twin outboards

[isis]

I like to put twin outboards on my boat.How do you know if you have enough room and how does the steering and controls work?I have a 125 outboard on it now.If i going with twin 70 same brand outboard what other parts are needed for the conversing?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: twin outboards

If this is for nostalgia reasons I wish you luck. If you think you will be faster with twin 70's vs a single 125 it may be a "push", only slightly faster and quite possibly slower. You have more weight and more hardware in the water so there is more drag. You need two of everything a single engine needs. Dual control box, two engine harnesses, two ignition switches and alarm systems, a tie bar kit to tie the two engines together for steering and preferably two batteries. Why two batteries? Which regulator will be the "boss" when both engines are running? As for space, measure the width of one engine. Double that and then add about three inches space between them. You will need to have a fuel tank with a dual pickup. You can certainly try a simple "T" arrangement but that's not the recommended way to feed two engines. Post some pictures when you are done.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: twin outboards

While I like having a twin engine installation, and may have one again (just bought another '72 65hp Johnson), one of the major disadvantages over a single motor of similar, total horsepower, is fuel consumption. A pair of 70s is going to burn a lot more fuel than a single 125.

 

[alamosaddles]

Re: twin outboards

While I like having a twin engine installation, and may have one again (just bought another '72 65hp Johnson), one of the major disadvantages over a single motor of similar, total horsepower, is fuel consumption. A pair of 70s is going to burn a lot more fuel than a single 125.

ok...dumb question here...Will a pair of properly maintained and tuned 70's burn more fuel than a properly maintained and tuned 140?

In my mind, a pair of 70's is pushing 140 horses so yea, I see that burning more fuel than a single 125.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: twin outboards

most likely, as you have an extra foot in the water increasing drag. the only reason i see for running twins, is it looks cool. and if offshore running. the redundancy of a back up motor.

 

[noelm]

Re: twin outboards

been down this road a heap of times, if you have 2 X 70HP over 1 X 140HP, then Fuel is increased slightly, because of drag as mentioned before, but the 2 70's will have heaps more torque than the single, they will be slower than the single, but if you were to (say) tie the Boats together in a tug-o-war type of situation, the twins will pull the single backwards, no question about it, but you need a proper twin setup, 2 batteries, 2 fuel tanks, in fact two completely seperate setups, or you defeat the purpose, and then as mentioned, service costs are also to be taken into consideration, but you are servicing two smaller Motors rather than 1 big on, so the cost is not double, but it is more.