Twin Motors

[Hunter445]

I'm thinking of buying a 16 to 17 foot aluminium hull boat. The area of use is partially smooth waters in Hervey Bay QLD. Fishing trips to the top are about 60km from the Harbour, and usually sheltered by Fraser Island. Due to the distance travelled I was contemplating twin motors, however heard they usually produce less speed, burn more fuel etc, and obviously the maintenance bill is more. Is there any real benefit in two motors in this instance? ???

[QldKev]

If you run seperate fuel and electrical systems, you should always get back to the boat ramp.

[Hunter445]

Would this be suited to a monohull setup? Would you likely still plane the boat on one motor. I would say for a 16 foot boat it would be running maybe twin 35hp max?

[basserman]

twins are good on cats and for trolling ;D
can twins go fast HELL yeh just check the offshore raceing scean they have a few 20footers running twins but they are set up as raceing engins ;D
but personly i would skip the twin ider and just go with a single 90hp fourstroke that will get ya out their very fast and if they are well looked after and maintained you should have very little go wrong ;D

[QldKev]

A mono hull would be ok, as long as the transom is designed to run twins. Some are, some are not. (Not enough width) Often one engine runs a reverse direction gearbox so the prop spins anti-clock wards and obviously a reverse direction prop. This helps with steering etc. Normally you wouldn’t run the boat on just one engine. Why work one hard, when you can do the same speed with two just cruising along. If one broke down you may be able to get the boat onto the plane with one engine. It all comes down to the exact hull vs hp combination. For a 16-foot hull I would use min 2 x 35hp (depending on hull specs; refer manufacturer plates) if you plan on doing 60km offshore trips. I like to keep the hp towards max for any hull. As I mentioned prior keep the systems fully separated if possible.

[Kerry]

On a 16-17 foot mono, twins ??? not worth it.

Cheers, Kerry.

[dfox]

I agree with kerry, a 17 foot boat is small for twin installations. A single 90 and a good radio is just as good, to get simular performance as a 90 you'd need duel 50s and the wieght factor could make the boat a real pig.Run a single outboard maintain it well, duel batterries a good fuel filter, vhf, 27 meg, spare prop etc and ballance the boat so it handles at its best...foxy

[QldKev]

I havn't actually voiced my opinion, but I too agree myself a single engine would be my choice.