This guy......What guy doesn't dream about twins.
A little more info would help. I have driven the same boat with a single and twins. Its night and day difference. The twins win hands down.Guy’s and gal’s
what would you have on a 24’ aluminum with cabin?
F250 w T8, 90 fuel, 2.7 mpg combat loaded....More info would help
dry weight is about 3500#. Mostly inshore but some offshore. Bow dead rise 47degree. 8’6” wide Will have a kicker. Alaskan bulk head cabin. 100gal fuel tank.
Looking at 115hp twins or 250hp. Both drive by wire.
My boat is 8-9 knots on one engine.I was firmly in the twin camp on mid size boats until I actually ran one. The boat I ran was rated for 400 max and was setup with twin 150's. 3.0 MPG loaded at 30mph cruise. 45MPH when pegged. Handled perfect, smooth riding and agile.
Then I lost a motor- no problem there's 2 here right. Well the problem is that the boat would not plane on a single 150. The prop would cavitate at about 8mph. I figure that in that scenario you might as well have a single and a 25 hp kicker.
Can you guys with twins plane on a single motor? Maybe this boat would have with twin 200's but the performance of the 150 was pretty phenomenal already. What are your thoughts/experiences?
That’s pretty close to my setup, and I’d have to agree with the single and big kicker route. Unless one of your twins alone can plane the boat, all you have is a big kicker back there anyway.I recently repowered the kicker on my 24' Seasport with the new Yamaha T25 high thrust to be my get home if my F250 was out of action. Since i go offshore, I did this to have a viable get home kicker since a T8 or T9.9 really struggles to push a boat that heavy without a current past 4 mph. I have run the new T25 at what i thought was slack water and hit 9 mph, which in my mind is tolerable in a situation where your main goes down. Yes, at 9 mph you are not on plane, but certainly more than double the traditional kicker speed. I should add, the T25 was redone in 2019 and much lighter weight than prior T25 (150 lbs ish), has a big alternator, and purrs like a kicker should.
Certainly twins will handle much better but at the cost of double maintenance. I also found going to a 4-blade prop greatly improved my performance over a 3-blade on the F250 main with greater stern lift, hole shot, and tracking in turns.
that said, my vote would be F250 or F300 single with 4-blade prop, and T25 high thrust kicker. good luck. DAJ
Yes, but you have to go big. My 28' can plane on a single 250hp, but it is working it.I was firmly in the twin camp on mid size boats until I actually ran one. The boat I ran was rated for 400 max and was setup with twin 150's. 3.0 MPG loaded at 30mph cruise. 45MPH when pegged. Handled perfect, smooth riding and agile.
Then I lost a motor- no problem there's 2 here right. Well the problem is that the boat would not plane on a single 150. The prop would cavitate at about 8mph. I figure that in that scenario you might as well have a single and a 25 hp kicker.
Can you guys with twins plane on a single motor? Maybe this boat would have with twin 200's but the performance of the 150 was pretty phenomenal already. What are your thoughts/experiences?
Trying to plane on a single twin to get home is a really bad idea. You’re risking spinning a hub, overheating, and generally over straining your remaining engine.I was firmly in the twin camp on mid size boats until I actually ran one. The boat I ran was rated for 400 max and was setup with twin 150's. 3.0 MPG loaded at 30mph cruise. 45MPH when pegged. Handled perfect, smooth riding and agile.
Then I lost a motor- no problem there's 2 here right. Well the problem is that the boat would not plane on a single 150. The prop would cavitate at about 8mph. I figure that in that scenario you might as well have a single and a 25 hp kicker.
Can you guys with twins plane on a single motor? Maybe this boat would have with twin 200's but the performance of the 150 was pretty phenomenal already. What are your thoughts/experiences?
YES. Even when full of ice & tuna.Can you guys with twins plane on a single motor? Maybe this boat would have with twin 200's but the performance of the 150 was pretty phenomenal already. What are your thoughts/experiences?