First of all, I'm not going to get into name calling. I've OWNED my boat for 23 years. It had a Johnson 235, three years later, I put a 200 on, in 2001 I put a 225 yamaha 2stroke I would cruise at 3700-4000 a lot. My f225 now cruises at 4700- 5000 rpms with the prop I have. What don't you understand that 1) the four stroke I have is geared lower than my previous motor 2) the 15" pitch prop turns more rpms. Saying that you use 20 -25 gallons a day means nothing. Saying that since your 200 hpdi works great, does not mean squat in comparing it to the inline 4 four stroke.
I don't know how the new 200 will work and from what I'm hearing from you, you don't know either. If the original poster ever comes back and tells us how it works, after he buys it on your recommendation, that would be relevant.

That was my point back on post #3. As mentioned above the 3.3 225 Yamahas were really wimpy engines (Moose is right on his numbers), however the Yamaha marketing machine sold a bunch of them. They are doing the same with the I-4 200. Again I do not have personal experience, I'm going by other folks opinions. The Maverick forum had this same discussion a couple of years ago on this engine and that's where I got most of my info. What you don't want to do is compare the Yami I-4 200 to the eTec 200HO, it would be embarrassing to the Yamaha with the difference in actual power/torque. Crazy difference.

I had a F150 on my 22' Pathfinder I just sold so don't think I'm anti Yamaha.

getting heavy ....I have a late 70's 23 with a new inline 4 200 hp yami , in my neighborhood, I will check into it as soon as possible.both the 150 and 200's are torqued four stroke beasts,imho!!! besides who's gonna fix a glorified ficht.Isay if they run good they are great,if you have a problem,good luck

Yup. Agreed.

Hermco twin engine bracket
 

Running a single on a twin engine bracket...,does one have to run a 30" shaft motor ..my experience on another boat says yes,but don't know about Seacrafts.

Depends on how high the bracket is installed, but I put on a single 30" on twin 25" engine bracket on my Contender and I had to get a 4" jackplate and raise the motor way up to get the AntiCavitation plate out of the water.

My buddy had identical setup and he went with a 25" and it was too low and and he couldn't trim it without cavitating.

Dave you mean the engine was to high @ 25".. Yes my experience was with a 25' trophy wa. It had twin/150s .. He went with a single 225 and had to extend the foot cause the motor would cavitate and slip when trimming ,choppy conditions and turning... The boat did sit higher than before with the extra weight not being there. Like a couple inches higher...

Yes, the 25" was sitting too high; I was thinking of my 30".
I like how the 30" powerhead sits higher up out of the water; I got back wash on the 25"s when I slowed down too fast.

200
 

Yes Martin, you have to run a 30" shaft on a twin Hermco bracket.

you guys are getting off track on this post.try a new one

Thanks guys.. Planning on the future..

Not necessarily. It depends upon the year. I have rigged quite a few 23's with an original placard that said "Max HP=500. True, most got single 235's. Some got twins from t/115's, to t/235.
And I have owned two such rated hulls myself. 1st one a '77 23' SF, originally rigged with '78 T/235 Evinrudes. 2nd one a '78 23' Savage, rigged with twin Merc 225's. (Yes, the Savage with the Mercs was faster WOT than the Evinrudes by all of 2 mph). Here's the Savage specs:
http://www.classicseacraft.com/Savage23.htm

AND just for the record, the 1983 23' SeaVette with the transom cutout for twins was available placarded for 600 max OB hp.
We sold one at Waterway Marina in late 1983, and then sent across the street to Frank Brown's for rigging and motors. He rigged it with twin big-block 300 ELPT Mercury motors, that reportedly topped out at 77 mph after playing with motor height, props, and after installing nose cones. This VDH thing is for real!

Glad I have all the original documentation on the boat. Mine came with twin 115 Mercs. No doubt I have seen a number of these with twin 235 OMCs.

