twin suzuki 140's 23'
 

Planning on rebuilding my 23' with Palm Beach Boatworks in the next few months, looking to put twin outboard with a bracket, is anyone using the Suzuki 140's? Pro's cons? I know the benefits on a single outboard but for my use of the boat twin outboards make sense.

I don't believe you'll be happy with 800# 30" off the transom.

I believe BriGuy had twin 140;s on his 23 with a Hermco bracket and regretted it. If my memory is correct, he eventually repowered to a single engine.

As stated before I'm aware of the benefits of a single engine.... can anyone provide any first hand experience with twin outboards who currently has them specifically the size i'm considering, 140hp Suzuki's. Any one stepped up from 140's to 150-200hp what were the pro's/cons worth it? My boat is being rebuilt knowing twins will be installed, fuel tank moving forward deck raised ect...

Thanks!

Better go with replacing as much coring including transom with composite. Light is right.

My two cents: Stick with a single unless you're going to go big on the twins. That's a lot of weight cantilevered out behind the boat. I've owned two 23's with twins, but neither with a bracket. I rigged out another for a customer.

Back in '1984 I rigged my '77 23' SF with twin 235 Evinrudes. The boat was barely self-bailing with no one on board. As soon as I stepped onto the boat, I had water on the deck. I sold the boat to the Town of Palm Beach for their police department.

The same year, after re-coring and raising the deck, we re-powered a customer's '23 Savage with twin 3.4 Mercury 275's. (The boat was placarded for 600hp max HP). But there was still 1100 lbs hanging off the stern. It would not hold plane below 18 mph until we added Bennett trim tabs, which required limiting the downward/forward trim of the motors.

In 2003, I rigged a '74 23' Tsunami (Scepter) with twin 140 Johnson counter-rotating loopers for one of my parishioners who was replacing a single 235. After lots of time spent propping, he settled on 15"p Stilletos so that he could get on plane with a single motor with an average load. It was a pig with lipstick. Top speed was only 35 mph and it took 4 seconds to plane, getting less than 1.3 mpg. I bought it from him after a year and re-powered back to a single Evinrude 225 FICHT, getting 2.2 mpg with a top end of 39 mph. It took a little longer to plane, but I was okay with that.

If you drop a motor you will play hell getting a 23" to get on plane with batteries, gear, fuel & people on board! Double Cost ,Double Trouble, Double Maintenance = Double Headaches. Take it from the long time owners on this site
Stick with a single

I'll really have a hell of a time getting on plane if I drop the one and only motor on the boat. Appreciate the input however as stated before.... really looking for info from guys who have twins on their boat that relates to what I'm looking at. There is more than enough info on this sight regarding a single engine 23' I can refer to if that becomes something I'd like to do.

Thanks

U be so smart abouts seacrafts why u ask dumb questions then give your own dumbass answers...

Spidey I think Mr. Tiller was thinking of using twin tiller motors instead of a single. Might be a bit above my pay grade to try and handle two at a time. I was good with a single 25 hp on my john boat, just never thought about moving up to twins!!

Say howdy to me maw!!!

The only problem is I don't think any of the current active members are running twins.

They learned.....

Why stop at twins? Trips:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=iVumR3M1iN8

If you are going twins, df140 is about the worst option I can think of. Not enough power to plane on a single engine, but just as heavy as for example a merc 150, which runs great as a single. Would not run a single df140 on a 23…

Why do you want twins? Whats the logic? If the goal is to be safe offshore, then maybe buy a bigger boat?

23' Twins
 

Howdy,
I repowered my 2001 Seacraft 25 (same hull as the 23) last year with twin Suzuki 175's. I love them and think they are the perfect combination. Though I haven't tried, I agree it might be hard to get the rig on plane on just one engine, but on the other hand it will perform a lot better than the 23' with a single engine when that one quits. Bottom line is I am getting home, the single isn't!
I find the combination pretty fuel efficient and you can't put a price on the piece of mind I have with twins on the back.. Even though I could have powered up to 200's, I find I can't full throttle the 175's without breaking through my speed comfort barrier (about 40 kts).
The hull lies beautifully in the water and with the 160 ga/. fuel tank I have a tremendous range of over 350 miles.

Give me a shout if you have specific questions that I can answer relative to 175's on the Seacraft. I love the combination and don't think it can be beat!!!

