Single or twins?
 

Curently have an 86 23 sf with a pair of 225 evinrude ocean pros. Transom weight here is about 950 pounds. Boat is extremely quick (about 58 mph). Thinking of a suzuki 4 stroke 300 that weighs in at about 600 pounds. I would think performance would be pretty close to the same/or should I do a pair of smaller 4 strokes. Any thoughts?

Re: Single or twins?
 

Go with a single 300 . . . I would expect that the performance will drop top end under 50mph, but your fuel economy will dramatically improve.

Re: Single or twins?
 

Shrimp... you are supposed to tell him to go with the single 250! I remember when you told nat to look at the 250 over the 300.

Lower price, and unless you are doing 100 plus hours a season for many seasons, the increased MPGs don't save you any money.

That said, the 300 is a sick engine. Everyone should buy one!

Re: Single or twins?
 

after reading about twin gas hog 225 Rudes and 58mph top end . . . I was operating under the assumption that poster wanted as much top ended and didn't care as much about cost/fuel economy as Nat might (being a new charter capt'n with limited budget). Just seemed like a different set of needs.

Re: Single or twins?
 

Big knows his stuff.........I have twin 225 Mercs @ 950 lbs on an Armstrong bracket. A big single is superior for weight and anything 250 to 300 is ideal. The current 250 Suzuki is priced excellent and the 300 Suzuki has even better speed and economy over the 250. FWIW.......

Re: Single or twins?
 

The rudes have been great motors, but they are getting old. Their is a dealer near the lake selling brand new 250's for $10k. For just a few bucks more can get the 300 and make the boat that more fun, let alone saying good bye to all those old shifters and gauges. The suzuke has fly by wire and single cluster gauge packages. Twins can get pricey.

Re: Single or twins?
 

Mr. "Goin"

You must spend all your time going to the bank to get money to feed those Ocean Pros. I had one of those and I can not believe that much fuel will run through a 3/8" hose in that short a time!!! Very dependable, very strong engines...It's just those six carbs per engine are VERY thirsty!! Keep us in the loop on the new power! Take Care.

Re: Single or twins?
 

I like the 300 suzukis and 300 verados, personally over twins. More economical and less to maintain. I may be buying one or the other in next year or so for my 23 sc. Mercury website has some test numbers on it; one with a 250 verado on a newer 23 ft. tracker-built sea craft. Good example of what to expect with a 250..... It tops out at 47.7 mph, if memory serves. I would imagine a 300 verado (maybe suzuki too) would be in low 50s based on this. I can vouch for the 47.7 (with 250) on the newer seacraft too. My uncle has same exact set up and these numbers are very close to his.. Incidentally, is your boat located in the tampa area? I recall looking at a mid-80s seacraft for sale a few years back with twin 225 ocean pros on it.... no biggie, just wondering..

Re: Single or twins?
 

Merc also makes a 350 hp I6 Verado that is the same weight as the 250. Costs a bit more, though.

Re: Single or twins?
 

Have not seen much talk on here about them, but did see a set of the 200 verados. Supposed to be close to 300#'s each. Looks like it would be a great motor for the 23'. Anyone have any experience with these motors?
BA

Re: Single or twins?
 

Have a 2005 250 verado, boat/engine relatively new to me. Just got the engine dialed in. I got 6300 RPM and 50 MPH running a re-pitched to ? (by Donnie) Mirgae Plus 17P on a flat piece of water non ocean. Just put a 4 blade merc rev 4 17P on it yesterday, no chance to run it yet expect to lose some top end speed and RPM in trade for low end grunt and lower planing speed.

Go check out veradoclub.com, tons of info there. Its a Ford vs Chevy debate, folks will point out the Suzuki has a bigger block for the HP. I will say very impressed with the Verado, and mine is gen 1, now fully updated. IF you get an older verado and a good deal, make sure it has ALL the updates-ECM, and fuel float switch, and a couple other items. Verados like their juice-you need AGMs, big a$$ cabling, prob ditch the perko and get a regulator/isolator setup. Some folks re-powering do not read da manual. Tilting the motor down is like a 90 amp draw. Its all digital, integrated steering. Prob has better fuel efficiency by a hair, and much quieter than the 300 Zuke both idle and wot <according to reviews read online not me personally>. You can even run the 275 and 300 now on 87, I hear with 93 the 300 verado is getting closer to 320 HP. Do not discount whom is working on your engine, if you have a great Merc or great Zuke mechanic that ought to be a major factor.

Dont think either is a wrong choice...

Re: Single or twins?
 

Whether you go to the bank to get $ for fuel or go to the bank to get $ for a monthly engine payment plus fuel it is definite trip to the bank. The verados seem to be a great motor too...my only concern is all of the things that can go bad like electrical components etc that could become quite pricey when they need replacement. According to the Suzuke dealer the 250 is the same block they use in the Vitara SUV and the 300 is the 4.0l block/engine used in the cadillac. It appears to be fairly simple with an injected and geared down combo that should be very reliable. The Seatow guys in miami buy them and use them as opposed to the pricier mercs and Yamahas. The only way to get any of these motors is to get the 5 year extended warranty.
Regarding the evinrudes and their fuel consumption..Yes they are thirstier, but they are easy to fix, parts are cheap, and reliable if you maintain them with OEM stuff. For an average boater about 90 hours per year according to mercruiser these motors make sense. If you put a ton of hours than the fuel savings can be important. FYI, I am on the East Coast in the Hobe sound area

Re: Single or twins?
 

Sandy is correct you will not recover costs on fuel alone, most of us just don't use enough. We also have an OMC/BRP dealer avaiable for parts on a discount basis, with phone help, just an FYI