Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Outboard Conversion.... Which Outboard

[thesaintlyone]

Looking like I'm gonna put an offer on the 1993 Sea Ray Sundancer 290. The boat had its engines removed and I plan to fit an Outboard using an ELM Pod as recommended in another thread. The pod is rated to 120hp which is more than enough.

And I'm now looking for recommendations for an outboard ?

My usage will mainly be on UK freshwater rivers with the occasional trip up to the Medway/Thames Estuary for overnights

So considering this what would be a good outboard HP size for the use
Two vs Four

I'm likely to be buying secondhand to get going at first and budget is a consideration as well.

 

[thesaintlyone]

Bump ?

 

[rustybarge]

If you are going to use your boat in rivers then you'll hit lots of rocks and other obstructions when the water level is low, so a strong lower gearbox is a must if you don't want to shear off the very expensive bevel gears. My local board of works uses the Yamaha high trust outboards for this reason, and you should see the condition of their props! The lads tell me you can literally break rocks without damaging the gearbox.


I believe there is a 60hp version that might suit you for river duty, but they are expensive when new: remember you get exactly what you pay for in outboards.