Hypothetical outboard propulsion for a barge

[ofer]

say I have a 40x15 barge and an trying to move it with outboards.
my question is specifically for maneuverability.

option 1:
two outboards in the 60HP hi trust types without steering. Use forward/reverse of each engine to control turns etc.

Option 2:
one 150Hp outboard with steering, Normal setup.

Which option would produce better maneuverability?


Thanks

 

[Comodave]

I think the two outboard solution if they are spaced well apart. Of course it would take 2 people to steer it…

 

[guy with a boat]

The unsteered two-engine setup would be very difficult to make the barge go straight and would be a pain to operate. A single on a barge can be very manueverable if you use to momentum of the rig in fwd/reverse and you should be able to spin it almost in place if the water is calm.

 

[Lepke]

If the barge has flat ends it's not going to move or steer very well. If the motors were mounted one on each side, they both could supply forward or aft motion and reversing one would give good turning.

 

[Portage_Bay]

This may seem odd but I've run a large twin hull barge set up this way.

Stern outboard with enough grunt to move the boat. Full controls, steering, throttle, gear shift. On the bow, on your barge it would be in a well, a smaller outboard mounted athwartships. All you need for that one is throttle and gearshift. In other words a kick arse bow thruster that won't time out.

With a little clever engineering the bow unit could be installed so that it can be reconfigured fore and aft for a get home engine.

 

[twistedtree]

My first choice would be twins, spaced widely apart, but with steering. Twins will give superior maneuvering, and steering will make longer, more typical voyages easier.


If I couldn't have my first choice, second would be twins with no steering. But only if the barge wouldn't be run straight for long stretches.


So it really depends on how you plan to use the barge. A single favors straight runs at the expense of maneuverability. And fixed twins favors maneuverability at the expense of straight runs. So which will you do more, and how much more?

 

[Fish53]

say I have a 40x15 barge and an trying to move it with outboards.
my question is specifically for maneuverability.

option 1:
two outboards in the 60HP hi trust types without steering. Use forward/reverse of each engine to control turns etc.

Option 2:
one 150Hp outboard with steering, Normal setup.

Which option would produce better maneuverability?


Thanks

Lots of guys around here use a similar barge for mooring work and all use a single outboard, works fine and they work in fairly confined space. This one has a single 70hp Etec.

 

[FatBear]

Option 1 is basically like a skid-steer. Extremely maneuverable, but misery to try and drive straight.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I think it mostly depends on the bottom of the barge. If it is flat with no keel probably twins would be best. If it has a keel a single would probably do.

pete