Crazy idea??? Or brilliant!!!! What's your opinions?

3 Squids

3 Squids

Junior Member
Well more disturbing news for the green monster, fiberglass guy hears moisture in the transom. I'm not real good with that stuff but I can definitely hear a muffled tap when he taps anywhere near the bottom motor bolts. Believes with the reinforcement plate on it I'll be fine this season. Still waiting on news for my motor decision but am I crazy to think that if I must do a total repower then now would be the time to take care of the transom leading me to my next crazy idea...twin 90's or 115's??? Has it been done? Love the idea of having a backup motor if we're in the middle of the bay fishing and something happened. Also from what I've seen, much easier to maneuver.
 
If it were me, (and I'm thankful that it hasn't been so far) I would go with twins. Since you're rebuilding the transom anyway you can widen it to accommodate twin engines and raise it up to use 25" instead of 20 shaft length units. I've often though that a pair of old 115 hp Merc Tower of Power inline 6 engines would go great on the stern of a V20. My thinking is that they are light compared to some engines, and just as importantly they are skinny compared to V4 and V6 Johnnyrudes of the same period. Oh, and they are substantially cheaper than a new engine. I had a 115 on one of my old boats a while back (18' Cruisers, Inc.) and I completely loved it. NOTHING else has the same growl when you're up on plane at WOT.

Understand this is purely dreaming, and I hope that I am never put into a position where it might become reality. Plus, finding a matched set of them in good condition might be a problem. But you asked for thoughts on the subject, and those are mine.
 
Twins are cool but not practical...

Of a given hp, twins will be heavier, slower, more expensive, and less efficient than a single... Your boat will be better balanced and all around better w a single engine.

You won't be able to plane on one of your twin engines unless you change the prop...

You would be far better off with a single and a kicker.

As for easier to maneuver, yes that's true but it's just a 20' boat... They do fine with singles.
 
Two very opposite opinions. Exactly what I was looking for. I love hearing both sides of the case.

Destroyer, I love the idea of twin 115 Merc Tower O Powers and believe it or not they seem to be plentiful on Craig's. Of course even with finding 2 running ones I still believe I would freshen them both up (rings and bearings) to try and match their performance close as possible. I'm finding them in running condition anywhere from $850-$1500. Not bad in my opinion. Transom has already been built up to a 25" but not that any of that matters as she would have to be widened.

Smoke, I agree 100% of what you said is correct, but most importantly the first thing, twins are COOL, not practical. Although maneuverability on these boats isn't bad and having a kicker will suffice as a backup motor as well, how F-in cool would a V-20 be with twin Tower O Powers??? I mean the boat turns head already why not keep adding to the madness.
 
My primary concern would be weight and fuel efficiency.
Now that the engines are more fuel efficient they weigh more.

The 1975 V was indeed rated for twin 115's. Back then an Evinrude 115 weighed 267lbs.
The 135 weighed 298lbs, now a 130 weighs 405lbs.
 
There's a guy in my marina with twin 9.9s on an aluminum boat. I guess so he can run on lakes with a 9.9 maximum, but it still looked odd to me.
 
Well it seems so far the general consensus is that it would in fact be cool, just very inefficient. This is just something that popped in my head and there's probably a 1.7% chance it will actually happen. I used to have an Aquasport 240 and the Aquasport Forum guys with the 22-2 Flatbacks were all about strapping twin 75 four strokes on them and I thought it was pretty cool to see.

Still haven't gotten the verdict on if my motor will need a sleeve or not so I'm just tossing all sorts of things around in my head. I've favorited 4 running 115 TOP's on Craig's. None of them are over $1100. So tempting to go pick a couple of them up and just do it but gotta think about the big picture of what's best for the boat.

I had read somewhere that these boats were rated for twin 115's but I can't find anyone that's actually got one. I'd like to see one and get input from someone who has done it.
 
smokeonthewater said:
Twins are cool but not practical...

Of a given hp, twins will be heavier, slower, more expensive, and less efficient than a single... Your boat will be better balanced and all around better w a single engine.

You won't be able to plane on one of your twin engines unless you change the prop...

You would be far better off with a single and a kicker.

As for easier to maneuver, yes that's true but it's just a 20' boat... They do fine with singles.
Click to expand...

Smoke, I agree with almost everything you said except... why can't you plane on just one engine? Tilt one up and you have 115 hp. More than enough to plane a V20. We know that V's will plane at 90 hp, so 25 more would seem more than enough. Just curious. (And I still like the thought of twin 115's. NOT practical, but oh so cool).
 
Twice the impellers, twice the rigging, new binnacle shifter, what are you gonna find when you drill the transom? If you had an old school 70's model that came like that, or were fishing off shore in very remote areas like the out islands of the bahamas, south pacific, central or south America etc I think it would be something to consider. To do it just because I honestly think will just end up costing you more out of pocket and head ache wise. You need to figure out what you want to do with your boat, if its just local fishing with family and friends with occasional runs offshore I think you'll be happier with a good dependable single.

What you already have; an old school 200 Merc on a V20 hull is already a cool boat in my opinion.

If you want a second hull to get crazy with I got an old 83 I'll give you.
 
I knew the chances of this actually happening were slim to none when I posted this, it was just a crazy idea that came to me in the middle of the night and I wanted to see if it'd be at all doable. Seems it's doable just not worth the trouble.

I got word today that it seems the block is ok. So looks like I'll be taking the powerhead to get rebuilt to hold me over until I get tired of smelling the 2-stroke and break down and buy a new motor. Just can't justify spending 12K on a motor right now. Maybe in the near (1-2 year) future.
 
bradford said:
If you want a second hull to get crazy with I got an old 83 I'll give you.
Click to expand...

Man if you were closer I'd come snag her up. I would love to cut mine up and do a few things I think would make her look better but I just can't do it. It's too nice. But to find a project hull would be fun. My buddy's got a V-21 he's gutted down to just the hull and abandoned it and I've often though it'd be an awesome blank slate to start with.
 
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