I want to repower but...

[Jeff79Sceptre]

I looked at an Etec 115 today to see its engineering. The way the cowling was supported and held together was awful from a mechanical point of view. Stainless on plastic sandwiched together? Really? And not offend anyone this is just my opinion. I do work on 6.0 Ford diesels and anything else that's has pistons and rings. This is not my living but I do see the difference in engineering and layout as the ability to be worked on. I would love to buy an American motor or Motors to go on the Seacraft. The Suzuki 300 looks all to good though. I would like to have twin 175 Zukes but I would need to offset 200lbs. Any ideas on this? I carry a 165qt cooler up front in the Sceptre to help with the twins on it already. I'm torn between twins for reliability and safety or a big single for less maintaince. I don't go offshore twenty times a year but I might if the fuel burn wasn't so great. All opinions are welcome. Thank you.

[Bigshrimpin]

The new merc 150's ( made in USA) look like real nice motors, but the weight is too much IMO to run twins 450 lb motors on a 23. The have a larger displacement the the yamaha f200's.

[DonV]

Wow.....a cowling issue is a deal breaker?

[Bushwacker]

Jeff,

The only issue I'm aware of with the split cowlings is that the plastic will tend to crack if the bolts are overtightened, and I understand the they've been beefed up on the newer motors, plus they have added a grease fitting to the movable exhaust valve on the 115's. The split cowlings provide great access to the engine and they're easy to remove.

I'm a mechanical engineer, have about 550 hours on my 2007 ETEC that has given excellent service, and from what I can tell, BRP has designed a high quality motor that appears to be extremely well engineered. They are fundamentally very simple motors with a very low tech fuel system, where the HP fuel pump, made by Carter and basically the same one used in cars, only has to put out about 35 psi. It has an extremely sophisticated EMM and fuel injectors, which generate about 600 psi at the cylinder. Like you, I also prefer "Made in the USA", so I looked hard at the Opti. They're also light and good running motors, but they're just as loud as the earlier 2-strokes and the fuel system is more complex with the belt driven air pump, etc.

There is a fellow on the Florida west coast who runs a fuel injector cleaning service that I talked to about cleaning my injectors. He admitted that he's always been a Merc/Yamaha fan, but he said that he was so impressed by design of the E-TEC injectors and their beautiful spray pattern that he repowered his own boat with a 175 E-TEC! If you need more info, this web site is a great source of info: http://www.etecownersgroup.com/post/...post1277069338

You might PM DonV to ask him about his brothers experience when he replaced a pair of F225's with a pair of 200HO E-TEC's. He seemed to be extremely happy with the new motors!

[kmoose]

Jeff,
Go with what you are considering with the single DF300. Rock solid reliability, forged everything and fly by wire. Personally the DF250 has been more than enough motor for me on my often overloaded Tsunami but if I was to repower it would be the 300 just for the show off speed I would have in the channel.

Other advantages of big singles are the extra room off the stern for getting in and out of the water, 50% less lower unit drag and far less maintainance expense. With twins you get redundency and a cool syncing sound when you throttle up to plane. If it was 1975 I would say go with twins but modern outboards are 1000 time more trustworthy and offer great options across the board.

[Handful in NC]

On the Etec big single bandwagon... after 2 1/2 years with my Tsunami/Etec 250, the ONLY maintenance has been to adjust a stretched shift cable, which would not be an issue with the fly-by-wire version. It always starts immediately, and never sputters, smokes, or misses. With two people, light gear, and half fuel, I get about 30 mph at 10 gph at 4000 rpm. Tops out in the upper 40s. I have seen over 50 mph. With 8 people and beach gear (chairs, bags, and coolers of food/beverage) on board, there is plenty of power remaining without pushing the engine. It lives in salt water and is run regularly year round. Simply the best boat motor I've ever owned, and perfect on my Tsunami.

[Billpotter]

In my opinion, the 23 hulls seem to be happiest with a big single. She was designed when outboard twins weighed 600-700 lbs. combined, and were required if you wanted outboard power on the 23 at the time. Modern big outboards seem to weigh about what the twins of forty years ago did. The only reason I went with a twin set up on my current 23 project is that we spend significant time in the Bahamas where there is no Sea Tow or Boat US, and I wanted to be best prepaired for the possibility of an engine running/ gear case/ prop hub problem, and wanted to be able to get back to port without relying on good Samaritans or the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA).
To adjust for the combined 860 +/- lbs of combined engine weight, I raised the weather deck 2.5" and installed valves in the reconfigured deck drain system, split the gas supply into a forward 50 gallon gas tank ahead of an under console step down, with a 70 gallon gas tank aft of the step down in large part to be able to keep weight out of the rear of the boat to compensate for the additional engine weight when I wanted to. I also redesigned the stern area, and had a complete stern module/ assembly mold/ part built and installed that provides for a motor well front that is 2" above the level of the 30" transom with a water tight motor well door to keep the water out: The additional 200 lb. +/- of engine weight makes a big difference.
If a nice 23 is for sale, and it has twin engines , and is a nice boat; a nice boat is a nice boat: for general use, I'd buy her.
If I was setting up a boat for what I call "car boat" use- a boat folks will use for everything; family, cruising, fishing, hopping over to Bimini, etc. (within the stated range of the two tow services), I'd readily go with the single. If I was going waaaaaaay offshore, I'd consider a well thought out twin set up.

The boat will be happier, the maintenance costs will be lower, and the fuel economy will be better with a modern efficient single outboard.