Hey GoneFission twin motors?

[saltfly]

I didn’t want to highjack that other thread. So I posted a new one. You say you would like to put twin 115 merc optimax’s on your 222 ccp. Did you change your gas tank capacity, when you redid your boat?  I was thinking of doing the same. Only I was thinking of twin 90 efi’s. but was considered about reducing my range. With 85 gals. That only gives me 42.5 gal’s per motor. A guy at the marine I go to. Has a 19 ft.twin vee. With twin 75 Hondas. With an 80 gal tank which is 40 gals per motor, and he feels that he is limited in range. Up here, where we are. A 25 mile run one way is the norm. And that just puts you to the close spots. A run to the canyons, is 35 to 75 miles off shore, plus the running you do once there. What do you think or have experince with?

[fitz73222]

73' 22-2 Twin 2 stroke 115 I4 mercs (carbureted) cruise 2.5 mpg about 11.5 gallons per hour, 29 mph @3600 68 gal tank max range around 170 miles this is using a floscan. I would think the Opti's would be noticeably better than these guy's. Granted this isnt running in a 3 ft sea half on and off plane so take 20% off of the range. Still 136 miles.

[Capt. Bob]

I like this thread.

91 21' WAC, 91 200hp Yamaha carbed (duh), reading 4200 rpm at 29.9mph. Burn rate shown 11-12 gph/calculated at 2.47mpg (gps distance/flo scan total). Tank size reduced to 55 gal. Theoretical range 136 +/-.

Not very far for many but plenty for me based on my wallet capacity.

With the cost of fuel and the evils of ethanol, a fuel monitoring device is worth its high cost.
I'm just sayin'

[saltfly]

Just to add as to why I’m thinking. Which I really need to stop doing. Brain is starting to hurt . I had a 91 175 Johnson 60 degree v carb. Motor on my 222ccp A 30 mile out trip with a 10 mhp wind 2 foot sea at 8 sec. inter. With a full tank. Run from float to float casting for mahi. For about two hrs. before anchoring on a lump to chum for blues and what ever would hit. Winds came up to 15. (which was not suppose to happen till late that night) puched the sea to 4 feet with 4 sec inter. ( dam weatherman) :x  Run back in ended the day with trip meter on my gps, saying 75 miles. Had burned  62 gals. When I filled up. That left me with a reserve of  22 gals. That was way to much at $4 a gal for my pocket as well. Since I fish by myself. I eat the hole bill. Sooooo I put a new 150 Yamaha hpdi on the boat same type of trip same sea condition. A little over 25 gals. Now if I could do about that well with twin 90 efi’s . That would be the beanie weenies for me. What do you think? Could I do that with twin 90 efi’s? :bounce:

[GoneFission]

Twin Optimax 115s will use less fuel than my old carb-model 200 Black Max.  With the current motor, I cruise at 10-12 gallons per hour (depending on trim) and around 28 MPH.  With 85 gallons on board, that gives a range of about 200 miles, which is plenty for my uses.  

I've really never been challenged for fuel when I start a day with a full tank; my only issue has been if I try to carry over to more days...

[fitz73222]

Its hard to dispute the mid range torque produced by twins. They just run so easy at cruise and docking is out of this world. Plus the extra reliability you get with twin engines. Short of major fuel issue caused by the current alcohol blends, you are going to get home. The previous owner of my boat had a stator failure on one engine way offshore and a single 115 did get her on plane and he ran home. Now this is a lighter 12 degree 22-2 that doesnt need a lot of horsepower to plane. We used to run these boats with twin 65's or 70's and a single 65 with a prop change would get one of these to about 18 knots; enough to get back to the ramp if you had to. The downside is twice the maintenance and expense to keep them running.

[saltfly]

I like the idea of twins. The farther I go offshore. The better I like them. Just this morning. I run out to a artificial reef then on out to blue water. I was the only boat out their with a single motor. everyone else had twins. The only comfort for me was that they all did have twins and this old fart. Stayed right in their with them . I’m sure if I would have had a problem. One of them would have taken pity on the old man with a single engine. You know he can’t be all their . Being this far out with a single engine. bwahahahaha
The point about the mid range torque, means alot to me. Since I only can run about 3000 to 3500 rpms. In the sea we normally have around this neck of the ocean. That is also where you get your best fual economy as well.

[fitz73222]

The only issue is we are talking about 2 strokes. My carbed 115's weigh in @ 338# each. I believe the 90- 115 opti's are 375# each. Thats alot of weight for my boat and freeboard loss. Mine is the old open transom design so it becomes an issue. I would have to run twin 60-75hp if I wanted to run 4 strokes to keep the weight down. On Scott's (gran398) rebuild we took alot of measuremnts on my boat and came up with a 26" transom height at the centerline and with a 12 degree deadrise and 27 1/2" engine spacing we can run 20" shaft engines so he will pick up a solid 5+" inches of freeboard at the transom. The actual shaft lenght on his Merc 75's is 21 11/16" so he should be perfect for his engine height at that spacing with some room to jack them up if he wants to. So if you want to switch to twins, do some weight calculations, add some cinder blocks or sand bags to what you currently have until you reach the weight of the twins get it in the water and see if there are any issues. Of course if your boat was able to self bail at rest with your current single engine you will be adding ball scuppers to keep from having constant wet feet at the stern.

[gran398]

Fitz, thanks for all of the effort and great advice you have given...it has made this rebuild a pleasure rather than a burden, and I REALLY appreciate your help. As you guys may know, our boats were only six numbers apart in November of '73. We married twin sisters

Was sold on twin engines a while back. Docking is a breeze; you can spin the boat in her length. Also a LOT easier to dock in heavy wind, hard current.

The security of twins is the biggest plus. I'm running twin tank pickups to hopefully increase the odds that she's coming home.

To me the security outweighs the extra maintenance. And price them out: as Cap'n John mentioned, two can come in money-wise less than one high hp single.

[saltfly]

Weight is defiantly something I have to look at. I switched from a 396 lb. Johnson to a 468 lb. Yamaha. With the Johnson, I never had water at the top of my scuppers drains. With the Yamaha. I have water not only at the top, but coming in on the deck a little. If  I do decide to go to twins. I’m going to bit the bullet and close in the transom and remove the splash well. Then put a floatation bracket on. I have to replace my deck, so I have to make up my mind. When I do the deck that will be the time to just go a head and do the rest. I would also like the extra room at the stern. The motors I have been looking at are the efi four strokes and like GF pointed out the weight of the 115’s are the same as the 90’s. So I’m considering them. I'm hoping the floatation bracket well help with weight. Optimax at 375 and the efi's at 399.