Beating a Dead Horse- Please Help

[BA17]

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

[Snookerd]

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..........

[strick]

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

strick

[3rdday]

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.

[BA17]

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.

[Bushwacker]

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.

[Fr. Frank]

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.

[Snookerd]

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).

[Fr. Frank]

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.

[BA17]

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