Running tandem outboards.

[stanley]

Besides rigging tandem throttle,shift and steering,what other things need to be done?I’ve never done it,but would like to try with two RD14s.

[jeff-register]

On my Dad’s old OMC 17 foot dual deluxe he added a balance tach. If the needle was centered running both motors were running at the same RPM. If one was working harder the needle would show off to either side & was time to balance the mtrs.

[frankr]

Propellers suitable for the occasion. I guess you know they make 4-lever controls, right?

[frankr]

jeff-register wrote:

On my Dad’s old OMC 17 foot dual deluxe he added a balance tach. If the needle was centered running both motors were running at the same RPM. If one was working harder the needle would show off to either side & was time to balance the mtrs.

A noteworthy and interesting comment. Actually, you can tell by sound if they are running different RPMs. That drives some people nuts. Me, it doesn’t bother me that much, Close is good enough for me. In fact, I sort of like the sound. Except two RD-14s sure will be loud.

[wbeaton]

Get them as far part as possible. Use a tach to determine what pitch works best. The motors in this video were running 14″ props on a light boat.It was so much fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEcNBXDy7GY

Wayne
Upper Canada Chapter

uccaomci.com

[wbeaton]

I forgot to add…set the motors so they toe out a bit instead of being parallel with the boat.

Wayne
Upper Canada Chapter

uccaomci.com

[lloyd]

It’s not rocket science but it’s lot’s of fun. And you can easily synchronize them by ear.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Mumbles.

[Mumbles]

A friends Suzies are all electronically controlled and super quiet at idle. The one screen on the dash has it all, tachs, temps, oil pressures, etc.

The closest I’ve ever come to twins is when I mount the Minn-Kota and the Stealth electrics on the tin boat for trout fishing. The Stealth gets me down the lake in a hurry but the old Minnie will do a dead slow troll for dragging a fly around.

https://youtu.be/3dpTugxZ3tc

[labrador-guy]

I ran a couple 10hp Johnsons on my 14′ MiroCraft a couple years ago. Didn’t do anything out of the ordinary getting them on the transom. I used a snowmobile steering rod and tie rod ends to hook the motors together. It was fun, I might try that again one of these days. Kind hairy when you first dump the throttles open. Need some weight in the bow for sure!

dale

[20mercman]

I have run twins several times, but every time it was just two motors that I had to individually control by hand. I like the set-ups shown with the steering rods. In the past, I have run two Lightwins, neutral clutch Fleetwins, Mercury Mk-5’s, Scott Atwater 3.6’s, two Mercury KE-4’s, two 110’s a 110 and 4.5 and a 110 and QD-21, and finally two Mk-20’s. The two Mk-20’s was on our Lund S-14. That thing flew! I would really have liked that steering bar then. It was also pretty LOUD!

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by 20mercman.

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