Are all years of 22 CDs capable of running twin outboards?

[jmbfish]

Sorry if this has been covered before - I couldn't think of good way to search for this.

I am looking a used 22 and want to either find one w twins or re-power what we buy and it seems like all the newer boats are running singles. Just checking to see if there are any issues repowering the newer boats?

Don't want to open "the debate" on this ....

The only downside I see is reducing access to the water but that seems like an issue regardless given the lack of a swim platform...

Thanks in advance!

John

[ssobol]

Depends on why you want twins. For maneuverability at low speeds, twins can't be beat.

For redundancy, it may be a toss up. Modern outboards are very reliable. Having twins may increase your operating costs for what may be a negligible benefit.

You've already mentioned one downside of twins, the limitation on a swim step. On my single 22 I added a swim step so I have one on either side of the engine. Probably my most favorite mod to the boat.

Depends on where you boat and your personal comfort level. Also keep in mind that a fuel quality issue can take out both your engines and leave you in no better state than a boat with a single engine. Plus double the costs to get the engines sorted out after such a mishap.

[srbaum]

In addition to the comments made by ssobol, twins don't provide the total horsepower output of the stated/rated HP. This is due to drag, created by dragging two outboard lower units through the water.
I like ssbbol have swim platforms, with pull out ladders on both side of my 26 and also on my previous 22. I really appreciated this, in addition to the ability to get in or out of the water, also to access the outboard, while the boat is on the lift, or in the water, for maintenance and changing the prop...

[jmbfish]

Thanks for the quick replies. If I don't have twins I would add a kicker so I am probably SOL w regards to dual swim platforms regardless?

[cbbernard]

On my single engine 22, I have a swim step to port and sufficient room for a kicker to starboard. (It's on my list, and that list be long.)

[robhwa]

One more potential disadvantage of twins, though I only know of this happening once here at Anderson Island with our ambulance boat when they ran across a bar at high speed. You normally run both twins at high speed, so two lower units down. If you hit something hard you can damage both, and have no backup. This did happen here, and they had to paddle to the dock. You normally keep the kicker up when running a single main motor. Thus, if you hit something, you can get home with the kicker.

[jmbfish]

interesting about damaging both motors - had not thought of that. Having run boats w singles and twins i really like the twins. Our boat now is an I/O and catches a lot of wind so docking can strain the marriage at times...

[ssobol]

[jim-in-delaware]

What size kicker is usually sufficient to use as a get home motor on a C-22?

[DayBreak]

[JamesTXSD]

[SENSEI]

As to your question, no, not all can have twin motors. The clasics (pree 1988) do not have a wide transom. Not roomfor twins

[thataway]

You can have two swim steps and a single kicker. There is a bracket made with fits on a swim step, and that is the way I mount my "Kicker" on the Caracal 18 Center console Cat. I don't readily find the link to one. It is basically a piece of Starboard, which has aluminum box tapering to the deck and mounted with 4 5/16 bolts thru the swim platform. It stands about 6" high on the outer part of the swim step. I can leave my Suzuki 2.5 hp outboard there, and is OK when on plane, pulled all of the way up. Displacement speeds it drags a little of the lower unit. The motor only weighs 30# so it can be fairly easily moved from some point in the boat and then the screw clamps tightened to the motor mount.

I have used small kickers--they can give steerage way, but not agains really heavy winds.. However in most cases it will get you to a protected area. Other engines used: Mercury 3.5 HP 2 stroke, and Torqeedo electric outboard (supposedly 3 HP equivalent). In calm water any of these will give 3 knots of boat speed. I like the Suzuki 4 stroke, since it uses gas with no oil added. Simple and easy to run.

I like to tell the story that my dad had a 1932 (?) five HP Johnson OB, which would push his 26' sailboat (hull very similar to C Dory 25, (flat "arc" bottom, no dead rise, hard chine and a trunk cabin a little lower than the C Dory. The boat had 30' Mast, and a 4' fin keel, so it probably had more air and water drag than the C Dory 25. It would push the boat at over 5 knots. After many years this motor gave out, so my dad bought a Evinrude 9.9 hp outboard, and it would push the boat no faster than the older 5 (which had a bigger prop and lower gear ratio). We would routinely go to Catalina when there was no wind, with this 5 hp motor (about 30 miles in 6 hours)

[clayhubler]

[Hunkydory]

Before the last 20 years & 25,000 miles of cruising in our CD22 with twin motors, of which, many of those miles were in areas, where a vhf radio was not going to obtain help if needed, we explored some very remote areas in Alaska, British Columbia & the Yukon & Northwest Territories, alone with a single motor on a 12.5 foot inflatable boat. We never had a problem of any kind with that motor & the only back up was a set of oars & so yes, even 20+ years ago, outboards had become very dependable, but not entirely so, as myself & many others have experienced. When JoLee & I were out cruising in areas like the open to the Gulf of Alaska’s west side of Chichagof Island alone & in close to shore areas, where companies like Boat Tow US doesn’t exist & the likelihood of even making contact with some other boat via VHF radio slim to none, we sure felt more comfortable with the twins & especially now with the twin 60’s, then if I had a single with a small kicker. The single spare 40 to 60 hp motor, though maybe not enough to plane the boat, will still have the power & torque to keep control of the CD22 in any except the most extreme conditions way beyond a small kickers capability.

On this years past group Alaska cruise none of us had actual motor failure, but we did multiple times have kelp or other debris cut off cooling water causing a temporary motor shutdown with varying time needed to clear & have motor running again. If this was to happen in the many different times I’ve been in places where no boat control or poor boat control for just seconds could have been disastrous. Fortunately this only occurred once in a critical situation this year & that was after the group had separated & I was boating solo. In this instance, I was entering Piehle Passage from the Gulf of Alaska on the outside wilderness area of Chichagof Island in somewhat rough seas with poor visibility. There was a slightly below zero tide at the time creating steeper than normal swells for conditions & some breaking in the narrowest part of the 40 foot deep channel between where they were breaking on the rocks & even shallower areas on either side. I was confident enough even in these conditions to film video, up until, I saw kelp all the way across, directly in front. In the video, when I say “that’s not good-I have to put the camera down” is when I first noticed the kelp. In trying to avoid the kelp, but still getting into it, I got off line to far to port & was very close to the waves breaking over the rocks there. At this time the starboard motor quit with a overheat alarm & the port prop lost thrust due to being wrapped in kelp. I was able to quickly with a reverse clear the kelp from the port prop giving me control back enough to get clear of the breaking water over the rocks, while I cleared the debris blocking the intake off the starboard motor with a turn off restart & reverse. If I had a main motor & kicker & the main overheated & shutdown like my starboard twin did, there likely would not have been enough time to have it running under power again or engaging a kicker before being in the breaking water & rocks. As it was, I almost immediately cleared the kelp off the port twin giving power & control to stay off the rocks, while I got the other twin back running & then quickly got on the backside of a swell & stayed there to calm water. Unfortunately videos do not do justice in showing the swells. In the video the waves just look like bouncy sea conditions as I’m heading into the kelp. The kelp being there in that quantity is still mystifying to me, as I’ve been through this entryway many times over the years & this year just a month or so earlier with the group & no kelp in the entryway at all.

If interested in seeing the short video, it’s in my last C-Brat Album, SE Alaska solo cruise 2022. Last video on page one, titled, Piehle Passage not good.

To each there own, as for me, twins it is & will continue to be.

Jay