on a boat and work out any cost increase with your insurance company like u do with your car. Where it’s illegal don’t do it. But seeing it as a big deal seems absurd.

[FishManDan]

Have a friend who just changed the stickers on his outboard to the lower size. He says they surely will not look at anything but the sticker.

[Aspencreek]

Originally Posted by FishManDan

Have a friend who just changed the stickers on his outboard to the lower size. He says they surely will not look at anything but the sticker.

UHHH, as an insurance adjuster, he would be wrong. All I would have to do is look at the ID number. That number deciphered tells me anything I want to know.

This over-powering thing has been beat to death on several other threads, and I can only talk about here in WI. You can put whatever size motor you want on a boat here, BUT getting it insured and if there is any kind of accident or claim you will be denied, plus the DNR does check those things periodically, particularly if you are operating recklessly.

Had one last year, the guy put on a 90, boat was rated for 60. No big deal right! Except he told the insurance company it was a 60. Got into an accident while trailering the boat and totaled the vehicle and vessel along with the trailer. It was not that hard to determine the motor was a 90 and filed the claim for the guy, not realizing the policy has said it was a 60. They paid for the vehicle, and trailer but not the boat and motor. Why....fraud on the part of the insured for saying it was a 60 when he knew it was a 90.
In WI you cannot over power, BUT you can "tune" an existing say 60 into a 75 or 80 or 90 by some miracle of engineering, because the ID will still say 60. And it has been done.

Oh, and Tom, you may find it ludicrous and others may too, but you don't have to look real hard to figure out why putting a WAY over rating motor on a boat is a bad thing. Insurance companies have to go by some standard, and believe me Tom's standards are not going to be good enough to mitigate any risks, if you get my drift. I'm not arguing with you, but hulls that can't handle the stresses of Big Bad motors end up being part of the lake structure. And when you replace that little motor in your truck with a big one, you also have to redo suspension, transmission, etc. etc. etc. You don't do that in a boat, at least not usually.

[Huntindave]

Originally Posted by Aspencreek

UHHH, as an insurance adjuster, he would be wrong. All I would have to do is look at the ID number. That number deciphered tells me anything I want to know.

The DNR will also refer to the serial number tag rather than any "decals". I have seen and been a part of random "ramp" checks where the DNR is inspecting every boat coming in off the water. Have witnessed several citations written for being over powered, especially during hunting seasons where many motors are completely painted over and camouflaged.

Apparently the DNR takes your safety as a high priority.

[Tom Anderson]

You guys make some good points; I was thinking in the range of putting a 75 or 90 on my tiller that’s rated for a 70 (90 with console). But I can see it’s not worth it, and realistically there would be no way for enforcement to ignore a slight overpower.