77' 23' cc

77 Savage

77' sceptre

78' price list

The buddy I bought mine from had twin 250 OX 66 Yamahas on it before he sold it to me. He did completely rebuild the transom to handle it though.

That must have been awesome!

A single 200hp Yamaha 2.8 liter 4 cylinder is a fine engine for the 23ft Seacraft.

When this hull was introduced, the OMC 235hp 2.6 liter crossflow was the popular engine of choice. This was a crankshaft rated engine up until 1986. In 1987 this engine was reduced to 175hp prop shaft rating. The 235hp OMC was never much over 200hp on its best day.

Another forum member in Europe has a 115hp on his 23ft Seacraft and reports high 20 mphs.

In my opinion it all comes down to set up. I would rather have the new 150hp Mercury and spend a few days trying 10-15 different modern props (Enertia, Enertia ECO, Rev 4, and Mirage Plus) and engine height vs an F225 with an off the shelf M17 Yamaha prop mounted all the way down.

Set up makes a huge difference and very few people spend the time to dial a boat in. 25hp is not a lot with a poor set up. I would also argue that most boats are set up wrong (yes from the factory) right off the bat.

My proof is a 25ft Bertram Flybridge with bimini (10ft beam) that hit 41mph light with a single 225hp Optimax. I dialed it in and moved weight for the balance to get it right.


Just my 2 cents.

The instantaneous time to plane was pretty cool but handling degraded very quickly if you put it to the wood. If more time would of been spent on set up I believe it could of been fun but all in all you couldn't use but half of what he had 95% of the time. That said he sold it to me shortly after for pursuit of another project where I mounted the df 250 I had.

As captbone has stated, set up is everything and horsepower needs are more dependent on an individuals use, load and average sea conditions they will be operating in. In my case most of my trips include 4 persons, 8-10 steel scuba tanks, associated gear, 400lbs. of ice, and 140 gals of fuel to run offshore 40-60 nautical miles. I can guaranty the i4 f200 would not be remotely sufficient to maintain the speed or load handling capabilities required for such a trip. It doesn't mean the same boat wouldn't be fine with that engine for other duties but certainly not mine.

I have a relatively long history with my current Tsunami even though I was not the owner the entire time I have dove off of it. When another good friend of mine owned the boat we utilized it for the exact same load I do now but the trips were longer (100 nautical one way). The power on the boat at that time was a 275 Evinrude. The motor did an ok job with the load but it was hard to find room for all the plastic fuel jugs required as I don't think you could pour fuel and oil overboard faster than it would burn it at a 25 kt cruise.

There has also been a lot of talk on here about top speed. Sure, its fun to have a boat capable of a 40+ knot top end speed but avg. capable cruise speed under the particular users load requirements at a reasonable fuel burn is where the sweet spot is. That said, for me and what I require, 250 hp is the minimum at which I would be happy with. This in turn drives most of my opinions in discussions such as this because most who ask "is this a good motor option?" do little to disclose their requirements for load and cruise speeds. Maximum speeds seen by a particular motor on an empty or lightly loaded boat in the intercostal really don't mean much to me.

"Repower Regret" Been there done that. If you ever do it once you won't do it again. If you really want to be unhappy about spending money on a repower go with the smallest motor you can convince yourself will be sufficient. If you get it wrong and miss the apex you will likely see no better if not less fuel economy and certainly less load handling capabilities than if you whould with an extra available 50 ponies... not squeezed or factory fudged hp from the largest brother of a series of smaller displacement engines.

"The power on the boat at that time was a 275 Evinrude. The motor did an ok job with the load but it was hard to find room for all the plastic fuel jugs required as I don't think you could pour fuel and oil overboard faster than it would burn it at a 25 kt cruise"

No kidding!!! A 1/2" fuel line was required. Had a friend who put two of those V-8 monsters on a 29' Aquasport around 1986 -88, first grouper trip out we had to cut it short and head straight back 90 degrees to the closest shore because we were below the safe amount of gas to get home! I think at full cruise you could hear the whistling of the air being pulled in the fuel tank vent! He had serious "Repower Regret" going the other way, too much engine.

