People who went from stern drive to inboard?

[hostage]

I am wondering if anyone that went from an IO to a V-Drive or Direct drive said/thought, "I wish I really had an I/O". I know the inboards are more pricey, though my IO is starting to annoy me. I am curious if there is any buyer's remorse.

 

[ahicks]

This is all about YOUR priorities! Operating an inboard around shallow water (without the ability to raise the lower unit) gets expensive in a hurry for instance! It's also possible to get higher power to weight ratios with a v-drive/straight inboards - in some instance, MUCH higher in something the size of an easy handling maneuverable ski boat. Start talking off-shore size boats and that kind of disappears. Are we talking fresh water only, or is there some saltwater usage potential?

It's YOUR call. Think about what you're doing and what you want to do.Then figure out how to do it with a focus on something more specific.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you bought a 17 year old boat with questionable maintenance history and you have a mechanic that a few people told you to fire (or smack). dont let your experiences sour you. I/O IB, or OB all require maintenance. about 4 times the maintenance than you think. Boating is an expensive hobby

I suggest you read this http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...52-perspective-of-fiberglass-boat-design-life

 

[alldodge]

I/O is more efficient and have better steering control, but maintenance is much greater and they draft more

Inboard less efficient, less draft and maintenance is a lot less

 

[mr 88]

Generally speaking inboards are found on bigger boats than most I/Os ,with the exception of ski boats. Most will be twin engine and handle just as well as I/Os as you use F/R to steer them in close quarters,you don't even touch the steering wheel when docking. The straight forward gear boxes will handle a much larger load than I/Os and require minimal maintenance IMHO. In my case changing the oil every 3-5 years and that's it.. They are a bit less fuel efficient as noted above . I went from a I/O to twin inboards and hope I never own a boat with a I/O again,it is one thing after another that has soured me on them over the years. If I was at a beachfront house and constantly picking up people near shore,taking people skiing that wanted a standing start etc. I would probably go I/O or outboard and deal with it

 

[oldjeep]

I went from a Bayliner 195 to my Malibu VTX (V-Drive) and I don't wish for my I/O back unless I am in really shallow water. Went from $100 props to $500 props so you tend to be more concerned about skinny water. Aside from that my V-drive is better in almost every way

 

[QBhoy]

I went from a Bayliner 195 to my Malibu VTX (V-Drive) and I don't wish for my I/O back unless I am in really shallow water. Went from $100 props to $500 props so you tend to be more concerned about skinny water. Aside from that my V-drive is better in almost every way

I'm not sure I know of anyone who would swap a Malibu for a bayliner 195....but I suppose that is an unfair comparison. You need to compare apples with apples.
I have always liked the shaft drive ski boats like Malibu, MC and Nautique....but they are only good for one thing...and terrible on fuel.
Even worse...staying in the UK, they are unbelievably bad in poor weather and a bit of chop.
I defo would not swap the Campion Chase I/O for a shaft drive speedboat. I would miss the economy, efficiency, practicality and speed.

 

[mr 88]

I'm not sure I know of anyone who would swap a Malibu for a bayliner 195....but I suppose that is an unfair comparison. You need to compare apples with apples.
I have always liked the shaft drive ski boats like Malibu, MC and Nautique....but they are only good for one thing...and terrible on fuel.
Even worse...staying in the UK, they are unbelievably bad in poor weather and a bit of chop.
I defo would not swap the Campion Chase I/O for a shaft drive speedboat. I would miss the economy, efficiency, practicality and speed.

Uhhhh, Ski boats are made for popping people out of the hole and holding there course when being jerked around by the skiers along with pulling multiple people,so they are going to geared/propped for that,the result is poorer fuel economy . And yes ,they are not designed to go out in chop,there flat bottom to keep there wake to a minimum . So I think you need to compare apples to apples as well. Take your Campion Chase I/O and compare it to a Donzi that is driven by a Arneson or straight inboard and let me know how it comes out. The fuel efficiency/economy/speed [ [1-3 mph in most cases] only comes into play at higher speeds where your lifting the hull to reduce drag,at cruise the difference is minimal as the forward weight of the engines keep the bow down without using the trim of a outdrive along with the power loss of transferring the HP through a extra set of gears in a I/O,again minimal loss,but still a loss. Practicality ,going into shallow water and not worrying about taking out your driveshaft is about it, both systems will have bent props under that scenario and the out drive may have a cracked housing as well vs a drive shaft key way breaking in a straight inboard.

 

[QBhoy]

Mmm...not sure you are making much sense to me there.
I was referring to the very quote I made and also the OP original post.
I would never dare compare my boat to a surface drive boat, but I'm sure it would do well against the average performance donzi, haha.

