"HK" wrote in message
. ..
John wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
John wrote:
"jamesgangnc" wrote in message
m...
Good one.

If ypu want a recreational boat then the i/os are the biggest bang for
the buck. Plus you get to have a full length rear deck for messing
with the ropes, skis, tubs etc. Sometimes we're bringing in multiple
people the same time we're putting out multiple people. Outboards are
just in the way, fine for fishing, but forget about it for
recreational boating. I/o's are a bad choice if you're going to leave
it in a slip full time though.

AGREE, in-land, trailer boating, the i/o is the way to go. But like
you said, if left in the water an outboard is better, because all of
the water drains out when you trim it up.

There are many other reasons to pick an outboard over an I/O. One is
that the outboard doesn't have that rubber gasket...

This is a classic "funny line" : " Outboards are just in the
way, fine for fishing, but forget about it for recreational boating."

All you guys using outboards for "recreational boating," well, you're
all wrong, wrong, wrong. :)

LOL - didn't read it that way but you have a point. About the only big
advantage that the i/o has is that the top of the outboard is not in the
way. BUT, with a bunch of kids in and out of the boat or the teenage
bathing beauties lying about, the additional floor space, the flat deck
behind the rear seat, and the diving platform across the whole back ARE
HUGE advantages.


I've never owned an I/O, but, like "Reggie," I've read about them!

Seriously, I suppose they have their place, but there's not much about
I/O's that have appeal for me. Were I a "freshwater" boater, maybe I'd
feel differently.

I don't like that rubber gasket protruding below the water line. I don't
like the fact that the drive unit doesn't lift completely out of the
water. I don't like the extra change in direction from the engine to the
drive to the propeller. I don't like giving up space inside the boat for
the engine box. I don't like the weight of that engine against the stern,
although with the huge outboards now available, the outboard weight
advantage is disappearing. I don't like the manifold maintenance on an
I/O.

Some years ago, I asked one of the Parker Boats family why the company had
dropped the I/O option on several of its pilot house boats, because the
I/O models were fairly popular. Parker offered a diesel I/O. The response
was, "with the new high horsepower four strokes, the advantages of the
diesel are pretty much gone." Well, I agree with that.

Now a straight, conventional driveshaft diesel...that's still appealing on
smaller boats that can handle one properly.


The early OMC I/O's you could pull the outdrive while in the water. They
did not depend on a rubber seal. One of the reasons some houseboats used
them.