Yep, it can certainly go the other way but with new modern engines the hp to fuel curve at cruise speeds is way better. That said, if you like to drop the hammer on big hp engines they can certainly accommodate your need for speed while thinning up your wallet.

NO kidding!!!! As luck would have it my wallet has no more room to thin!!! Danny with his spiffy new 300 Zuke makes me very jealous...then if you get one.....:)

Another great point, it all depends on how you use your boat. Hauling 5 divers with full gear 20 miles offshore is a completely different need from my use. 200hp would be fine for my need but some people need the 400hp Verado for their desired cruise, performance, load carried and holeshot.

I think the proper debate is what performance would you expect from XYZ engine.

Debating over if an engine will work for your need is only a question that can be answered by the owner.

Dont get me wrong if someone was paying the bill, I would want more as well.

If I know I am going out in big seas and carrying 1000+lb loads, I put on the 15P Mirage. It gets the job done just fine. Honestly I hate fishing in a 23ft boat with 5 passengers on board . . . there's not enough space.
If you are sinking $14000 into a inline 4 200 and a v6 250 is $18000 then you might aswell get the bigger one.


I'm gonna put a 150 on the 23 just for Kmoose. :)

I live in NJ and I like to have enough power on my 1974 23cc SF so I'm putting on a Yamaha f300 30" shaft... Just my personal preference.. Good luck to you!

Couldn't agree more with a lot of this post. Bottom line is the application and intended use. I have always had max power on almost all boats I have owned. Main reason for this is my fishing habits. I run and gun and enjoy some speed on the water in the right vessel. When I bought my Seacraft I was really amazed at the 200 it was powered with. A bunch of my fishing buddies looked at me like I was crazy. All of them who have since driven the boat can't believe it. The boat jumps right out of the hole and is very efficient. With the that said, when I repower the boat, I am going to enclose the transom with a Hermco bracket and twin 200 yamahas or zukes. With a bracket, I would not go less than a 250HP.

Bigshrimpin - With regards to the 9 tons of gear and half of a football team, LOL, I personally believe with more than four guys with the original splash well and fishing equipment is a pain. Next thing you know, all the Gilligans are standing in one corner of the stern while the fountain of youth gushes up from the floor! This is a 23' boat after all.

After restoring my 84 23 I went with a 2001 2 stroke Yamaha 250. it was what I could afford at that time,and they got balls...if money didn't matter.,I would put on a F300 yamaha,new, or go with either a big verado or a powerful Suzuki...this is for single engines..30 "cut transom.Right now I cruz at 4500 rpm 37 mph.17 " prop..g.p.h.I dont care..for me 200 hp ain't good enough, but for some ..it works..

Todd you definitely have a fine Fine Seacraft.. Please post some boat porn

I picked up a 2.5L 150 to prove it'll push the 23 just fine. It was $600, so I couldn't resist.

Todd's seacraft
 

Ol.Matkke Brothers definitely turned out a beautiful boat..

Pics
 

Here's some

Nice
 

Finished

Todd's seacraft
 

Rigged and ready

Gorgeous work! Looks amazing. Congrats!

As promised. New 150 4 stroke Merc . . . Let's see what happens. 55 days until launch.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...1328.sized.jpg

I would say that is waaaaay under powered. Curious to see the sea trial results in 2 months.

With 2 cylinders out on my 225hp 2 stroke (thus making 150 hp) I couldn't even get my 23' Sceptre on a plane. That was with a 17 pitch prop.

55 days? I can't wait that long.

I am looking forward to the results. I think 38mph will be the top end number. And 4mpg.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-...tter-hull.html


Quotes from a well respected local charter captain

http://www.thehulltruth.com/attachme...1&d=1416080078

http://www.thehulltruth.com/attachme...1&d=1417373821