Thanks to everybody, it help me balance the pros and cons.

David, my Paragon PV33 is leaking oil slowly but all seals will need to be
replaced soon. The transmission is ok but i will want to repower soon with
a bigger Diesel and the PV3 series is limited to 300 pounds-feet of torque.
Beyond that the clutch pack will cook itself.

As the boat is single engine, the propeller wash of that big 18x18 is
terrible and the boat can go reverse on a straight line, i though that by
getting an I/O it could be more easy to manoeuver.

Not in a hurry, just collecting ideas and experiences.

Thanks very much.


"David Flew" wrote in message
...
Andre
You did not mention exactly why you need to change it. Unless the Paragon
has major problems I'd try to stick with it. If it ain't broke .... go
boating.
David

"André Langevin" wrote in message
...
I have a 34 feet houseboat with a Chrysler 318 driving a Paragon
v-drive -
the problem is that no parts are available anymore for this tranny and i
would like to change it to somewhat more modern. I have two choices:

Stick with the propeller and shaft model and buy a Twin Disk or ZF
v-drive
transmission

Get an I/O and install it on the boat.

Now i get very decent performance with my engine and propeller
combination
right now. Low speed (8 kts) operation cost is about 12 $ an hour at
1500
rpm and high speed (18 kts) is about 40 $ an hour at 2700 rpm. Top
speed
is 22 kts. I have no experience whatsoever in I/O and i would really
appreciate to receive comments on this.

Cheers

André