Jon Boats can be the perfect solution for small fishing trips, hunting excursions, river exploration, and small lake transportation. They are incredibly customizable and relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain.
Jon Boats are commercially produced between 8 and 20 feet in length (though sometimes longer), with the most common sizes being 10-16 feet long. Their flat bottom allows the boat to have a shallow draft (distance between the water line and bottom of the boat) and be able to access a broad range of bodies of water.
Of course, Jon Boats come in all different shapes and sizes. So the question is, what lengths do they come in, and what length is right for me?
The answer really depends on how much you plan to carry and how fast you’ll need to go.
More Weight Capacity Requires More Boat Length
Understanding what you plan to do with your Jon Boat will be hugely helpful in determining the weight capacity you’ll need. Do you plan on going out on a pond with your grandson for basic fishing? Are you transporting your boat to various rivers for fishing trips for you and 1-2 friends? Will you be transporting several hunters to a duck blind and need to haul people and ammo?
All of the above scenarios will have various weight requirements. And weight requirements will lead you in part to the length of boat you need.
Carrying capacity requirement and boat length are closely related because generally speaking, the bigger the boat, the more it can carry. The bigger the boat is, the more water it displaces (i.e. water the boat moves out of the way to float). As long as the boat is lighter than the weight of the water it is displacing, it will float. The longer your boat, the more water you are displacing, and the more you can carry.
Later in this post we will show the various lengths of boats and how much they can generally carry. This will help you understand how much boat you’ll need.
Higher Needed Speed Requires More Boat Length
Each boat will usually come with a manufacturer’s recommendation for the maximum horsepower the boat can handle. While it would be a whole lot of fun in theory to get a tiny boat and put a massive motor on it (I can see the Duck Dynasty crew smiling already), this isn’t only unwise, it can be extremely unsafe.
Simply put, a tiny boat with a huge engine on it will be inherently unstable and unsafe. In extreme scenarios you could even “wheelie” and most likely sink engine-first. The obvious exception to this rule is racing boats, but they are engineered to avoid this phenomenon.
For everyday Jon Boat users like you and me, there is a limit to the size of engine each boat can handle. The more speed you’ll require, the bigger the boat you’ll need.
So, how fast do you need to go? This question is best answered by understanding your average use-case scenario for the boat. Do you need to navigate several miles of river routinely? Are you routinely traveling a few miles on a lake to various fishing spots? Or do you only need to get to the honey hole of your family’s pond with your grandson?
In the below breakout of boat lengths, we describe some average top speeds you could reasonably expect and what kind of boating that will allow you to accomplish.
Popular Jon Boat Lengths
While you can find Jon Boats in so many different shapes and sizes, generally speaking the most common are 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 foot boats. We’ll cover each of those lengths here and go through weight capacity, max horsepower, and speed expectations.
8 Foot Jon Boat Performance
This is about the smallest Jon Boat you are going to be able to find on the market. Realistically, this is more of an unstable life raft than a boat. But hey, it works for some people. This boat is most likely for putting you and your (grand)son in the middle of the family pond to throw a bobber in the water and talk about life lessons.
Weight Capacity
Minimal. This is only going to be enough for you, maybe another person, and some light tackle.
Maximum Passengers
1-2 people. And the second person better be small.
Maximum Horsepower
2.5hp or less. If it’s a small pond you’ll be accessing, a simple trolling motor would more than likely suffice. No need for overkill.
Top Speed
Up to 5mph.
10 Foot Jon Boat Performance
A 10 foot Jon Boat is a good baseline starting point for Jon Boats, unless your average scenario will be extremely short movements with very little weight required. In that case, re-read the 8 Foot summary above.
Weight Capacity
325 pounds is the average weight capacity of 6 popular 10 foot models. You can more comfortably start to get two people and light tackle here, depending on the size of you and your passenger.
Maximum Passengers
1-2 people. With 2 people you will likely be approaching the weight capacity of your boat.
Maximum Horsepower
3hp is the more common average for this size boat, while some models will allow up to 5hp.
Top Speed
5mph with the 2.5-3.5hp engine, and up to 10mph with a 5hp engine.
12 Foot Jon Boat Performance
At 12 feet in length you start to get meaningful carrying capacity, as well as speed that can transport you across small distances. You won’t be hauling your whole hunting crew or flying across the lake, but you can comfortably get two full-sized adults here and not just creep along with a trolling motor.
Weight Capacity
420 pounds is the average weight capacity of 8 popular 12 foot models.
