I really don't know about getting into trouble. But nothing has ever been said to me by the fish and wild life. No coast guard here in ky. I got a 50 on my 1660 an it does just fine.

 

Does the motor say 40hp on it?
Take the sticker off..

 

Bingo. This is what I would do.

 

To my knowledge the coast guard hp ratings are not enforced by federal law. However many states use the boat's coast guard rating as law. You'd be more likely to get in trouble with state/local marine police or game and fish. Check your state regs.

But like said above pull the stickers and most likely no worries.

 

X2
Federal regs do not address HP ratings except to boat manufacturer. Fed regs point to state law, so it depends on your state regulations & laws. Do a google search. Our Alabama regs point back to Fed regs, so AL has no HP rating laws. This was confirmed by AL Marine Police when I tried to get mine rerated. They are more concerned with weight limits including the add'l weight of larger motor!

 

i don't even thing i'd go through the trouble of pulling the stickers off. . at least around where i fish i KNOW nothing would ever be said to me about it.

 

FYI
Insurance will not pay off if over rated.

 

I know tons of people on the coast that have never had an issue with it. The only thing i would do is make sure your transom is strong enough to hold it.

 

i got a 150 on a 1760......can you say whoo hooo....size does matter

 

I am supprised your 1652 is only rated for 35hp, my polar craft 1542 is rated for 40hp.

 

Yes, I'd expect it to be rated for a 90 hp motor or so

 

i got a 90 on a 1648

 

i got a 50 on the back of my 1652, never had a problem with anyone, i can do about 20mph with 3 people genny and a floor full of fish, if it is just me i can do around 30

 

My buddy put a 115 on a 17/52 excel slick bottom. In Alabama supposedly you can put any size motor you want on your boat insurance just won't cover you.

 

I think you will be fine.....Only boats I have ever known to be checked for the hp were grossly overpowered. Ones that you could look at and say without a doubt they had WAY to big of motor.......I also knew a guy that fished bass tournaments. He had a 250 on his boat, but had 150 decals on it. No one ever questioned it.

 

My buddies bass boat is like that he gets a kick outta racing folks then them saying that's only a 150? Yep sure is haha

 

I went through this last year. Its tough to find info. I ended up slapping a fiddy on mine and havent had any issues. I called ODOW and the CG for info.

 

I've got a 55 on my 1642 and it does fine..

 

I got a 70 in mine and its fine

 

I had the same problem. The information I had said 40 HP was max for my boat 1652 Polarcraft but done some more searching and found out it was 40 HP tiller handle and 70 HP remote steer . I will try and find the website it was on.