Hi, I'm new here, and would appreciate some advice. I have a 1965 Bertram 25' "Bahia Mar" which is powered with a pair of old 165 Mercruisers/chevy 250. They are tired, and I have seen these boats successfully repowered with a single engine. A friend had one with a pair of Volvo 110 hp engines, and repowered with a Mercruiser TRS with a big block Chevy, was pretty happy with it.
My idea is to find a rebuilt or running takeout dual prop outdrive with a big engine. Any advice on the relative merits of Volvo vs Merc for a heavy boat that will be used at 18-24 kt.
This old Bertram was one of first Vee-hull boats ever built, and it 9'11" wide and weighs at least 5,000 Lbs. It's a 22? Vee all the way to the stern, and is not an easily driven boat. I don't know if a 350 GM engine is enough to drive it, or if I need a big-block, which I think would weigh about the same as the pair of 250 Chevy sixes.
I have no interest in going super fast. The boat is used to get across the bay to an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine, which I do in all seasons, usually hauling the boat out January-March. I used to sail as engineer on tugboats, and am a pretty good mechanic, so the 250 Chevy engines were okay except that they're salt water cooled, the outdrives were wearing out, and they burn a lot of fuel. My hope is that a fuel-injected engine with a duo-prop drive would be more efficient. As built the old outdrives are quite close together, with props turning the same way. The boat will barely twist at all with the engines, and I essentially handle it as if it were a single-engine boat.
The installation work and glassing up the old transom cut-outs is no big deal around here.
Any advise, opinions, comments, or leads on good deals on appropriate engines would be much appreciated.
SEO
My idea is to find a rebuilt or running takeout dual prop outdrive with a big engine. Any advice on the relative merits of Volvo vs Merc for a heavy boat that will be used at 18-24 kt.
This old Bertram was one of first Vee-hull boats ever built, and it 9'11" wide and weighs at least 5,000 Lbs. It's a 22? Vee all the way to the stern, and is not an easily driven boat. I don't know if a 350 GM engine is enough to drive it, or if I need a big-block, which I think would weigh about the same as the pair of 250 Chevy sixes.
I have no interest in going super fast. The boat is used to get across the bay to an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine, which I do in all seasons, usually hauling the boat out January-March. I used to sail as engineer on tugboats, and am a pretty good mechanic, so the 250 Chevy engines were okay except that they're salt water cooled, the outdrives were wearing out, and they burn a lot of fuel. My hope is that a fuel-injected engine with a duo-prop drive would be more efficient. As built the old outdrives are quite close together, with props turning the same way. The boat will barely twist at all with the engines, and I essentially handle it as if it were a single-engine boat.
The installation work and glassing up the old transom cut-outs is no big deal around here.
Any advise, opinions, comments, or leads on good deals on appropriate engines would be much appreciated.
SEO