1987 22-2 Ospery re-power

[Bushleaguer]

First off, my boat is in pretty good shape.  Transom is solid and the boat is dry- (foam, etc).  I'm not interested in re-doing the transom (ie- closing it all the way in) and spending the money on a bracket or raising it 5" to go to 25" shaft motors.  

That said, right now, I have a '96 Evinrude 115 SPL motor.  It's getting tired and the problems with it are becoming more frequent, which is something I don't need to deal with.  I'm also tired of being underpowered.  PITA in a following sea.

I'm looking to do a basic re-power, hopefully going to twins.  My current motor weighs 315#.  The boat is rated for 230 HP and is set up for twins (has fuel lines on either side, and two rigging tubes to run controls).  Is it safe to assume that the weight I could hang off the back is around double what I have now (2 x 315#)?  If I go with two Evinrude 90HP e-techs, the weight would be 640#.  Is that too much?  Would I be taking water into the scuppers with a couple of guys standing aft?

The other option I see is these new Yammy in-line four cylinder E-70's.  They weigh 257# each for a total of 514#.  But I'd rather have the 40 more HP with the E-techs.  Mercury's are entirely too heavy IMO, with their 90 HP optimax's weighing in at 375# each.

I've considered going with another single 150 or 175 HP and adding a kicker, but I'd rather have twins for numerous reasons.  

Any advice or opinions??
Thanks!

[Shamrock]

I have an 88 model 22-2 and my feet were getting wet with an old Johnson 140 two-stroke. Turns out the transom was strong, but was also wet which added a sigificant amount of weight (just replaced the transom). My guess is that you would also have wet feet with over 600# on the transom even if if the transom was 100% dry.

By the way, I just bought a Suzuki 175 4-stroke for mine and it weights 385#.

Good luck.

[gran398]

Bush,

Congrats on choosing twins. You will LOVE running twins

I also researched twins a while back for my 22-2.

I presume you have the standard factory transom, no height additions?

If so...you will run the twins 26 inches apart (13 inches off the centerline per each), 20 inch shafts. Fitz can give you excellent advice on this.

I'm presently running twin 75 two stroke Mercs. That is all I need power-wise.

If someone said here's the money....go buy what you want...I'd go with those new light 70 Yammies you mentioned. They should be perfect if they're pretty torquey...I'd run one first on something around 16 feet.

If you don't like the Yammie...go with a 90 you like.

[Bushleaguer]

Thanks all!  

I'm pretty much resolved on going with twins.  Everyone I've spoken to who runs a open CC boat like mine that had twins just loves them.

Yes, the transom is factory at this point.  It should be dry as well- a couple of years ago, I did away with my transom mount transducer and went thru-hull.  I glassed in the holes from the old transom mount ducer and the core was in fine shape and dry.

I've got no problem with Yamaha- other than the fact that this single cam 4 stroke seems to be a fairly new design, and I don't want to be their guinea pig.  However, I'm comfortable with their reputation, and if I go with the 70's, I will save 126 pounds, (the twin 70 yammies weigh in at 514#) and close to $3,000.  Leaning hard towards the twin 70's now.

Wish I would have been able to do this a few years ago when Yamaha was still making their basic 2 stroke.  I loved those motors...

[GoneFission]

The twin 70s would work well - and the weight is tolerable.  Fuel economy should be very good with that setup - and you can troll on one and save some more $$$$  

I vote "go for it"    

[MrWesson]

What about etecs?

[Bushleaguer]

Here's my comparison so far:

Twin Yamaha 70's- Weight= 514#; Price= $20,616 (Includes prop and rigging)

Twin Etech 90's- Weight= 640#; Price= $23,023 (Includes Prop and rigging)

I got feedback on THT that the widely accepted figure is a minimum of 70% of your rated HP.  The twin 70's come in at 61%, the Etechs at 78%.  But then, you have the weight difference of 126#.

[gran398]

These hulls JUMP on plane, and if your ride doesn't have wet foam, those 70's will be all you need. Won't be a speed-burner, but should still run in the upper thirties, and cruise around 30.

The twin 75 Mercs on Miss D weigh around 700#.

PS...you may want to consider installing transom bait boxes. They add buoyancy and lift.

[Bushleaguer]

Right now, with my '97 115 Evinrude, I can squeak 26 knots out of her when I'm alone and the lake is flat.  My problems happen when I have a couple of guys with me.  I struggle to get on plane unless it's flat; sometimes even have to have someone move forward to get there.  Also, in a following sea, I don't have the power to stay on top when I need to.

If I could get mid to upper thirties alone and around 25-30 with a load, I'd be smiling a mile wide.

The other consideration is that I pull the kids on the tube once in a while.  The 115 just won't do it anymore.  At all.  Not even close to being able to plane out.  My guess is that the 70's would at least get me up on plane dragging a tube and a couple of kids.

My foam is dry, at least as far as I can reach on both of the amidship pie plate hatches.  I'm totally comfortable in re-powering this hull- it's in great shape- especially for a 1987.

Interesting bait box setup.  How do you mount them to the transom?  Are they glassed in?  Are they strong enough to stand on or use to climb in and out?  Only problem I could see is that those corners of the boat are right in my netting zone.

[Bushleaguer]

BTW- this is all great info.  Thanks to everybody and please keep chiming in if you think of more!!

[gran398]

They are through bolted and lag screwed. We mounted a step on the back of the port side box. I'd say they'd carry up to around 250 pounds or so as a means of boarding, but wouldn't press that...

Here's the boarding step...those are hand towels above it.

[Bushleaguer]

It looks like your transom is re-worked.  If so, do you have a thread on the work you did?  Are those 25" motors?

[Bushleaguer]

Here's a good shot of how my transom and aft end is set up right now.  Looks to me like those bait boxes would block the scuppers.

[gran398]

Yes, the transom is 26 inches. We missed being able to run 20 inch engines by about an inch. Thought had everything measured/figured out perfectly, I was wrong, my goof.  So added the Bay Manufacturing extension kits, they are now 25 inch engines. Fitz did an excellent job on the install.

That was why I was asking initially if your transom was factory...20 inch engines will work fine for you.

Here are the build pics and the extension install pics, etc.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10459

[gran398]

Here's a good shot of how my transom and aft end is set up right now.  Looks to me like those bait boxes would block the scuppers.

Yep...it appears that they may.