Difference between single engine and twin O/B

NewfieDan

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I am thinking of a new boat. What I am looking at has the option of single outboard or twin outboards. The boat I am thinking of is a Campion 682 SC BRA.

It is a 23ft boat with a small cuddy, hard top. I do most of my boating on the east coast of Newfoundland where REALLY cold water can get rough in a hurry. Most of the time I will be 10-20km from shore. I know that twins are more reliable for those times when I go a little farther out, but that will not be that often.

I have owned boats by this maker before so I know it will handle the water well.

What I would like to know is whether a single engine is better or twins are better? How much more fuel will I use with twins (15%-30% more?)
 
Joined
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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

For offshore boating, especially in the rough conditions common on your coast, I would go with the twin setup and wouldn't care about fuel costs etc. that second engine is a great insurance policy ;)
 

rockyrude

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Twins will use twice the fuel of a single, there isn't really any "help" from one to the other to reduce fuel usage.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Twins are one and a half times the cost, twice the maintenance and twice the problems.

I would take a single 300HP outboard over twin 150 HP in a heartbeat.
 

Thalasso

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Twins are one and a half times the cost, twice the maintenance and twice the problems.

I would take a single 300HP outboard over twin 150 HP in a heartbeat.

Lets see. You boat in Maryland and he boats in a lot colder water in NewFoundland.
 

Thalasso

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Safety wise i wouldn't care about fuel costs. It will only take one time being broke down to figure you should have gotten twins
 

ziggy

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

i'm just an inland lake and river boater, so shouldn't even comment for lack of experience.
however.
when your on the water. your at the whim of your gear. man made gear that breaks down for no reason instantaneously. your gear breaks down at the wrong time and ya could be really in a bad way. imho. money aside. i'd do twins hands down. in my inland lake boating i've been in many places where i sure would have been hosed should my one engine choke and die. and your going off shore. way worse than i could experience. you could float away and be gone....
 

JoLin

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Twins will use twice the fuel of a single, there isn't really any "help" from one to the other to reduce fuel usage.

Not true. A pair of 150's vs. a single 300 will use only marginally more fuel. On the order of 10-20% due primarily to 1. weight penalty of the second engine, and 2. drag of a second lower unit in the water.

Gotta tell you, if I were boating 20 miles offshore I'd want twins.

My .02
 

aspeck

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

I wouldn't care where I boated, if I could afford it, I would go with twins.
 

Fireman431

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

I've done a lot of reading (and my own observations) and discovered that twin engins only burn about 30-40% more fuel, depending on how you use them. Although both engines are running, there is substantially less load on each engine than on a single. There is very little fuel savings when you hear of someone running on one and leaving the other off...in fact there are loads of info out there on why NOT to do that.

Preventative maintenance is double the cost (oil, impellers, filters, etc), but breakdown repairs are not. Especially since a single engine will see harder use than a twin set up.

Aside from purchasing another 20' boat, I'll never own another single engine rig again. Always twins for me from now on.
 

dingbat

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Lets see. You boat in Maryland and he boats in a lot colder water in NewFoundland.
Hum.... being a avid striper fisherman, I do a good part of my boating in the winter when the water temps are below 40 degree F. Air temps even lower, sometimes much lower.

The water temperatures in New Foundland are not any colder than the conditions I typically incur. Probably warmer if anything.
Besides, what does the water temperature has to do with whether or not you have twins?

Got to ask, what is a "safe" distance you can travel from port w/o twins?
 

JoLin

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

Got to ask, what is a "safe" distance you can travel from port w/o twins?

I could have explained my own answer better. If I were regularly boating in the ocean, where wind, current and tide can take me away from shore instead of toward it... I'd want twins. If I were regularly far enough from shore that rough conditions meant that it could take me several hours at sub-planing speed to get home... I'd want twins. Add in the fact that in those 2 situations, the waters are also sparsely populated... and I'd want twins.

Maybe that explains it better
 

NSBCraig

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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

See more boats 30 miles out with single then twins.

Does the power steering work on them if one motor dies. It doesn't on a lot of sterndrives, so it's really not as simple as shut one motor down and keep going.
 

Slide

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Aug 2, 2010
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Re: Difference between single engine and twin O/B

It will be a good bit more expensive to own. The primary question is risk - are you comfortable with the risk of having only one engine in an offshore situation? If yes, go single. If not, go twins. Having an aviation background, I err for safety - "if you have one, you have none; if you have two, you have one."
 
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