Mornin, if you ever want to run through marsh grass or cat tails duck hunting or such get the most HP, that you can afford. I ran a 16 hp twin on a 14' John boat and it would go pretty much anywhere. Put it on a 16' deep John when the kids were little so they couldn't fall out but it sure slowed things down. Buddy has a 14' John & it goes pretty good with a 6.5,. Still goes through marsh grass but cat tails are really hard. He uses his for duck hunting but he just has to go through lily pads. He has the mud skipper kit with princess auto motors cheaper line. You can put one of the cheap motors on 3 times before your up to the price of a brigs & straton or 4 for the price of a Honda. Buy a 6.5 for that lake you mentioned & a 10 or 12 horse or more for everything else. It's not like your using it every day. Probably could use a mtr from a snow blower as they don't get used to much. Put a used mtr on the one that ya don't use much & a nice new one on the main one. If ya stay with the same brand, hook up should be close to the same. It's just throttle cable or battery. It's actually hard to not cringe going over stumps & rocks till ya get used to it. Fun times with them, crazy looks from other boaters when ya blow by them into the lily pads. There's a guy up in Alaska that uses them on a freighter canoe to go up smaller rivers to get in to tight areas to hunt. He's got some videos on the Alaska out door forums under canoe forum. Good luck & post pics after you get it up & running. Bill out. 🐾👣🇨🇦
