I-O vs Inboard vs Outboard

I believe with the SR Venture and the 557 outboard, the surface is just being scratched in the outboard arena. If marketed correctly as opposed to hunting next weeks numbers, outboards could rule.
 
I have been having this same debate in my head so glad to see this post. I am looking at boats in the 26 to 32 foot range. I will be using it mostly for day cruising but an occasional overnight. I will be boating in salt water. For that one reason I have been considering the outboard route vs the I/O. As already mentioned, I am concerned with the handling of a single inboard. I am just starting to look into the comparisons. I am most interested in reliability, cost to run (fuel burn), handling and finally how they affect resale. Only because of resale I am considering the single diesel but boy does that add to the cost of the boat.
 
IMO OBs and I/Os needto be out of the water when not used, not the boat just he metal.
If I were buying in the below 30 market today it would definitely be OB and definitely not Merc.
I have had all types of drives and they all have advantages as above but straight drive for deep water in larger boats and OBs for shallow water, beaching and gunkholing is my choice.

Indeed OBs can be awkward to work on but dry storage or trailer storage solves that. My last one I backed onto a lift and that made working easier. The reduction in upkeep in covered dry storage would be a big deal to me.
 
My old boss had a 30 foot CC with a single Yanmar under the helm connected to a heavy duty outdrive via a 2 speed marine gear. He loved that boat, get it up on plane and than flip the switch for 2nd gear, the thing would easily cruise mid 30's and hardly burn any fuel. He is a long time boater, has had anything from a 20 footer to 120 foot and he said that this Viper was by far the best in this size and style of boat.
 
I own two boats - one with I/O and the other a straight inboard with conventional prop through a V drive. I cannot tell you the pain in the rear that I/O's can cause. A straight shaft with a prop is stone simple to fix, even with a V drive box. The I/O cannot be raised out of the water if the boat is left in the water like an outboard.
I have spent $$$ on the I/O. Stick with a straight shaft driven boat with an inboard. All of them can be trailered. I/O's will cost you an arm and a leg. You probably will get more performance with the I/O but it will cost you.
 
I know POD's are not on the table here, but will throw in my .02.
When I first got the pod's i was nervous as crap. I still am to a degree, but the performance of the pod's is right up there with I/O's. Maintenance is lower. I know POD's are pricey but (knock on wood), they have been very good to me.

Keep in mind I am running POD's in the shallowest of bays too!

Volvo has done an amazing job technology wise here and I am impressed at the power plant in my boat.

With all that said, would I pay the money to get pod's in a new boat? That would be a tough call. Inboards certainly are a simple design that works well, but I have seen and heard of 2 inboard boats sinking recently due to seals gone bad. You don't have that with POD's.

If you never drove a POD boat, trust me, once you do, you won't want another system!
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

You need to look around at what the trend is. Down here in so fl you see fewer and fewer small cruisers and more outboard powered centerconsoles many with small cabins for the occasional overnighter while A few years back, the traditional small express (25-35') dominated the market.

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Not only is this trend BIG, but it happened so fast that we don't even have a name for these boats. They're technically CC's, but the trend we're talking about is the move away from small expresses and go-fasts to CC's NOT designed for fishing.

IMO, many of these non-fishing CC's make little sense: not much seating, almost no shade... I think people are attracted to them because they LOOK cool and feature easy-to-own outboards.

As far as I/O's go, I could offer my set of Alpha One legs as trial... The saltwater has done enough damage to them that they're in the back of my neighbor's van as I type this. Total PITA.
 
Dave, as for inboards sinking with seals going bad, you never hear of that with conventional stuffing boxes and packing. That's why I don't convert mine.
 
Long Island South Shore area is not the best place to have a straight inboard, there are many shallow areas where the ability to trim up as with an OB or I/O is very important. If you keep the boat on a trailer, then you can have either. In the water storage, if you are in a high fouling area, the OB is better. If its not a high fouling area, the I/O can work too and it does not come with a mega complex and expensive to repair powerhead. Modern OBs are great till something major happens. As long as we can still get the simple GM car based engines, I/Os will always have that advantage along with their inherent disadvantages.
 
One of the BIG things I'm surprised no one has talked about with OBs (unless I missed it)is having a clear and open swim platform. Here on a freshwater lake, I would definitely go with an I/O on a lift if I were in the under-28' range. The main thing is the lifestyle. Once the anchor is dropped, it's all about swimming and hanging out around the swim platform. I also prefer the overall performance advantage of the I/O over an inboard. For surfing and skiing, I would go IB.

For larger boats, I would go inboard. My straight IB engine room takes up a ton of space, but it is great to work on!
 
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