On Sun, 08 Oct 2017 12:50:03 -0400, John H
wrote:
On Sun, 08 Oct 2017 12:38:57 -0400, wrote:
Outboards have a hard time matching the horsepower at any given price
point when compared to a mass produced car engine.
The problem is that auto manufacturer did not design that engine for
the marine environment. You can mitigate some of the problems with
fresh water cooling but not all. Running in the frigid water up north,
flushing/rinsing after every use, storing on a trailer and a very
short season also helps make them last longer.
For someone like me who runs in 80+ degree salt water 3-4 times a
week, never flushes and has a 12 month season, an I/O would have been
trash decades ago. I have repowered 3 times (at around 3000 hours).
With an outboard, that is a few hour job requiring nothing but a come
along and a few hand tools. You are instantly a virgin from the
throttle handle to the prop. On an I/O it is a huge job to swap an
engine and you still have not done anything with the out drive. I am
also not standing on my head in the bilge trying to do the most
trivial maintenance.
Up on the trailer, everything is a stand up job and you can see
everything you are working on.
I suppose if you just drop it off at the dealer and come back a week
or two later, when they are done, that is not an issue. It is only
money but wasn't money the reason you got the I/O in the first place..
My current boat is an I/O, but it'll never see salt water.
You are really pretty far from salt water. The bay, up where you are,
runs around 10 PPT or less depending on season and how far north you
go. The river is pretty much just fresh water.
That is why I/Os seem so popular there. I came down here with the same
ideas but was quickly educated by the locals.
Our climate kills lots of things that work fine up north.
PT lumber and galvanized hardware are other examples.