Haines 773 Repower Options

[leezor]

Just bought a 1992 Haines 773 with a 2005 225hp Yammy 4 stroke which I plan to repower in the coming months. The boat has had a new transom etc and is fitted with a full width alloy pod made specifically for single engine application.

What are peoples thoughts on which way to go? Don't really want to modify the pod to fit twins so will stick with a large single of at least 300hp.

Any input appreciated.

If anyone is looking for a 225 Yamaha 4 stroke PM me for details.

[The Woo]

Great boat mate, congrats on your purchase!

A wise man would troll through THT forum. This style of boat is common, and the discussion re power is on-going.

Me, I'd be sticking either a 300hp Yammy or similar Verado on it. The V8 350hp Yammy is tempting, but too heavy for the hull.

Here's a link for you if you've not been there :)
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum-14/

[leezor]

Hey Woo, thanks for the input mate. My last two boats have been US imports so have spent many a night trolling THT, am leaning towards a 300hp Verado at this point..

[Muddy Toes]

Hey mate I went through this decision a couple of months ago with my 7.4mtr boat.
I ended up going with a Yamaha F300.
Probably the main reason I went with this motor was because of a lot of feedback I received from owners of big block Yammies, mercurys and suzis.
I seemed to find a lot of very satisfied Yamaha owners and whilst the people I spoke to that had the other two brand motors were happy with their purchases a few of them seemed to have a few minor issues with them and their parent companies.
A couple of the other considerations for me was a weight saving and a bigger displacement block.

[The Woo]

I'm a bit of a "Merc man", have been since my days as a marine mechanic, something to do with their racing pedigree I reckon. I have a few mates that are running the 250hp+ Verados, and they've all been fantastic engines with up to 800hrs without fault.

I know a Yamaha (especially the newer F300) will give you outstanding service.

And despite initially liking the big Suzukis, and still being amazed by their quiet operation, I've heard some horror stories regarding "soft" shaft metals causing failures, and also the cost of parts being "4 times" the competitors. Cheaper to buy, costlier to maintain some say. That's me regurtitating what I hear from what I believe are good sources though.

The biggest point of failure for all these new tech engines is poor fuel quality, they HATE water in it, and investing or upgrading your filtering system and investigaing your tankage prior to install would be worthwhile in my opinion.

[leezor]

Hey Muddy Toes, what did you upgrade from?

[Muddy Toes]

A 1999 Mercury 225 EFI mate and FYI I got $4,500 trade for it.

[HH565L]

So you're back in to an Aussie built boat Leezor, and a big one at that.

Why the change mate?

[leezor]

The 773 was too good a deal to knock back. I still hve the 23ft Triton I brought over last year but will have to sell it to get the 773 up to scratch. Have always had a thing for the Haines 773 but could never find one when I was actually looking for a boat.

[julian1]

a great boat that 773, i would be putting twins on as the big single will give you torque steer and hull will be always fighting to stay on the vee and you will always have a trim tab down. the twins will balance the deepvee under way and hold it true underway. a pair of 150/175's would be perfect or if there are any light enough 200's even more fun !!

[leezor]

Hey Julian, agree that twins would be the go but unfortunately funds aren't going to stretch that far.

[ovakil]

If I had the funds I would be looking at your 225.
Go as biggest you can I reckon.

[OPTI]

personally id be going twin 225,s,but a single 300 will still do the job for you

[HH565L]

The 773 was too good a deal to knock back. I still hve the 23ft Triton I brought over last year but will have to sell it to get the 773 up to scratch. Have always had a thing for the Haines 773 but could never find one when I was actually looking for a boat.

I'm guessing you've had it out for a run or two and expect you've found it to be much better than the imports when in motion but probably not as stable at rest. To that end, I think twins would be a better option than a big single, the weight distributed across the transom will certainly help greatly there.

Also as Julian indicated, you might find torque steer to be an issue with a large single.

