Mercruiser? or Evinrude???
 

OK, this may or may not by hypothetical:


If looking at used boats. here goes

Both 20 ft.

Nice!
about the same price range, same overall diminsions (+/-)

One is a GM 305 (chevy) Mercruiser

Other is Evinrude with Ford 302

Both are compatible power plants, which isn't of any concern.

I was wondering though, which is eisier to maintain? mercruiser? or
evinrude.

I've never had an evinrude before, and to me they just seem a bit
googly, especially after owning a couple mercs.

What would be the advantages of an evinrude (if any) over a mercuriser
final drive?

Thanks!
Tim

BTW, after reading my post I was hoping that if anybody replied, they
would know that when i was talking about "Evinrude" I was meaning "OMC"


Thanks!
Tim

Doesn't matter,

I did some "googling" and found out a bunch of stuff on OMC...

To me it's a no go. according to all I've read,t hey're rather
unreliable, and the parts are expensive (compared to merc) and harder
to work on to get the job done right.

If anything else, thanks for looking


Tim

Tim,

Are OMC sterndrives even still in production? I thought that they'd sold
their sterndrive business to Volva Penta. That would make them an orphan
whereas the Merc sterndrives are still in production. If you get an Alpha
1 gen II Merc drive they are common as dirt, and the parts are obtainable just
about anywhere, including on the web.

YMMV,

Don W.

Tim wrote:
Doesn't matter,

I did some "googling" and found out a bunch of stuff on OMC...

To me it's a no go. according to all I've read,t hey're rather
unreliable, and the parts are expensive (compared to merc) and harder
to work on to get the job done right.

If anything else, thanks for looking


Tim

OMC sold the stern drive division to Volvo, volvo scrapped everything except
a small amount of technology they wanted, then OMC went bankrupt.

That said - i have a 1984 OMC Stern drive and a huge beef right now with
many people who cringe when i say i have the omc - and here's why...

I recently toured the boats on the 'hard' at my marina - a few weeks ago
there were about 100 boats , now there are about 55 or so. A huge portion
of those boats (75%) are stern drive boats with the leg off for repair.
Brand ? Mainly MERCRUISER - and many (way too many in my opinion) are less
than 5 years old.

While having my 20 year old motor rebuilt last year, it was in the shop
alongside no less than 10 brand new ( 3 year old) mercruiser engines - all
of which had cracked blocks or heads.

What my message ? Yes, OMC Parts can be hard to come by - but, unless you
have pretty new models of volvo or mercruiser, they are hard to come by as
well. There are aftermarket parts for every brand including many for OMC
that are plentifull and cheap (my manifolds are $ 177 each - compare that to
my neighbour with his 3 year old mercruiser, on his 3rd set of manifolds, at
$ 500 per side)

Volvo bought OMC because they couldnt make their drives as good ,
particularly they were after the alloy formula for the metals from what i've
been told - tells you something ! Merc only dreams of one day making a
sterndrive that is any better - they just have better marketing and the
powerhouse of the brunswick corp behind them... its easy to have your power
in all the boats when you happen to make all the boats !

.. NO, Im not bleeding OMC blood, and they are by no means perfect - when I
got mine, it terrified me - but after having the entire thing apart and in
my hands, i now know they are actually very simple, very mechanical, and
pretty easy to fix. Much of the 'gear' is on the outside of the older ones
(tilt, trim, etc), making it very easy to maintain. From what i've seen of
merc legs, they are not any easier to work on, and definitely not easier for
just regular maintenance.

BUT - none of them are perfect, dont kid yourself into believing that - bad
things can happen to any stern drive unit - they are, by design, a
nightmare - put your 200 hp / 200 lbs of torque through a 'z' drive
configuration with steering and shifting encompased, and things can go
wrong. Just about all of the models have an inherent flaw - and once you
know what that is, and look after it , you should be happy . I've been told
on many of the merc legs the trick was to make sure the upper gearcase was
always topped up or else the gears inside would suck air and burn up , and
burn up very quickly !

