Twin screw aluminum flat boat

[cajunrebel]

So today I came across a motor identical to the one on my boat. It's a 98 Johnson 25 hp. It needs a head gasket installed and I have one on my work bench. It's a screaming deal price wise for the motor. The boat is a 1648 Lowe roughneck. All welded and a semi V bottom. Rated for 50hp.
I am wondering if it would be practical to buy and install the second motor or not. I know I would need a different shifter and throttle setup. That's not hard for me. I also know that I would need to slave the steering of the two motors together. I've never done that. But, I am more than capable if standard twin steering setups will work on an engine this size. I will have to get weights for these motors to see if they would weigh too much as a pair.
But anyways, what's everyone's thoughts? I doubt I can sell both motors (running) for enough cash to buy a used 50 horse. Also, does anyone have any pics of a twin screw flat boat? I've seen some crew boats here on the lower Mississippi River but they are an entirely different animal.

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[CedarRiverScooter]

Advantage of twins is redundant reliability, period.

Disadvantages are increased weight fuel economy, cost (may not apply on your case) & maintenance costs.

Just MO

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Buy it, fix it and sell it and pocket some cash.
The drag of two motors in the water is pretty high. You diffidently would be better off with just one higher HP motor.

 

[FishinLite]

On a twin screw boat, the props turn opposite directions. This provides counter acting torque. You would have to figure out how to accomplish this with your second outboard.

Good Luck :lol:

 

[mbweimar]

I have twin 115's on my Mako. I have hydraulic steering, so I don't really feel the torque from not having info counter rotating engines. I imagine with cable steering things would be much different.

 

[cajunrebel]

I have a hydraulic helm I could install. I could probably put in a link to tie the two engines together to use one cylinder since most cylinders would be more than capable of turning two 25 horsepower engines.

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[Johnny]

Rebel - do it !!
come back with some photos and your opinions of how it functions.

if you are not satisfied with the twin setup, take one off - simple as that.


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[benjineer]

Mine came with twin 9.9 tiller motors. You can look at the setup on my build thread. It was ok, but I got tired of all of the coordination required, especially if I got in shallow water and needed to raise them both. If they were remote and had power tilt, it would have been a different story. It was pretty cool hearing the harmony of the two running together. Twin 25s would have been better. I tried a single 25, and now I'm up to a single 50.