littlebunker
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2013
- Messages
- 33
I am looking into possibly getting a new (used) boat. I'm hoping to step up to a larger boat (thinking in the 20-25' range), and most of the ones I'm seeing in my area are inboards or i/os. So, I have two question:
One, inboards are all fine and dandy, but I've had the "two is one and one is none" mentality beaten into me, and since there's no way to bring an extra inboard along with me, I'm looking into alternatives. I've seen little kicker transom plates on sailboats and stuff, but are these able to go on basically any boat? Also, they look weak, and like they're designed for small, small motors. Right now, my "backup" is an old, heavy 25hp. If I stepped up, I'd want my backup to be a 40 or something. Pretty sure these sailboat transom plates aren't designed for that kind of stress. So my question is, IS there something that IS designed for larger, more powerful engines? Something I can just bolt on?
Second. I actually just don't have much experience with inboard or i/os. An old 2 stroke outboard I can rebuild in my sleep so I'm just more comfortable with outboards in general. Is there some product that is meant to be a permanent bolt-on transom? I assume people have converted, but I don't know how much of a project this would be. I am also seriously considering aluminum boats, and this seems like a much bigger undertaking than with a fiberglass boat where, theoretically, you can just build a transom out of fiberglass and glass over the engine hole. But, when it comes down to it, I'd much rather but a boat with a sound hull and a broken motor for cheap, and then spend the rest of my budget on putting in a solid transom than spend equal amounts on a boat with a working i/o. Am I crazy for even considering this kind of conversion?
Any thoughts are welcome, thank you all.
One, inboards are all fine and dandy, but I've had the "two is one and one is none" mentality beaten into me, and since there's no way to bring an extra inboard along with me, I'm looking into alternatives. I've seen little kicker transom plates on sailboats and stuff, but are these able to go on basically any boat? Also, they look weak, and like they're designed for small, small motors. Right now, my "backup" is an old, heavy 25hp. If I stepped up, I'd want my backup to be a 40 or something. Pretty sure these sailboat transom plates aren't designed for that kind of stress. So my question is, IS there something that IS designed for larger, more powerful engines? Something I can just bolt on?
Second. I actually just don't have much experience with inboard or i/os. An old 2 stroke outboard I can rebuild in my sleep so I'm just more comfortable with outboards in general. Is there some product that is meant to be a permanent bolt-on transom? I assume people have converted, but I don't know how much of a project this would be. I am also seriously considering aluminum boats, and this seems like a much bigger undertaking than with a fiberglass boat where, theoretically, you can just build a transom out of fiberglass and glass over the engine hole. But, when it comes down to it, I'd much rather but a boat with a sound hull and a broken motor for cheap, and then spend the rest of my budget on putting in a solid transom than spend equal amounts on a boat with a working i/o. Am I crazy for even considering this kind of conversion?
Any thoughts are welcome, thank you all.