single or twin outboard?

[billye1982]

I just bought a completly stripped 1959 23' Lonestar cruise liner. The transom is completly gone and I see in the brochure it can run twin motors. This is my first boat ever and I have a pretty big project in front of me, the tag says it is rated at 120 max HP so my question is, should I look for two 50-65 HP motors or one 110-150 HP motor? Is there any difference performance wise, do two smaller motors use more or less fuel than one larger one?

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

Welcome to iboats Dry Dock,

Personally I would go with a single outboard. As far as fuel economy, two cycle outboards suck gasoline and are not know for fuel efficency. I don't think twins will help in the fuel consumption any. Plus you have two engines to maintain rather than one.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

If you look at my signature, you will see the twin 1957 35 h/p Johnsons I acquired when I purchased my Lone Star ?Fleetwood Sport? It came with twins out of the factory, and that?s one reason I selected this boat, the cool factor. With twin 35?s on my 16.5 foot run-about, I should get decent performance, but it will cost me in other areas. More gas, more tune up parts, batteries, fuel tanks, basically 2 of everything. Now that said, I am thinking I have the only Lone Star with twins in Michigan, so it should look cool. My boat is rated for up to 90 h/p, I would guess my boat would scream with a 90, but 2-35?s could be fun too.

 

[alligatorgars]

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

Re: sinlge or twin outboard?

If you are going off shore a want the reliablity of a second motor, battery, fuel cell I would go Twins. The twins will be more expensive to purchase, rig, feed and maintain but you will have reliablity even after the power plants get up in age. If you are just going to toodle around in sweet water ole man style hugging the banks of society go with the single. Its a cheaper purchase, cheaper to feed, maintain and you can always swim to shore and walk home if it breaks down. The single is going to be faster because it has less resistance and weight.

 

[sturgeon]

Re: single or twin outboard?

There is a Lonestar group on Yahoo that has lots of information on these boats. Single or twins depends on your usage. Most people go with single if they are in freshwater or Sea Tow can reach them reasonably close when offshore, say 20-30 miles. Actually though these boats are so light that probably a 60 or 70 will give you all the power you will want and get great mileage. I am into restoring so e-mail if you want to converse, EDIT. Where are you located.

 

[oops!]

Re: single or twin outboard?

the above two are correct.......however, as mentioned...the boat was factory set up for twins.

the price difference during maintenance is double........BUT.....its an out board !......the costs are substantially lower than a big block I/O situation.... so the cost is still relativity cheap to run and maintain.

what do you want? that is your call.......

the boat is a tinny....so its a snap to restore to working condition. how detailed you want to go into the restoration is your choice.

cheers
oops

 

[oops!]

Re: single or twin outboard?

hi sturgeon.......welcome to iboats !

lol....on this site we are all into restoring......many of us do it for a living......
it is not cool to solicit on the forums.....nor to supply email links in open forum.....please re read the rules. and edit your post.

looking forward to you helping other members with their projects.

cheers
oops

 

[MichaelP]

Re: single or twin outboard?

Twins always look awesome on those old cruisers. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: single or twin outboard?

Here's my vote