Double eagle power

Salmon-slayer

New Member
hey looking for openions on a early 80's 17.5 double eagle with a later year 70hp Johnson for power. Not very familiar with johnsons always been a merc guy. Would this motor have enough jam for the boat? Personally I would think 90hp plus would do a better job

Thanks
 
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Big difference between a 15.5 and 17' in weight and displacement
A 70 -2 stroke would be minimum power for a 17', and likely would
be slow out of the hole.
 
I had a 70 Johnson on a 17ft Hourston...it was ok but a 115 Yamaha 2 stroke on my next boat a 17 ft Double Eagle was way way better!
 
Yea sounds like it would be under powered especially with a few people in it. Checking the boat out tomorrow, if it's well kept may be worth selling the 70 and repowering with a bigger used outboard
 
hey looking for openions on a early 80's 17.5 double eagle with a later year 70hp Johnson for power. Not very familiar with johnsons always been a merc guy. Would this motor have enough jam for the boat? Personally I would think 90hp plus would do a better job

Thanks

My 16ft had had a Evinrude 60hp on it and it flew. You will be fine. A 90 would be better both nothing wrong with 70. The main reason guys always ***** is they dont check under the floor. Many DE owners that have 1980's vintage have rotten floorboards and that foam absorbs water. That extra weight weight can be very surprising.

So they keep putting bigger motors on it to compensate. Seen it many times.

If you are doubt take it out for spin with a few people on it. And doubel check that floor. If hasn't been done you are going to have to do it as some point.
 
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I have the same length hourston with a classic 50 on it runs like a top and dose 22kn by my self thought that was pretty good.
Well, expectations vary. My old DE20 cruises at 25 knots when loaded down for a week, and I think of it as a bit of a slug.

But I would still be concerned about the ability of a 70 to pull a 17.5 out of the hole with a couple of guys and gear on board. I really like having a bit of grunt on tap for rough water and personally I think that'd be pretty borderline.
 
I bought a 17' DE from an old guy that had bought it new with a 60 hp Johnson years ago. Definitely needed more power.
 
From an older guy's perspective,almost all those boat's were sold originally with a 70 HP motor,it was standard back then. Nowadays we expect more power/speed out of our boat's but it will perform fine if it's not overloaded or water saturated .Don't expect it to jump on plane with more than 2 guy's on board though.
 
My first DE came with a 70hp it blew and replaced it with a used 90hp. Both older models that at that time these motors were rated at the head. Both motors were under powered for boat. Replaced the 90hp with a 130hp Yamaha 2 stroke that was rated at prop. The boat was a whole new animal. Fully loaded with 3 guys and gear would do 40+ mph.
 
I'll chime in, just as a data point. I have a 16' with a 115 2stroke. With 5 people a days worth of gear and still touched 40mph.

It's not typical to have that many guys on board, but nice to be able to skoot from spot to spot when there is a break in wind/waves.

Tops out at 46.8MPH with 2 people and limited gear.
 
Many of these older boats did get rigged from the dealers with 70's for power. I'm getting old too Ray!! lol But back then nobody ran very far. Cheanuh Marina to the Head, Sooke Harbour to the Island. Now we are running down past Jordan for hali's or down to Sheringham to get away from the weekend salmon crowds. The boats are generally loaded heavier now too, electric riggers, sounders, radio, arches, radar and if you want the range to go further away....more fuel. My 17ft Double Eagle with the 115 2 stroke would do 40mph at WOT but would easily cruise at 30 mph in the motors sweet spot for economy. It also jumped out of the whole with 4 guys in it.
 
My 16ft had had a Evinrude 60hp on it and it flew. You will be fine. A 90 would be better both nothing wrong with 70. The main reason guys always ***** is they dont check under the floor. Many DE owners that have 1980's vintage have rotten floorboards and that foam absorbs water. That extra weight weight can be very surprising.

So they keep putting bigger motors on it to compensate. Seen it many times.

If you are doubt take it out for spin with a few people on it. And doubel check that floor. If hasn't been done you are going to have to do it as some point.

Yea I think they did the foam up until the early 90's models. Heard it can be a major issue on a lot of the older ones. this one been trailered it whole life but never know if it has been properly stor d in winter, it's a real shame when you see a nice boat sitting out in the weather
 
Many of these older boats did get rigged from the dealers with 70's for power. I'm getting old too Ray!! lol But back then nobody ran very far. Cheanuh Marina to the Head, Sooke Harbour to the Island. Now we are running down past Jordan for hali's or down to Sheringham to get away from the weekend salmon crowds. The boats are generally loaded heavier now too, electric riggers, sounders, radio, arches, radar and if you want the range to go further away....more fuel. My 17ft Double Eagle with the 115 2 stroke would do 40mph at WOT but would easily cruise at 30 mph in the motors sweet spot for economy. It also jumped out of the whole with 4 guys in it.

The original owner is an old guy who bought it new then repowerd it in 1999 with the Johnson maybe He just kept the same hp which it originally came with. Boat lived in the interior until the past few years. Personally I'm happy with a boat that dose 25kn not winding the engine out the whole time
 
Many of these older boats did get rigged from the dealers with 70's for power. I'm getting old too Ray!! lol But back then nobody ran very far. Cheanuh Marina to the Head, Sooke Harbour to the Island. Now we are running down past Jordan for hali's or down to Sheringham to get away from the weekend salmon crowds. The boats are generally loaded heavier now too, electric riggers, sounders, radio, arches, radar and if you want the range to go further away....more fuel. My 17ft Double Eagle with the 115 2 stroke would do 40mph at WOT but would easily cruise at 30 mph in the motors sweet spot for economy. It also jumped out of the whole with 4 guys in it.
Totally agree Rolly,the right power for that size boat is 90-115HP,but don't you remember telling your buddy's to come to the bow to get it up on plane with the small motor? Caught lot's of fish and had just as much fun.
 
A 70 will not be enough on a 17'. Will be very slow getting up on the plane, pretty sure you'd need max throttle every time. Get into rough sea, fully loaded, wind and tide, I'd not feel confident. If you have the option of a 90 go with that at least. I have a 115 2 stroke on my 17' which is ideal. On the other hand, I see the 17' rental Hourstons out at Pedder Bay only have 50 hp 4 strokes, however they are bare bone boats and don't go very far, and I'm sure pretty slow getting there.
 
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