# Short shaft -vs.- Long shaft motors



## tap1021 (Mar 5, 2006)

I have a little 12' aluminum boat. I just got offered a great price on a 9.9 nissan motor with electric start but the motor is a long shaft. What are the pros & cons between the long vs short. The only difference I know of is the depth of water I can go in. Would the long shaft work on my boat? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## Jason6644 (Mar 14, 2005)

I don't know exactly what the difference is, but i know that it has something to do with the heigth of the transom, and where the propellor sits compared to the bottom of the transom. 

J


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

The limited information I know is the plate above the propellor should be at the bottom of the boat. You can put a long shaft on your boat but you won't get the best performance out of your motor. You are better off getting a short shaft if you have a 15" transom. If you have a 25" ( I think that is for the long shaft) transom then you need a long shaft. Hope this helps a little.


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## jobu (Sep 15, 2005)

You can build the transom up a bit, or just buy a bracket to raise the motor. Motor jacks / transom jacks allow you to bolt on a long shaft motor on a transom set up for a short shaft. There's plenty of information on how to build the transom up on the web. You may not want to run the long shaft on a short transom in shallower water. But, I think that goes without saying. Here's a few more answers to your question: http://www.outboardrepairs.com/topics/007952.html 
Good Luck!


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

the long shaft will work on your boat ,but there will be more drag to it because of the extra length of the shaft dragging in the water.thus the motor will not perform as well as a short shaft would onn your boat.


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## ParmaBass (Apr 11, 2004)

If you ever decide to get a bigger boat in the future the long shaft will be compatiable with it, I tried a short shaft on my 16ft boat last Summer while my motor was being worked on and it hardly pushed the boat at all. Just something else to think about.


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## tap1021 (Mar 5, 2006)

That is my plan to get a bigger boat. I was looking for a boat motor combo but stumbled on the motor only deal and figured I would just use the long shaft on my boat now until I find another boat. I will just be using the motor on reservoirs so I will not be looking for permormance anyways. The most I probably be doing with it now is trolling.

Sorry to hear about yor website Parmabass (neofishers.com). It sucks for all of us who like to look at new websites and some idiots out there ruin it for everyone. That goes to prove that the internet like everthing else in the world has its good and bad points. Hope you get everything worked out.


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## tunnelengineer (Mar 6, 2006)

The long shaft will be fine for trolling. You may have to trailier it with the motor tilted all the way up though. Keep that in mind. If you forget about that you may end up with a short shaft anyway. 

Also if the long shaft really bugs you, you can spend the money and get a conversion kit from long to short.


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## ParmaBass (Apr 11, 2004)

It wasn't "my" website, I was/still am a member of it. Not sure what's going on over there. Last I heard there were some problems he was fixing, that was mabey 2 weeks ago.


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## tap1021 (Mar 5, 2006)

I did not know you could get a conversion kit to go from long to short shaft do you have any idea what the cost is?


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## Trucked (Apr 6, 2004)

I love Paris Hilton.


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## ParmaBass (Apr 11, 2004)

I'm a big fan!


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## Soda (Dec 6, 2021)

tap1021 said:


> I have a little 12' aluminum boat. I just got offered a great price on a 9.9 nissan motor with electric start but the motor is a long shaft. What are the pros & cons between the long vs short. The only difference I know of is the depth of water I can go in. Would the long shaft work on my boat? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


I don’t know much about outboards, I was searching for info on long v short when I found this post, but after 30+ years in engineering I do understand Moment of Force and the change in length will create more rotational load on your transom. Think of it like a cheater bar the same force (9.9 hp) on a longer leaver will create more bending moment on the transom connection. This is not an issue if your boat is rated for say 20 hp but it will if it is rated for 10 hp.
Good Luck


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## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

If it’s that good a deal, it sounds like you could get by with it for a while. I would not buy a long shaft (around 20 inches) to permanently use on short transom(around 15 inches) boat. As said will not get proper performance. Also any 12 foot boat that I have owned, I have sometimes used in rivers and shallow lakes. You will be taking away some of the benefit of a shallow running 12 footer.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

This thread is over 15 years old. He’s probably already came to a conclusion on what to do


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## MuskyFan (Sep 21, 2016)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> This thread is over 15 years old. He’s probably already came to a conclusion on what to do


Paris should have been a give away. I would think she’s learned how to get out of a car without giving up the money shot by now. 🤣


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Since it’s been revived(and maybe 50% boaters-even fishermen, have no idea the difference), it’s important to note that there’s a great sticky at the top of this forum that explains it very well!


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