Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm sort of an inboard/outboard fan, as outboards are very costly if they break. The biggest downside to the inboard engine is that it has to be winterized. I've had both, and have a 4.3 V-6 Chevy presently. The engine and Mercruiser combo is hard to beat for reliability.
The OB's are expensive, I'll give you that.
The newer 4 stoke inboards don't break any more often than an inboard and they don't take up interior floor space. The best part to me though is they are light. Look at the weight of your 220 hp engine/drive combo against a 225 Yamaha sometime. Its about 300 pounds difference. Now imagine everytime you go boating you have to bring along your 300 lb neighbor to sit on your stern...
Generally outboards are really great up to a certain point boat weight wise. Search 350 Yamaha power head failure...my buddies popped last year, repair was around $25k under warranty!
The problem with putting 2 or in my friends case 3 behind a boat is you get a ton of speed, but they burn a fair amount of fuel and don't last. They are a very power dense package and in the marine world that translates into a shorter life span. OTOH you can cruise at 40 knots, something inboards simply cannot match.
Personally I dislike having a cluttered stern, you can't boat fish to the rear of such boats.
IMHO the best way to power a vessel is with straight shaft inboards, preferably with Cummins stamped on them.
Sure OB's CAN be power dense, but those models can be avoided. Most 4 strokes today will outlast the owners life, not an issue. My biggest beef with an inboard or I/O is the noise and vibration. There are just obnoxious compared to outboards. That and deck space on some models is eaten up by the engine and cover.