Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I am coming off of an interesting 1.5 year experience. I got completely disinterested in my rebuild and did not want anything to do with a Seacraft or the website. I did not want to even look at all of the great looking boats. I threw up a little in my mouth everytime I thought about my boat and the whole process. I did not check the site for a long time. Logged on today and had a private message that was over a year old. Damn. I think I am back. I have been on the road working alot this year and looked at my boat this past weekend and it is looking great. I have a renewed spirit and can't wait for it to get done. I am sure that others have had the same experience and maybe we need to set up a support group for us "in-transition" guys. The ones stuck between just bought the boat and bad ass boat on the water.

Now to beat a dead horse. POWER. Boat is a 23' SF with a potter bracket.
I cannot decide on power. I would like twin 175 Suzuki's, but have not ruled out 140 Suzuki's or 150 Yamaha's.

Please, any guidance would be welcome, just remeber I am still a little vulnerable. I am taking baby steps.

BA

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

Welcome back. Great to have your Rambo Kitty back on the site! You sold your new motors about a year ago right? This SeaCraft addiction comes in waves! Ride this one as far as you can! Getter done..........

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

If you do lot of fishing go with the twins. If you are like me and always working then I'd go with a single 30" shaft Suzuki 300. You have a twin Hermco bracket and that set up will give you lots of boyancy in the stern and help keep her self bailing. A lot cheaper also :D

strick

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I agree with Strick, consider a single. No reason for twins unless you are chartering clients, Seatow and or a Kicker motor. I dont know what your seas are like, Very rarely have Been able run on full power on a single 150 or 200hp, due to seas being to big. Remember that is alot of displacement, big and unnecessary fuel burn, A single 250>300 would be plenty.How often do new or or modern OB leave you stranded? Although I run an EFI 2 stroke Yamaha, I really like the Evinrudes They are truly bullet proof and great fuel economy.Good luck just get out there and start working on her, I am finishing a restoration and once you get working on it, you dont need motivation, you will have momentum.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I have the twin bracket and will be putting two on it. Looked at some motor prices tonight on the suzuki's and it looked like about $2,900 per motor more for 175 compared with the 140 HP. It would be interestinf to see the performace numbers between the two. I am not doing the work on this boat myself or it would take 10 years instead of 2.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

For rough water running, min planning speed is a big deal, and the guys running 23's with twin TWO STROKES seem to have to run over 20 mph to plane. That situation would be worse for heavier 4 strokes. If you're determined to have twin 4 strokes, I'd pick the lighter 140 and save at least 100 lbs. I think that 175 (and the 150 Yammi and Honda) is about a 500 lb motor when you consider wet weight and include cowling. The DFI 2 strokes are lighter, have more mid-range torque, are competitive on fuel consumption, and the E-Tec is as quiet or quieter than the 4 strokes at cruise, so you may want to consider them also. I have a big comparison spreadsheet I put together on the 150-175 hp motors a couple of years ago when I was trying to make same decision. It includes some test data from PowerBoat reports of 6 motors on identical boats. If you'll PM me your e-mail address, I'll be glad to send it to you.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

Twin 140's will give you more speed than you can use most of the time while offshore. The issue of planing at slower speeds is a real issue, and I heartily recommend trim tabs. With tabs you can run the heavy twins on plane down to around 15-16 mph. However, with 140's, you will have difficulty planing with only one motor unless you have pretty big tabs.

Considering the price difference for Merc Opti and Verado, and Yamahas, Zuke is the way to go. Currently $15K for CR 140hp twins from Eds Marine Superstore, compared to $19.5K for CR 150 Yamahas, and 18.5K for CR Merc Opti 150s, and $23K for CR 150 Verados.

Of course, you could always go with left-over '07 twin Tohatsu 140 2-stroke commercial motors for about $12 K. ;)

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

BA-
I have seen tons of set-ups and with my twin 225's I can't plane below 20 mph with the larger bennett tabs. Single go 300 Suzuki b/c of fuel usage and power, twins go 140 suzukis for weight and price(great price Fr. Frank).

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I had a friend with a 23 with twin transom-mounted 235 'rudes. and with the tabs, he could get down to 16 mph on plane in calm water, but would fall off plane in any swell at that speed. With one engine tilted up, he could get on plane with a single engine, but not with both down could he get on plane on a single engine.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

Thanks for the info guys. It is a difficult decision with so many options out there.
BA

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I think the 300 Suzi would be a fantastic motor on that boat and would top 3 MPG and 48-50mph. That being said I have twin Suzi 115's that are 2002's. Ask Snookered and Island Trader. They were on the boat at Desoto. It runs awesome. At 4000 rpm's I burn 10-10.5gph combined and move at 25.5kts. Wide open I hit 39kts at 6k. I run 24" stiletto props and they are a perfect match. I'd imagine the 140's would best my numbers by 2kts. They weight of the 175's are alot and could adversly affect performance. Unless you are a speed freak the 140's will suite all your needs.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I just put a 250 4s Yamaha on my 23 Sceptre along with twin 150 4s Yamahas on my 23 Savage. To tell you the truth, I can not tell you which power combo I like best. The 250 is a little better on fuel (about .5 mpg better)but the power of the twins is quite something. Top end speed is within 2 mph( 48/50). Both boats have Arnstrong brackets.

I don't think I am much help.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

Sounds like a good data point! Can you see any difference in min planing speed between the two boats, and will the boat with twins plane on a single 150??

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I wanted to add my boat has a full transom and bracket. Also with tabs down in calm seas I can plane at 14kts. In very rough seas I can still maintain plane easily at 16 kts which can get me pound free through just about anything! Try that with a 31 contenseavefincraft.

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I will confirm Briguy's power on his 115's. He is at 45-46 mph. His bracket has enough depth/floatation that also provides more sterm lift then mine when planing. A max floatation bracket instead of the tapered type goes a long way. BA- Your Hermco/SeaMark will be the biggest "game changer" in your set-up

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I had both on a 23 Sceptre, they drive much better with a big single, do what ever, just an FYI

Re: Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help
 

I have a 20cc seacraft. When I first put the boat in the water I put a df140 on it, it was great until I put a df150 big block on it. What a difference I would never recommend a 140 to anyone again. I'm sure there are plenty of 150 leftovers around. Good Luck.