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Just seized my ocean runner 225 on the outside of Vancouver Island. First day of a fishing trip to a very remote area of BC. I'm done with singles. I'm wondering if anyone has ever successfully put twins on a 22 outrage? I want it fast, and with twins I can have the confidence that I'll get to come home from 20 miles offshore in a reasonable amount of time if one is knocked down. I'm suspect of having enough room for the two 150's and a 9.9 kicker. Haen't measured anything yet. Just appealing to you all for experience. A thought I'm going to research is the ability to add a "whaler-drive"-ish extenstion to the transom that would lengthen the ride and provide the width to hang the engines. So, if anyone has any answers on that I'd greatly appreciate it as well!
My father has twin 150 Merc V6's on his 22 Guardian. It is a strong runner and with crappy aluminum props runs 51-52 mph. It will cruise in the mid - upper 30's even in very sloppy conditions. One thing though, with all of that weight on the stern is does sit a bit low (it also has 129 gallon fuel tank) and when trolling water does come over the transom. Luckily he has the options splash gate the runs across the transom. With out it things would get pretty wet back there. With the weight of your cuddy up front that would help to offset the lower stern but not to much.
Weight is going to be your biggest issue. The twin Merc 150's weight in at 994lbs total. Your best choice for this set up is going to be the E-Tecs as twin 150's which weigh in at 854lbs (which is the same as twin 200hp E-tec's). Four stokes are out of the question as they are way to heavy.
Also with the twins there is no room nor need for a kicker. We do all of our trolling for salmon with a single engine running.
Lastly 300hp is beyond the rate hp for the hull.....(legal is disclaimer)
Here is my father's guardian. Follow the links (in red) to see videos of it running and more images. 22 Guardian
Here is a 22 Outrage with twin 150 E-Tec's 22 Outrage
Edited by Jeff on 08/11/07 - 4:52 PM
1993 23' Walkaround Whaler Drive
There is enough width on the transom of a 22 to accommodate any pair of outboards you could want. There is NOT enough width to accommodate a pair of motors PLUS a kicker clamped directly to the transom.
You will need to create a way to mount a kicker bracket to one side or the other of the transom notch. This itself is a problem as the Whaler hull has no wood backing in this area. There have been some creative solutions and I am working on one myself for my Revenge 25 which has twin Mercury 150s on it. My fishing has been stymied by not being able to mount my Yamaha T8 on the boat.
Jeff makes a good point about weight. Older two stroke 150 weigh less. My Mercury 150s weigh only 390 each. Your cuddy will help with the fore and aft trim and allow a little more weight in the stern before the transom gets too low.
If you have a late 1989 or 1990 model, you have the full width splashwell which is MUCH better at not getting water in the cockpit. If so, you engine options just increased weight-wise.
The other consideration is that your boat is designed for a 25" shaft length single, but takes 20" twins. To use 25" motors you will need to use jack plates. Some manufacturers offer 20" 150s in counter rotation, other do not.
I would not say that four strokes are out of the question. A pair of Yamaha F150s in the 20" shaft length would weight 932 pounds. They are also available counter rotating.
Some good advice here. I'll echo, the kicker won't be necessary on a boat with twins. For trolling shut 1 motor down...I'm not familiar with the area you fish but here on the eastcoast the seas can get rough and what happens on some offshore trips the sea conditions will dictate your speed. Twin 150's (weight and power) will more then max out your hull. I suggest you also look at a light pair of 115's. You will have the safety of twins at a lower cost to operate and less weight. Good luck.
Siezed on the outside of Vancouver Island? That sounds like a serious bummer. That is one rough coast line.
My brother in law and I were up there in his Outrage 25 a couple of weeks ago. It is a great place salmon fish. Unfortunately for us, the weather (wind) was pretty bad the whole time we were there.
Twins would be great anywhere, but especially in real remote areas such as this, due to the lack of port services.
As far as a 22 with twins and a kicker goes, I don't think it would be that good of an option. If one repowered with twin 115 two strokes, one of them alone would troll pretty nicely, unless you are motor mooching really, really slow. If one had 22 with Whalerdrive, it would probably be feasible.
Years ago, a fellow by the name of John Maynard was running a red gelcoated 25 Outrage for the Budweiser fishing team. The 25 was set up with twin 200 Mercurys on a Whalerdrive. A 15 or 25 hp Mercury was used as his kicker motor. It was mounted on the port side on a custom bracket, fabricated to offset the motor to port further.
I never did see the boat up close to see exactly how the bracket was secured to the Whalerdrive, but I have a picture of the boat in an old Whaler News. It looks like the bracket is attached to the top of the Whalerdrive.
John had a seat set up at the port stern corner that he used so he could hand control the kicker motor. As I remember it, he always looked real comfortable while running the kicker. Also, the 25 with Whalerdrive looked like it handled the weight of the 3 motors back there nicely.
If you can find a copy of the July 1990 Whaler News, the boat is pictured on the front cover.
Good luck on your project and keep us informed on your progress.
Doug Vazquez
