I am commercial aquaculture farmer and many of us have 30' aluminum boat
which we use everyday. The best setup is a diesel with marine transmission
and an outdrive such as a konrad
http://www.konradmarine.com/
or sternpowr www.lancingmarine.com/Sternpowr_sterndrives.pdf
2 other drive system that seem good are www.dbdmarine.com and
http://www.arneson-industries.com/
All of these outdrives have no gearbox, forward reverse and neutral is done
inside the boat by the transmission. This is expensive though,
$40000.00-$50000.00 can for one of the first 2 with a ~250hp diesel and
transmission. The DBD outdrive is around6-7000 US. A common alternative
around here is getting used Volvo diesel sterndrives from
x-RCMP and coast guard boats. These are 6 cylinder ~230hp and can be bought
for around $10000.00can.
Personally I made a big mistake and bought a Johnson 250hp for my 31'. There
is no comparison between this and a diesel in terms of power, fuel
consumption. Last year I burnt around $10000.00 in gasoline and a guy I know
with 2 similar diesel boats only burnt ~$3500.00 and both of his boats were
out as much as my 1. His 230hp diesels is perform like a speed boats
(35+mph) and my 250 is like a tug, empty it just starts to plane at around
20mph and that is top speed.

"HotRod" wrote in message
...
Regardless of motors can anyone recommend some outdrives for an inboard
diesel that I should look at? I'd like to look for something used, once I
know what to look for I can google for more information

THANKS