Dave, how would you compare the ride of a 773 against a 233. Looking at hull design alone, I would expect the 773 would be faster (assuming both had same power), easier to get up and stay up on the plain and probably more stable at rest. Not sure if it would be as soft as the 233 however.

[OPTI]

yeah the 773 is a faster hull ,[has a plank]at wot. ,not as soft as the 233 not much in it though.the 233 would be a faster hull offshore thou.dont think it gets up any better,stability =depends how heavy the skipper is lol

[The Woo]

Twins would be preferable, but as leezor indicated in his original post, he wants to stay a single. The cost difference esp when the pod mods are taken into account are substantial.

If you elect to stay with the single engine, take a close look at the auto levelling Bennet tabs, I reckon they suit this application to a "t".

[leezor]

Thanks for the input fellas, yeah would prefer to go twin 225s but there is no way i could do it within budget. With regards to the tabs, have a pair of dual actuator Bennets on my current boat which are awesome. Would be even better with auto levelling feature so will definately look into them.

[The Woo]

Yeah not too dear either. Have recently bought the entire setup, very keen to see it in operation! I did a lot of studying before deciding on updating Bennets with Bennets :)

[julian1]

i would rather normal trim tabs over those self levelling ones as sometime they self level at the wrong time causing some nice gunnel walking

[The Woo]

The Bennett auto system is on top of the existing system, meaning, you can either have manual or auto tab control.

http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/cataloghome.php

I've not yet found someone who's unhappy with theirs. a sample from THT;

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/332287-auto-tab-control-atc-bennett-trim-tabs.html

[julian1]

The Bennett auto system is on top of the existing system, meaning, you can either have manual or auto tab control.

http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/cataloghome.php

I've not yet found someone who's unhappy with theirs. a sample from THT;

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/332287-auto-tab-control-atc-bennett-trim-tabs.html

must have been some different auto tabs a mate had, he removed them in the end as they were auto only and were dangerous offshore on his 233, he went to Lenco's i think (his auto's weren't the bennetts as discussed here)

[The Woo]

Fair call, I can imagine an over-reacting set could be bloody dangerous and scary.

[sid_fishes]

hi lee,
garry has a couple of 200,s for sale.. could be good to have a chat to him

ian

[leezor]

G'day Ian, good to hear from you mate, hope all is well down your way.

All this talk about twins has me thinking.... I just happen to have a pair or Yamaha F225 outboards in my possesion, both 25", one left and one right hand rotation.

I realise the combined weight of these is probably not ideal, but if I was to have the pod modified for twins, how would this go?
The weight difference between with a pair of 4 strokes would be less than 80kgs. Have seen a few half pod 773s with twin 200/225 2 strokes which perform well.

[sid_fishes]

i think there was a song by the bee gee,s
you got me chine walking
lee all is good mate considering.... good luck with it

ian

[OPTI]

well seeing you already have the 2 engines ,thats the way id be going ,then save up and upgrade to some optis down the track;D

[boatboy50]

Hey Lee,

How about some pics of the new rig? Let us know all the details.

I think everyone has a soft spot for 773's. I remember selling one for 12k (needed a repower) about ten years ago.

I wish I could find that boat or one like it again.

Darren

[leezor]

G'day Darren, payed more than $12k for it but considering the transom, stringers and floor are already done and it has a fairly late model four stroke it was a pretty good deal. It also came with a reasonable Humminbird GPS, sounder, although the trailer is shagged it has a fairly new elec/hyraulic breakaway system which I will use on the new trailer. So, with a bit of a tidy up, engine upgrade and and a new trailer am hoping to spend around $50k including purchase price of the boat.

If anyone is interested the Yammy is for sale so PM me for details.

[Jarrah Jack]

All this talk about motors and you've got two good oars there.

[ovakil]

Nice boat,I have made a aluminum hardtop for my boat when I was restoring it.If you want some pics I pm them to you.
Cheers Steve.

[Midnight]

773 would be my choice of trailer boat too, love em! Good luck with the project.

Cheers,
Myles