 

[QBhoy]

She will run head to head with this. 496HO. Punches well above her weight !

 

[Scott Danforth]

If anyone wants fuel economy in a boat, get oars or sails

 

[ahicks]

The comments in these notes, to me anyway, reinforce my point about developing priorities. You're the only one who is going to be able to do that, period.

 

[hostage]

you bought a 17 year old boat with questionable maintenance history and you have a mechanic that a few people told you to fire (or smack). dont let your experiences sour you. I/O IB, or OB all require maintenance. about 4 times the maintenance than you think. Boating is an expensive hobby

I suggest you read this http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...52-perspective-of-fiberglass-boat-design-life

The boat was only about 10 years old when I bought it, it is 17 now. I like it, though I do get annoyed at some of the engineering aspects of the boat. It feels like every thing I have issues with wouldn't exist on an inboard and I love water sports. Granted my wife is more of the drifting type. Would like to get a different boat at some point as the cuddy is more of a locker and takes up room where we could put people. I do want some more people capacity and to be honest I could see us going to a wakeboard/deckboat or maybe a complete opposite direction of a cabin crusier. We have only slept in our boat twice in the 7 years. Though I think we need to see what the little human wants todo. That will be the biggest influence. I don't hate IOs, just get annoyed at them. I like them better than jet boats. My wife and I like boating, just different aspects of it.

 

[Dave-R]

A good friend I work with just went from an Inboard outboard to the inboard wake boat. I asked him how he liked it. He took it to Lake Powell and up some of the narrow canyons, and had to fight the wind also. He said you have hardly any ability to steer when traveling slow, or in reverse. Said it was a white knuckle ride all the way. Scraping the fiberglass on a 100,000$ boat would suck. When I go to Powell, the best part for us is the canyon tours in our boat. Also we like to beach the boat and just swim. Like one poster said, it's about what you intend to do. Dave-R

 

[RGrew176]

Most of my boats were either outboard or I/O. My current boat is an inboard model twin engines. My last boat was I/O's twin engines. Based on my usage and experiences I actually prefer I/O's to any other propulsion method. I feel I have more control in various conditions. It is just my personal preference.

 

[EricT71]

Regarding efficiency- someone made a great point that ski boats are propped for their holeshot. They also have hulls that have a lot of water contact. I would be curious how a true apples to apples comparison would go.

I have given a bit of thought on converting my I/O boat to inboard direct drive, what I am most concerned with is the loss of the drive trim. If I have trim tabs, does the loss of drive trim matter much when on plane/under way?

 

[oldjeep]

I'm not sure I know of anyone who would swap a Malibu for a bayliner 195....but I suppose that is an unfair comparison. You need to compare apples with apples.
I have always liked the shaft drive ski boats like Malibu, MC and Nautique....but they are only good for one thing...and terrible on fuel.
Even worse...staying in the UK, they are unbelievably bad in poor weather and a bit of chop.
I defo would not swap the Campion Chase I/O for a shaft drive speedboat. I would miss the economy, efficiency, practicality and speed.

Wasn't meant to be a Bayliner vs Malibu comparison (although the seats in my Bayliner were better quality) The comparison asked for was I/O vs inboard/v-drive. Having a v-drive vs I/O doesn't say anything about the hull shape, while ski boats tend to be bad in chop there are plenty of v-drives and direct drives with deeper v hulls.

Given similar hull configurations I prefer the v-drive/Direct drive for ease of maintenance and simplicity. The I/O is superior if you need to go through skinny water, and has the V/DD boats beat in terms of maneuverability in reverse.

 

[ahicks]

Our OP needs a "universal" boat. Until he finds one, if he wants to go boating, he's going to realize/deal with the fact that a boat is a series of compromises, big ones, that start at the front of it, and often extend well beyond the transom....

 

[QBhoy]

Wasn't meant to be a Bayliner vs Malibu comparison (although the seats in my Bayliner were better quality) The comparison asked for was I/O vs inboard/v-drive. Having a v-drive vs I/O doesn't say anything about the hull shape, while ski boats tend to be bad in chop there are plenty of v-drives and direct drives with deeper v hulls.

Given similar hull configurations I prefer the v-drive/Direct drive for ease of maintenance and simplicity. The I/O is superior if you need to go through skinny water, and has the V/DD boats beat in terms of maneuverability in reverse.

Oldjeep...

Think you have misread my post. I was originally quoting a post. Have a look.

 

[oldjeep]

Oldjeep...

Think you have misread my post. I was originally quoting a post. Have a look.

I read your post where you quoted my post regarding my switch from a bayliner to a Malibu.