Outboard recommendations for Bertram 20

[DCCarpenter]

Heya!

I'm a new Bertram owner. I have a Bertram 20 Bahia Mar, I'm not sure of the year yet as I'm title-less (another fun errand to get figured out).

It needed a bit of stringer repair which we are getting into and the Mercruiser 165 had already been removed, the outdrive was missing when I bought it and the gimbal was in not fantastic shape. The transom was dry and nice , we are going to beef it up some and plug the outdrive hole and glass it properly.

I wanted to try and get it out on the water this year so we are going to order up a Bob's Jack Plate with a 14" setback and put an outboard on. It's going to be trailered for this year so I can deal with the tilt issues over the winter as needed. Going to run it off a few gas cans until I can get a tank made, just an hour or so trip on the river or bay to get a feel for the boat.

I was thinking that I might be able to make it work without notching the transom if I go with a 30" shaft Mercury 200 because I could mount the bracket up higher. Not many of these on the used market but I might cough up a bit more money for a low hour one of these if it solved the tilt issue without cutting the transom.

Anyone have any other motor suggestions? I am looking on the used market , lots of older 125-200 hp Johnson's , Evinrude's, and Mercury's out there for $2000 or so that are running. Not always the newest but I've already looked at a few that I got to sea trial and they ran nicely.

What do you all recommend for my minimum motor size? I'm not going to be fishing off shore just cruising around the Chesapeake and possibly very near shore trips(as in within sight of shore) on the ocean just for the heck of it.

Here's a photo of the boat, I towed her down 95 back to southern Maryland from Connecticut with my '95 f250 with a 351 motor. Towed pretty nicely.



Thanks,
Ray

[ktm_2000]

Hi Ray,

I owned a Hiliner 222 Gypsy ( a slightly newer designed version of your B20 bahia mar by Ray Hunt) and I had converted it to outboard power with a 175hp yammie 2 stroke. I never tried to get her to top speed as I had a worn out cable steering setup and was somewhat afraid of going too fast but she would run 24kts at @3600 rpm and would kiss 30kts at 4200 rpm. At cruise I think I was burning 7-8gph. I ended up selling the boat to my buddy who still has it and he added hydraulic steering and was able to top out just over 40kts at 5200 rpm.

Another buddy has a 20 seacraft and a brand new Mercury 150hp fourstroke - he hasn't pushed the motor but the times I've gone fishing with him he is doing 24kts at 33-3400 rpm and burning about 5.5gph. I have been extremely impressed with the Merc 150 four stroke and had considered putting one on the hiliner before I sold it. My uncle has had one and has put over 1000hrs with nothing other than oil changes , fuel filters and did the impeller.

[mike ohlstein]

I believe that the boat was manufactured prior to the Title Era. You'll likely have to have the police check the hull ID to see if it's reported stolen, and then register it as a salvage. A bit of a hassle but doable.

[John Swick]

https://portaproducts.com/porta-bracket/

That an a 250hp outboard....you won't be able to wipe the grin off your face.

Good luck with the repower.
John

[DCCarpenter]

That bracket looks great John, I am seriously considering it.

i was offered what seams to be a good deal on a freshly rebuilt Chevy 350 long block from the local machine shop. With refurbished exhaust manifolds and a new intake manifold, oil pan included, a few other things for $2,800. Plus he will throw in a rebuilt quadrajet carb for $300. All machine work warranteed.

My old motor is out as I am rebuilding the rear stringers...I could install this one fairly easily myself. I need an outdrive but it appears my existing housing is Alpha 1 so I can probably deal with that without it being to crazy expensive.

Really torn, I was thinking of making a nice bench seat where the old motor cover box was (I don't have a motor cover so I'll have to make one).

[John Swick]

Hi,
I'm not a big fan of o/b's, but I do concede that they have there advantages in certain situations.
From you're original post, I got that you had decided to go o/b.
I'm suggesting that if that's the the way you're going, you don't have to notch the transom and fabricate a splash well.
And you don't have to bolt a big flotation bracket on the back, though depending on the amount of hp/weight of your power choice it may be the way to go.
I haven't used a porta bracket yet, but think that the way they offer set back and adjustable lift in one product is very desirable.
I know people that have used the porta bracket and are very happy with them.
The quickest and most economical solution for you isn't an o/b, it's an i/o, cause that's what was there before.
If $$ isn't, the deciding factor, then o/b may be better for you, depending on your use and the region you're using the boat.
There's no right or wrong decision here.
Cheers,
John

[John F.]

http://bertram31.com/newbb/viewtopic.ph ... 43#p103443

Hopefully that link works. They're older pics of my B20 with a 200 yamaha. She'll run 40 knots max with an easy cruise at 20. You mentioned the Chesapeake. I live on Kent Island. If your nearby your welcome to check her out--properly socially distanced.

John

[ktm_2000]

When I did my Hiliner I notched the transom. The low motorwell worked fine, I did take waves into the motorwell but never once did I take a wave into the cockpit. I never had an issue with the motorwell but would concede that the boat would have been nicer if I could have left the transom cap in place as it is a place where folks gravitate to sit in the cockpit.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PEUofgLgmK62qZ2UA
overall view - very similar to 20 Bahia Mar
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dTdzQUkmNyj6k9c68

For my B25 Project I purchased a Hydraulic jackplate similar to CamB25's boat with the goal of keeping the cockpit fully enclosed and be able to lift the motor up and tilt it without a transom notch. I am currently rethinking the whole thing because I messed up, the rating on the jackplate is for 300hp , I concentrated on the HP rating and didn't notice the 625# weight rating, most 30" shaft 300hp motors are 650-675#. Cam's pics also question the ability of the lift plus tilt to be enough to get the prop out of the water if a fishing line got tangled up in the prop.

I haven't decided yet if I am going to
1 Get their heavier duty jackplate and sell this one below
2. Be able to find a motor which will be under the weight rating - use the bracket I have.
3. Use a fixed setback bracket and notch my transom
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mxBepobZaxfhJ9bB7

2 of the 3 the options have me selling the bracket in the pic above - I won't decide on that for a few months (going to purchase motor march/april next year)

All of the 25" motors 300 hp and below will run on that bracket and the height of the transom should allow full tilt on the B20 so it would be a decent path for you.

[CamB25]

http://bertram31.com/newbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12884

Read this thread for some good B20 references.

[DCCarpenter]

Thanks to everyone for the replies , I've been reading up a storm.


KTM - I've researched the jackplate option.You had mentioned a 10" setback, I noticed they had a 14" setback one. We went down to the marina and measured some motors and it didn't look like any of the 25" shaft ones would work would even with the 14" setback without notching the transom.

The 30" looked like it would clear no problem except for the Honda's which were oversized. Yamaha and Mercury looked like they would make it.

The one thing that might work is a v4 125 mercury with a 25" shaft, the older inline 4's won't work but the 14" setback may just make it for the v4 25" shaft. Not sure if I'll be happy with 125 on the boat or not is the only sticking point. I'm not a speed demon but my 13' whaler was zipping me down the bay at 25 today comfortably on a 25hp Johnson so I wouldn't want to be slower than that.

John - I really appreciate the offer on the checking out your Bertram I am about an hour away so a short ride. If I decide to notch I will definitely take you up on the offer even if it means suiting up in my bottom painting tyvek !