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The best outboards to power a small barge

B

big_builder

Contributing Member
"Hello,

I was hoping I coul

"Hello,

I was hoping I could find someopinions about what people thought about powering my barge. I currently have a single 70 hp yamaha 2 stroke on it. IT has been a great engine. It is older now and we are going to make the barge bigger.

The end result will be an all steel barge 20' wide by 40' long. I am thinking about twin 70 hp engines for this.

I have heard that 4 strokes don't like the cold...and we operate right till freeze up.

How are the 4 strokes for this type of work?

Thanks for all opinions."
 
"I'm not a big fan of 4 st

"I'm not a big fan of 4 stroke outboards, they are heavier and more maintenance intensive then their 2 stroke cousins. But, particularly if you operate in the US or Europe the emissions standards are making it difficult to run a more (classic) 2 stroke.

Personally, I would look to the Direct Injected (DFI) 2 stroke models which for the most part are just as quiet and efficient as the 4 strokes, with a little more guts, plus the EPA likes them too - and as an added bonus, horse for horse they are a little cheaper to buy than a 4 stroke and require significantly less routine maintenance.

At present there are 4 builders out there making DFI 2 strokes - Yami/Merc/OMC-BRP and Tohatsu.

Yami and OMC both use a "Ficht" style design and high pressure injectors, Merc and Tohatsu use an "orbit" (or orbital) style design and low pressure injectors.

I am very partial to the Merc/Tohatsu designs myself, but was part of some "on water" testing of OMC's ETEC a couple years back.

We were testing a 60 horse ETEC on Lake Erie (on the Canadian side). The last tests were in late October/early November with ice forming in the quiet bays along the shore - so although not my favourite of the bunch, it definately performed well in the cold (after some minor tweaking from the BRP tech which was incorporated into the software that they use to flash the engine control modules)....

As a side note, when the multi-month testing was complete, the ETEC went in the test tank to demonstrate how quiet it is etc in the showroom and we mounted the Merc 50 horse 2 stroke back on the "workboat"


I will leave the 4 stroke opinion to someone else, but that's my 2 cents..."
 
"For the size you are making t

"For the size you are making this barge, I wonder what weight you are planning on loading into it. Is there any current where you will be operating this? If extensive mods are being done, perhaps you should be looking at a diesel inboard. If you are talking 1000's of lbs of payload plus a barge in excess of 6000 lbs, and need to stick to outboards, I would settle for no less than twin 200's."
 
"Thanks guys.

Coincidentall

"Thanks guys.

Coincidentally my motor shut down today so I will have to make something work right away.

I have a 140 yamaha sitting in the shop that I think I will put on quick.

Graham, I like you advice and will look into the merc stuff for install over the winter.

I will reply with our choice.\"
 
I have settled on a couple of

I have settled on a couple of ETECS 115. Dealer says I can upgrade to V6 gearcases for bigger props. THis should help push.

Seem to be reading good things about them too.

It will be a winter install so I won't know until next year.

Thanks
 
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