Ride on 18's with brackets? - Page 2

jtnole02 · #11 03-31-2011, 09:52 AM

The boat is a 1989 18.2 with a 115hp E-tec and a dolfin. From what you guys are saying, it sounds like it would be a good canditate for it. I have seen pics and they sure look great but, I still would like to here from someone who has enclosed the transome before spending the $5k on modifications.

jtnole02 · #12 03-31-2011, 10:13 AM

BLK Hawk, has it made the ride much better? What kind of motor do you have?

Bushwacker · #13 03-31-2011, 10:58 AM

Send me a PM and I'll send you his e-mail address. Then you can communicate with him directly.

76Red18 · #14 03-31-2011, 02:43 PM

In my opinion, you shouldn't need that doelfin if that 115 is propped right. With a stern lifting prop, you should be able to plane at about 12 -14 mph; perfect speed when it gets nasty. You'll loose that low planing speed with a bracket. A light motor, 25" transom, a well thought out splash board and TRIM TABS is what the 18 needs. Just my opinion.

Keyscruz · #15 03-31-2011, 02:56 PM

Hey Dog, My 1978 18 has an aluminum bracket with a 22 inch set back and a large flotation chamber. The transom is partially enclosed. It has a 150 etec. Bushwacker's analysis is absolutely correct. At the time I put this boat together the choice for a 4 cyl. 2 stroke was limited so I went with etec 150 which is a bit heavy for the 18. If I were to do it over again I would go with a Hermco bracket with the least amount of set back that would allow the engine to tilt so it is out of the water and I would put an etec 130 on it. Having said all of that I do LOVE the boat, the bracket layout, the speed, the rough water ability. I have some pictures but can't seem to find the time to figure out how to post them.

asdfhood · #16 03-31-2011, 08:35 PM

looking into the future and continuing with the bracket power discussion I have been researching alternatives for power when my Yamaha 130 expires.
The Etec 150 weighs between 418 and 433 lbs.
the Etec 130 weighs between 390 and 405 lbs.
The Optimax 115 and 125 weigh 375 lbs.
The Optimax 135 weighs 431 lbs.
The Yamaha 130 2s weighs 368 lbs.
I have never owned a mercury but it seems that the optimax 1325 might be a suitable modern engine replacement.
Just thinking. Waiting for POUS to give me outboard stimulus.

Snookerd · #17 03-31-2011, 09:58 PM

A couple of thoughts after having 3 18SFs (1987,1988, and 1989)..........

-Saltydog - The planing characteristics are a bigger concern in dangerous conditions than taking a wave over the stern in your light 1989 with your 115. If you still have the teak splashwell door, that will cover you for waves. In another post a few months ago, you asked about 18's that had the console moved. The Potter 18's have the console set farther back. The 80's 18s had the console moved forward to offset the heavier 18's (80-87).

- I was with Bushwacker at our 2009 Key Largo event when Keyscruz pulled up in his bracketed 18. It looked good as far as the balance at rest.

- I am against moving the intended CG and I have had a bracketed 23 SeaCraft

- Over these 9 years as a member of CSC from the beginning, what has been said is exactly what Denny and 76Red have said about the pluses and minuses

- Plus, with all those member's input, it can be summed up as this: The bigger the bracket tub the better(IE.Hermco Bracket), the shorter the set-back of the bracket, the less the CG is shifted. All 23's and bigger handle a bracket quite well, the 20 Seafari and Sceptre handle a bracket better than a SF or MA because of the weight up front. 18SFs will have the most severe CG changes that need to be offset with batteries, fuel tank, ect. because they are smaller boats. I would take a ride on keyscruz 18 or another one and then decide. You may like the ride! I would never by choice have a different set up on an 18SF than a 358lb motor that gets me to 40 mph and planes at 12 mph, especially for offshore.

Bushwacker · #18 03-31-2011, 11:25 PM

Quote:

. . . I have never owned a mercury but it seems that the optimax 1325 might be a suitable modern engine replacement. . .

??? That sentence makes sense if you meant to say optimax125!

Snookered has had personal experience with 3 different 18's with 3 different motors on them (130 Yam, 150 60 deg OMC V-6, and Zuke 140 4-S), so he knows that boat and it's sensitivities better than any of us! I think he summarized it well.

I would suggest you might want to also consider the 90 hp DI 2S motors as well. That gets the weight down to around 350 lbs, which would be real desirable if you wanted a bracket, and they'd burn even less gas! Most folks don't realize that the VDH hull design is at least 10% more efficient than any other deep V, so you don't need as much power on a SeaCraft as you'd need on any other similar size hull! Fr. Frank is getting great performance out of his 90, and BRP is sandbagging on the E-TEC HP ratings by as much as 10%! The HP curves for both the 150 and 225 E-TEC's have been published in factory literature; the "150" is actually 165 at the prop and the "225" is actually 240, so that 90 hp motor might surprise you! Windrider just put a 90 HP E-TEC on a 20 cc, so we're all waiting to hear how that turned out!

asdfhood · #19 03-31-2011, 11:36 PM

Sorry for the typo. I meant OptiMax 125. The OptiMax 75-125 all use the same 1.5 L block and are advertised to all weigh the same. Therefore i thought it best to opt for the 125. More power and the motor would not have to work as hard.

Bushwacker · #20 04-01-2011, 12:19 AM

True, but sometimes the higher output models are tuned/optimized for higher rpm to get the extra hp, and may actually have less torque at lower speeds where you need it to get on plane, so the "more is better" thinking isn't necessarily correct. Depends on the application, so need to think about how you really use the boat and not just top speed!

The 90 hp E-TEC is a 3 cyl/1.3L engine (1/2 of my V-6) that weighs 335 lbs w/25" shaft, with 2.25:1 gear reduction, so it can swing a big efficient prop.