Don't understand these negative twin comments
 

My 25 Seacraft is the same as your 23 with a bracket. My Suzuki twins are fantastic. They give me great piece of mind. The boat is nimble, easy to maneuver, Really fast out of the hole. Unless carrying a huge crowd I virtually never need to use the trim tabs.
All I can surmise is that there are some other issues with those putting down the twins. My guess is that most likely they never had twins so its easiest and most comfortable for them to bad mouth the option. Of course the comments virtually all say that "they know someone who didn't like them...or other people on the site don't like twins etc".....never first hand.

Keep checking with those that actually have them. I doubt you'll find anyone that actually has them that will give you a flat out thumbs down! From there.... go with your heart!! You'll be fine!

i have to disagree Navy! Your 2001 25' is not the same as a bracketed 23'. An extra 2 ft of running surface goes a long way to float twins. Twins are great and have a place on some boats. Even bracketed boats, just not these 23's. IMO. Also, there have been plenty of 23' owners who made the mistake of twins on a bracket, were not able to get the balance right, which causes the performance to suffer. As most Seacraft experts have said, Light is Right with these hulls. Check out Michael Dru on Facebook. He originally went with twins, but couldn't manage the porpoising without 400lbs in the anchor locker and ultimately went to a large single. Good luck with your project.

x1

Listen, I understand why you all are against twin engines but the reality is, it can be done! Coming from a guy who ran a single 200 for almost a decade and now has twin 200s. I personally know 3 guys running 23Â’ cc with twins and all of them love their boats. Me included. Is it the most economical? Is it needed? NO! But come on guys, different strokes for different folks. Don't run the guy off CSC like they do over at that other boating site. This site is so awesome and is a bible for us SeaCraft owners. Guy owns a SeaCraft, he must be alright.

With that said, IMO I would not go through the hassle with twin 140s. Not enough power for all the excess weight. I don't think the boat would even plan with one motor but enough to push you home. Exactly what MrFrank stated above. I would look at 150-200s. Weight on those motors are the same but a bit more than the 140s. Also check availability as most of these motors are back ordered. I believe Yamaha would be close to 2 years out on fly by wire 200s last time I checked.

Bottom line, go big or go with a single 300. Big ass tub on the bracket for flotation. Call Lawrence at Armstrong and he will know exactly what you need bracket wise. Kick as much stuff forward as possible. Also, really consider the size of the fuel tank. I put 130 gallons in my boat. I run all over the place and never will burn that much fuel. I ran over 90 miles in a day fishing and boat still had a ton of fuel. Could have easily kept it at 100 gallons and been fine. Something to consider with the fuel efficiency of these four strokes in addition to weight distribution.

If any of you guys are ever in South Florida, let me know. Happy to take you for a ride on my boat. Hopefully I'll be able to make one of these SeaCraft outings one day so at least I can have a drink with you while catching heat for twin engines!

Good luck with the boat! Ton of work but a gem when you are complete.

Out of curiosity, are you referring to the 23’ rebuild in South Florida with twin Suzuki's that the fuel tank was in the bilge, original floor height with scuppers through the floor and a non floatation bracket?

No sir. Complete rebuild with double bracket and twin G2 150's. He did leave the original scuppers in place (a major mistake IMO). He couldn't get it to stop proposing and ended up switching to a single Suzuki 300. Michael Dru is his name on Facebook (Calssic Seacraft & Seacraft Owners). Not saying it can't be done, as you are obviously enjoying yours, however, there is a ton of calculation for weight management during the build process to pull it off.

Yes that’s the boat I was referring too. Sorry I had the motors mixed up it was a few years back. He swapped it out with the Suzuki. I felt terrible for the guy. Finishing touches looked great but not the boat to make the determination on twins by any means. All of the issues in the post above apply. That boat even needed to have plugs in the scuppers when sitting at the dock. You hit the nail on the head, it can be done but better pay attention. When done right, it’s a fun boat.

No bracket, batteries and fuel forward, twin 250 OX66 on my Tsunami. Pros: fast and sexy. Lighter than a bracket boat with twins by far. Able to achieve chine walk in about 10 seconds. Cons: Tabs required for every aspect of running. Backing down in seas not advised. Everyone on board rides forward to keep boat on plane in seas.

There is a reason there are so many seasoned members here trying to steer you down the right path and it’s not because they are jealous they don’t have twins. Hell, you won’t even say why you insist on having them other than some clandestine desire we are obviously too dumb to comprehend.