[Fr. Frank]

Originally Posted by 23yellow

Has anyone dropped a big single outboard with bracket (max floatation) on a 23', say a 350 Yamaha or 350sci Mercury???

There's an older 238 Mako here in the Fort Walton Beach area with a single Yamaha 350 V8 on hull-width flotation bracket, where the bracket looks like it was originally made to hold triple motors. It's got to be set back about 36 inches, with the old cut-out nicely filled in. He's got what locals here call a "Ling Tower" on it. (That's a mini tuna-tower without an upper control station).
He says it floats higher at the stern now with that motor on a bracket than it did with a single Yamaha 250 stroke mounted on the transom.
He's not happy with the reliability of the one year-old motor, having been towed in twice in six months, with electrical/computer issues both times. He claims averaging less than 2 miles per gallon at 25 mph cruise and said he got 3 mpg with the old motor.
He's not a regular at West Marine where I work a couple of mornings a week. I see the boat on the lift frequently, but I've only seen it in the water once, and that at the wrong end of a tow-line. :-(