Keep your unit maintained properly and you should be able to make any of
them last - mines 21 years old and looks and runs like brand new ! Getting
an 'obscure' model of any stern drive will leave you hunting for parts,
which gets harder every year - but if you stick to the alpha/bravo or the
omc cobra drives or the more common models you will find parts - check
around before you buy ! (and watch out for , particularly OMC dealers, that
have a corner on the market and rape you at the cash register... )


"Don W" wrote in message
.. .
Tim,

Are OMC sterndrives even still in production? I thought that they'd sold
their sterndrive business to Volva Penta. That would make them an orphan
whereas the Merc sterndrives are still in production. If you get an Alpha
1 gen II Merc drive they are common as dirt, and the parts are obtainable
just
about anywhere, including on the web.

YMMV,

Don W.

Tim wrote:
Doesn't matter,

I did some "googling" and found out a bunch of stuff on OMC...

To me it's a no go. according to all I've read,t hey're rather
unreliable, and the parts are expensive (compared to merc) and harder
to work on to get the job done right.

If anything else, thanks for looking


Tim

Hey! thanks for the input!

I did a lot of searching and found mostly that the Problem with OMC
outdrives, is that they had shift cable problems, and seemed to take
some "special" know-how to get them adjusted.

But even with the corrective recalls and warrenty, only a few people
seemed to be impressed with the OMC "stinger" "Cobra" etc. etc.

here is just one of the many examples of what I read.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...04e51605f72a10

Hey Tim,
I think its like anything - you could find a guy in a ford with rusted out
body panels, blown gaskets, grinding gears - who would still tell you that
Fords rule !

I think if you are going to have your work done by a shop/mechanic - it
makes way more sense to go with a mercruiser as you will have best luck
finding a mechanic who will work on it, and parts will be reasonable. If
you are willing to do work yourself, you could look at the older volvo's and
omc's .

Most of what I read on the internet has absolutely no bearing in reality and
it written by people who either have never even used the product they are
complaining about, or have completely neglected theirs and then blamed the
manufacturer - FOR EXAMPLE, the shift cable adjustment on the omc's is VERY
easy - it is about 9 pages in my shop manual and it scared the crap outta me
to read it, until i realized that 3 pages were dedicated to removing a cover
that took about 2 seconds to remove ("...carefully open the spring loaded
retaining washer on the upper mount hold down bolt while holding the back of
the mounting plate in proper alignment vs. the ... blah blah blah ..") If
the cable is out of adjustment, then gear may not fully engage - usually you
would hear it 'ticking' - should be a clue !!! But i guess some morons out
there ran around at high rpms with their boat HALF in gear and spun off
their gears ! What a surprise !!! Lets blame OMC for people being clueless
!!!

No matter what brand you have, I can only emphasize "KEEP IT MAINTAINED" -
and do about twice what they recommend !! Change your lower gearlube as
often as practical, and definitely make sure your upper gearcase has the
PROPER amount of lube at all times ! Make sure all of the water and exhaust
flows are working properly, that your water pump is pumping adequate water,
your prop is 'true' and balanced and that your hull is kept clean of debris
and growth (if you are in salt water).

"Tim" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hey! thanks for the input!

I did a lot of searching and found mostly that the Problem with OMC
outdrives, is that they had shift cable problems, and seemed to take
some "special" know-how to get them adjusted.

But even with the corrective recalls and warrenty, only a few people
seemed to be impressed with the OMC "stinger" "Cobra" etc. etc.

here is just one of the many examples of what I read.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...04e51605f72a10

Thanks Coz, that makes a lot of sense. I did some mroe reading and OMC
really didn't design something to be junk. jsut some management errors,
and the big dog eatting the little dog.

it's a shame. I'll take a bit more into consideration when boat
buying. But Mercruiser is high enough, but I do see after market stuff
available. OMC well... if you need parst, soon you may have to look
with a microscope...or so it seems.

Tim

Get a boat with a proper outboard made by the nips. Be done with that
rubbish Tim. Get a brain!!!
bob, friend to capt. neal and other liked minded fellows
of the sea.

bob, friend to capt. neal and other liked minded fellows
of the sea. ..."

Obviously....LOL!

Naw, seriously I had also considered outboards, but to get the power
I'd like, the fuel rating for a 2 stroke (even modern) is horendous!
and the 4-strokes (Honda etc) well, I haven't really found much in my
price range....yet