I'm needing to make this same decision for our CD22. Not for fishing, but since we want to head out to the barrier islands off Virginia's eastern shore, we want backup power. Been there many times when we were virtually alone.
It seems to me that with the trim tabs where they are, it's a tight fit back there to allow for much steering, which I assume is preferable to steering with the primary motor. Is steering with the primary motor even practical ??Lotta drag....
I picked up (literally, as I found it at a dumpster) a lifting bracket that could help. It expends out far enough that the lower unit would be behind the trim tab. I wonder if mounted there, it might be farther from the centerline than desirable??
But depending on how high on the transom it is mounted, it would either allow a long shaft to be raised well out of the water, or perhaps a short shaft could be lowered enough to function well.
I would prefer the simplicity of mounting directly to the transom if it would be fully functional. I think that would dictate a long shaft. We have a "swim" platform on the port side, so would need to deal with the control cables, etc on the stbd side, but not that much of an issue.
I'd like to settle on a motor soon (found a Merc 6hp long shaft at a local dealer priced well) but with more than one way to skin this cat, I'd appreciate the experiences of others.
Oh, and on the smoothness of 1 vs 2 cylinders, my experience, although limited, is that a 4 stroke shakes way more than a 2 stroke, same number of cylinders.
