The 1st of 2 mariner 175's for my Enforcer

[Old Hickory]

No secret here that I am putting twins on my Enforcer. Just made a deal for a 1985 Mariner 175. One down one to go. I'll be picking it up in a couple of weeks. Gotta make a road trip to Toledo. If any body runs across another, let me know. Here's a pic.

 

[175checkmate]

Very cool. Should run well with twins. Are you installing a custom stand-off bracket to mount the motors on?

 

[JUPITER PULSARE]

Better make sure you get counter rotation motors!!....or you'll be spinning 180's in the blink of an eye!!!

 

[Old Hickory]

Very cool. Should run well with twins. Are you installing a custom stand-off bracket to mount the motors on?

Actually, I'm going use a transom extension w/ a integrated swim platform.
I've looked at several mfg's ie: Stainless; Armstrong; Hermco and D & D marine. D & D appears to the front runner at this point for 2 reasons: price($1600) and that it will be delivered unpainted(they ship it prepped). All the others come powder coated and run anywhere from $2800 to $3900. Heres a couple of pics from D & D.






JupitarPulsare,

I have taken counter rotating props very seriously and looked into it extensively. I initially thought they would be necessary so I posted on this topic at S & F.(not alot of guys here run twins and I didn't get a strong response when I posted about it) Consensus was I didn't really need them since I would only be running 150's or 175's. I am also going to be installing hydraulic steering; which is ideal for running twins that don't have counter rotating props.

The real advantage to having counter rotating props is manuvering in really tight places at slow speeds. Guys at S & F and over at the Boston whaler OG swear by them. But many don't use them and some use cable steering as well, and have for years. Ideally, I would like to have them; but the reality is I don't need them. They are just too hard to come by on the used market and new ones too cost prohibitive.

If you have any other thoughts on it please let me know; because I am certainly still open on the subject. Your posts have always been informative and you seem to know what you are talking about.

 

[175checkmate]

Wildman is the guy to talk to about running twins.
I also don't really see the need for the counter rotation. the hyd steering will tame the tendency to walk. I could see a problem if your planning on running really high prop hight and surfacing props. With the 175's you will not need to run the motors that high. Your going to need the bow lift.
This is going to be a great project to watch.

 

[Old Hickory]

Wildman is the guy to talk to about running twins.
I also don't really see the need for the counter rotation. the hyd steering will tame the tendency to walk. I could see a problem if your planning on running really high prop hight and surfacing props. With the 175's you will not need to run the motors that high. Your going to need the bow lift.
This is going to be a great project to watch.

Thanks; so far it has been enjoyable; but I havn't gotten to the tuff stuff yet.



Hey Jupiter

are you a member at S & F? I dug up the thread and either you or someone w/ the forum name JupiterPulsare posted.

here is the thread:

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140642

it has some good info.

 

[Boston Predictor]

This is going to be one bad enforcer. I hope that the transom bracket works out for you. We just installed a 3' bracket simmilar to the one you showed on a 9.0 meter with twins and for some reason the transom bracket didnt work so well. The engines were shooting water way up over the cowling. We jacked them up thinking that that would help and the boat would cavitate, we lowered them and it didnt work as it should...In the end We had to re install new 25'' engines.
Anyways that whole boat build was a major headache so maybe it was just that the boat was cursed to begin with.
Im definitely subscribed to this build. Twins are bad ass

 

[Old Hickory]

Boston Predictor,

Thats one reason I'm going w/ D&D. Their TE's can be used w/ either 20 or 25" shafts. Hermco and stainless are 25" only, not sure about Armstrong. That makes finding power alot simpler and less expensive.

 

[illMATTic]

counter rotation

dont you just have to find a left hand lower unit? it seems like i have seen them all over ebay for like 500 bucks or so.

 

[Old Hickory]

dont you just have to find a left hand lower unit? it seems like i have seen them all over ebay for like 500 bucks or so.

Thats a good question I do not have an answer too. I can't recall the year mercury began building R & L hand lower units. I know there were conversion kits for some models; but can't recall the years involved.

This came up on a thread in S&F and as I recall mercury simplified counter rotation by making the lower units interchangeable; but I have no idea when that occurred.

 

[zstevens]

holy toledo ! i couldnt resist , when you comin up ? thats my neck of the woods i'm on the n.west side . where you gettin it from ? shop or private ?

 

[Old Hickory]

holy toledo ! i couldnt resist , when you comin up ? thats my neck of the woods i'm on the n.west side . where you gettin it from ? shop or private ?

LOL. Probably next week or the week after; not sure. It's a private sale looks to be solid. I believe it was on a trimate; I have a pic of the boat I may post it later. Check your PM and get back to me

 

[zstevens]

got it sent you one back !

 

[ezstriper]

the counter rotating engines(lower unit) is done mainly to combat torque steer...it will be pretty bad on accel, low speed manuvering not great either way with outboards

 

[Old Hickory]

dont you just have to find a left hand lower unit? it seems like i have seen them all over ebay for like 500 bucks or so.

Just found out from Raceman on S&F; I just need to switch out the gear case. Apparently; all v6 mercs are interchangeable. If the price is reasonable there's not not a good reason not to do it. Thanks for bringing that to my attention

 

[JUPITER PULSARE]

Hey Old Hickory, I bring up the issue of counter rotation for your own safety, it has nothing to do with taming torque steer. If you start surfacing the props (with higher speeds and motor heights) the stern will want to crab sideways and make the boat difficult to control. Without counter rotators, you will also lose the benefits maximizing you top end speed by experimenting with turning the props in vs out. Different bottoms benefit by changing the rotation of the props.....v-bottoms tend to "split" the water forward of the props thereby sending "airated" water to the props (better to turn the props away from the airated water or "turn out". Pad bottoms ride higher in the water and benefit from turning the props "in" to create additional lift/pressure in the stern.....Cats are a whole nother story......

 

[Old Hickory]

Hey Old Hickory, I bring up the issue of counter rotation for your own safety, it has nothing to do with taming torque steer. If you start surfacing the props (with higher speeds and motor heights) the stern will want to crab sideways and make the boat difficult to control. Without counter rotators, you will also lose the benefits maximizing you top end speed by experimenting with turning the props in vs out. Different bottoms benefit by changing the rotation of the props.....v-bottoms tend to "split" the water forward of the props thereby sending "airated" water to the props (better to turn the props away from the airated water or "turn out". Pad bottoms ride higher in the water and benefit from turning the props "in" to create additional lift/pressure in the stern.....Cats are a whole nother story......

None of this lost on me; I'm not sure I'll be setting this Enforcer up for optimum speed at this point. It will be pimarily used as a family/ski boat. I'll be keeping the lower units down in the water and since I'll be using a extension, my set back will be around 30 inches. Turbulance should be decreased considerably, so they say. However, once I begin, and I find the second motor, all bets are off; especially if I find a counter rotating or a lower unit. The key will be finding them w/o spending an arm and leg; if not, I believe the boat can bet set up so unidirectional motors can be run safely.

I'll definately make another post once I get a little closer and weigh all the pros and cons again. Thanks for your insight. I definately will contact you when the time comes for additional advice.

 

[SCT]

OldHickory, There is a guy on S&F that runs a dual ob Enforcer. You might try PMing him for some advice. Search under Bill Gohr. He is in the IL area.

Good luck,
SCT

 

[Old Hickory]

OldHickory, There is a guy on S&F that runs a dual ob Enforcer. You might try PMing him for some advice. Search under Bill Gohr. He is in the IL area.

Good luck,
SCT

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that