repower suggestions

[Wildman]

I am told by Don Herman that his twin engine bracket will float 800lbs of motor weight. Hope that helps
Tony

Thats exactly what he told me last week. The brackets only weigh 200lb too

What areyou guys seeing for speed/fuel burn with your 23's and a 250 or 300hp motor? I am going to rig my old 225 Oceanpro this year but have been looking into new motors larger than that. Mainly for the usual reasons, reliability, fuel burn and SPEED

[cwynne]

i am looking to repower a 1976 20 foot sf It was a toss up between a 130 etec and a 150. i am just worried about the weight any recommendations?

[Bushwacker]

They're both great motors and you can't go wrong with either one, but which one is best depends on how you use the boat and how much load you carry. If you just fish with a couple of guys, the 130 would be fine and probably burn less gas and the boat will ride a little better with less weight on the transom. However if you dive with 4 guys, 8 tanks and all the dive gear as I have, you might want the bigger motor!

You're right to be concerned about weight, as these boats are relatively narrow beam compared to newer boats, so they definitely are weight sensitive. I originally considered a 115 when I repowered in the spring of 2006 to minimize weight and fuel consumption. I probably would have gone that route had they been available, but the V-4's didn't start production till about June of 06. Now with almost 5 years of usage, I'm not sorry I went with the bigger motor because I've ended up carrying a lot more people/weight in the boat than I anticipated. The V-6 has so much mid-range torque to get on plane that it's not a problem. I've done a lot of long range cruising at nearly 4000 lbs total weight, but with a 15x15 4B prop, it jumps on plane instantly and will plane at 12-13 mph. (The 150 is actually 165 hp at the prop!) The I-Command gage displays % throttle opening, and I never use more than about 45% to get on plane, and cruise at about 37%/3700-3800/27-28 mph. With 2 more cylinders it's also a little smoother.

As an engineer, I like to look at HP/cu. in. as an indicator of how heavily the engine is stressed. Back in 1975 when I bought my boat (with no motor on it), the choice was between a 115 and a 135 V-4, based on the same 100 cu in powerhead but with different exhaust tuning. An old mechanic that serviced the commercial kingfish fleet in Jupiter said a 115 would outlast about FIVE 135's! He said those guys would buy a new engine ever year; he'd prop them to turn max rpm, but they'd go out and load up with 1000 lbs of kingfish and lose about 1000 rpm, lugging the motors and blowing powerheads. He converted them all to 115's and no more problems. He said the 115 would take that kind of abuse, but not the 135. I ran the 115 hard for over 30 years and never had a problem with it, which is why I started out looking at the new 115's which are now rated at the prop instead of at the powerhead as they were in '75 (My old motor was only about 90 hp at prop.)

On the new motors, they have 3 different ratings for the 2.6L V-6 block - "150"(165), "175"(180?) and "200"(200?). On a HP/Cu. in basis, the 115 V-4 is about equivalent to the 175 V-6, so I'd say the 130 is equivalent to the 200 V-6. I suspect that the 130/200 have porting that's tuned for high rpm, so they might actually have less mid-range torque than less "hot-rodded" motors. Those new V-4's have a variable exhaust port area however, so maybe they're optimized for both mid-range AND top end. Would be interesting to compare the HP/torque curves for the 2 motors; BRP published them for the 150 and 225 in sales brochures, so you might ask BRP if that info is available for the V-4's. BTW, check out this excellent owners group forum owners group forum \ It's got tons of info on these motors, which seem to be excellent by the way. I've had zero problems with mine in almost 5 years and over 300 hrs.

[cwynne]

The way i was looking was a 175 in 1976 weighted about 381 pounds. A new 130 Etec weighs 390 with a 20inch shaft. The evinrude dealer i spoke to @ the Ac boat show said "a 150 would be to big and the decdk would be always wet" and If I wanted i should raise the trans. My father and I are partners on the new motor. He uses the boat for drift fishing in the bay and in the inlet, never in the ocean. I use it for the same but i also tube and hammer out into the ocean. The motor thats on it now is a 97 evinrude 115SPL and I little things are starting to go on it. The latest thing is two of the four cylinders have very low compression one is down as low as 30psi and i forget the other. maybe 80psi. I am looking to pull about 37MPH out of the boat with two people and a full tank of fuel. The best I have every done with the 115spl is back bay two people perfect conditions 31mph. He asked what kind of speed i was looking for and i said 36mph and i didnt want a prop that was to high end cause of the fuel eco. He recommended a viper prop and running the 100 grade oil. We basically signed a deal for a 130etec but i sure if we want to pay the extra we could up grade.

[Fr. Frank]

The way i was looking was a 175 in 1976 weighted about 381 pounds. A new 130 Etec weighs 390 with a 20inch shaft. ...He recommended a viper prop. We basically signed a deal for a 130etec but i sure if we want to pay the extra we could up grade.

Actually, a V6 Mercury 1750EL in 1976 weighed 349 lbs. The 20' SeaCraft VDH hull was actually designed and balanced for the inline 6 cylinder "Tower of Power" 1.4 and 1.6 liter Mercury engines, producing from 90 to 150 hp, which all weighed in between 289 and 296 lbs.

As far as an Etec 130 weighing 390 lbs, an Etec 175 weighs only 414 to 419 lbs, just 25-30 lbs more, (or about half the weight of a group 24 battery more).

The Viper prop is designed for light-weight bass boats and runabouts. It's a good bow-lifting prop. But it's not the best prop for a SeaCraft. ALL Seacrafts run better with props that offer more stern-lift. Don't get the Viper. You can do better.

[basswacker]

I dont get the point of twins unless you boat is huge and needs them. I would rather have 1 300hp then twin 150hp. twice the headache and twice the cost. I don't get why some of the sceptre/tsunami have twin I/O thats just ridiculous.

[Bushwacker]

Sounds like your 115 is ready for an overhaul! The 130 would be plenty of motor for what you want. Skip and Carla get about 37 out of their 19 bowrider with a 115 E-Tec and an aluminum prop. That boat is lighter than yours but with a SS prop and the 130 I'd guess you'd get close to 40. If you register with the E-Tec owners group and tell them the weight of the boat, I'm sure you'll get lots of advice on what's the best prop. I'm guessing a 13 3/4 by 15 pitch for heavy load or maybe 13 1/2 x 17 for lighter load and more speed would be pretty close.

To avoid the wet feet syndrome, do a search on username Fellowship for his post on his "Vortex" scupper check valve invention, which will help keep your feet dry if you want to leave the scupper plugs out. It's a simple and effective fix to that problem.