Maximum Passengers
At the 12 foot length, you are still looking at 2 passengers. While some models might legally allow for up to 3, that will be difficult based on your weight capacity.
Maximum Horsepower
5-7hp, although you might find some models that allow up to 10hp here.
Top Speed
10mph is a good expectation for the 5hp size. You’ll see closer to 15mph or more with the 7.5hp engine. This speed is able to get to you nearby coves in the lake more reasonably than on smaller models. It is also appropriate for slower moving streams and rivers.
14 Foot Jon Boat Performance
At 14 feet you can start to bring your friends (yes, plural!) along. One of the biggest differences in the 14 foot from the 12 foot is moving the passenger load up to 3.
Weight Capacity
610 pounds is the average weight capacity of 6 popular 14 foot models.
Maximum Passengers
Most models will have a passenger load of 3 at the 14 foot length, although some will allow up to 4. Going back to weight capacity though, 3 people and your belongings are reasonable (4 is a stretch unless there are kids or small adults included).
Maximum Horsepower
There is a noticeable increase in the maximum horsepower once you move into a 14 foot model. 15-20hp is a typical horsepower rating for boats of this length, although it is not uncommon to have up to 25hp, either.
Top Speed
20hp will get you 20mph comfortably (potentially up to 25mph, depending on weight and weather conditions). At this speed (which is fast enough to ski…. not that you’d want to), you can very reasonably navigate to other parts of a lake. 25hp will more reliably get you to that 25mph mark.
16 Foot Jon Boat Performance
Weight Capacity
990 pounds is the average weight capacity of 7 popular 16 foot models.
Maximum Passengers
Most models will certify up to 4 passengers at the 16 foot boat length, and at nearly 1,000 pounds of usable carrying capacity, you can actually take 4 people.
Maximum Horsepower
Count on 30-35hp engines at the 16 foot boat length.
Top Speed
25-30mph can be expected out of the 30-35hp engine size. Since you have respectable carrying capacity at this boat size, this speed will obviously vary upon how much weight you have in the boat.
18 Foot Jon Boat Performance
At 18 feet in length, this starts to become more of a vessel than a little Jon Boat. At this size the seating configuration is highly customizable and you can do some neat things with the boat such as adding decks for bow fishing or turn it into a mobile duck blind for you and many of your friends.
Weight Capacity
1,425 pounds is the average weight capacity of 3 popular 18 foot models.
Note: Many of the boats this size come pre-fabricated with installed features and are not just the bare hull. The three samples used in this average were just the hull so that we could eliminate the weight variation caused by pre-installed features on other models.
Maximum Passengers
6-8 passengers are typical of boats this size. 6 is more realistic since you will have added weight of more equipment or features of the boat, as well as general weight that comes with passengers (tackle, ammunition, stocked coolers, etc.)
Maximum Horsepower
60hp is a common maximum horsepower rating we are seeing with boats of this size.
Top Speed
Count on 35mph since you will generally be loaded down with passengers and gear. Up to 45mph if conditions are right and the boat is empty. This is plenty fast to get you just about anywhere you need to on an average sized lake or similar body of water. From this point on, the engine size isn’t so much about top speed as it is moving capacity for the weight and size of the vessel.
20 Foot Jon Boat Expectations
At this point, averages become difficult because these boats are highly varied in their usage, configuration, and purpose. Some might be used to transport a medium size group of fishermen up a river to a fly fishing area, while some might be used to get a smaller group to the other side of a lake for duck hunting. It all just depends, but here are a few data points.
Weight Capacity
This will vary largely on how heavy the installed features of the boat are, but around 1,800 pounds is the average weight capacity of 3 popular 20 foot models.
Note: Many of the boats this size come pre-fabricated with installed features and are not just the bare hull. The three samples used in this average were bare bones configurations that we used to eliminate the weight variation caused by pre-installed features on other models.
Maximum Passengers
6-8 passengers is a general average, although it will vary based on the installed features and configuration of the boat.
Maximum Horsepower
Up to 75hp up to 115hp is common, and again this will vary greatly from model to model at this point.
Top Speed
35-45mph is realistic for this engine size. It will depend on how much weight you have in the boat, as we have mentioned throughout this post. Again at this point, this speed is fast enough to get you just about anywhere on a lake, or across longer distances in a river, etc.
Beyond 20 Foot Boats
We stopped our analysis and averaging at this length because north of 20 feet in length it is extremely difficult to gather averages. The boats larger than these will tend to be highly varied in their installed features, configurations, and purposes. We hope that the above information was helpful in determining the size and scope of your average Jon Boat mission and might better inform your future purchase(s) to come!
