prop question...

Well, I'll be getting a new boat this winter and had a question about inboards, I've had a sterndrive all my life so I'm not sure. How hard is it to damage the underwater gear on an inboard? I know that with sterndrives all you gotta do is replace the prop unless you REALLY hit something. do inboards have bigger problems?

Yes, inboards are more fragile, and the repair cost will be much higher with an inboard motor. A minor mishap with a rock will usually result in some sort of shaft damage, as well as a prop, fin, and/or rudder. Make sure you know your water when driving your new boat, David! Careful!

Mike,

I completely disagree. Inboards are much more durable. With an I/O or outboard you have the transmission hanging down there, if you hit a good rock you are looking at a new lower end, big $$$.

Now if you look at what some guys are paying (dealers are charging) for what I would consider minor damage it might seem like these boats are very delicate. I guess when they see you spend $50k+ on one of these machines they also think there is plenty of room to charge for "bearing polishing" (my term for unnecessary repairs).

My buddy took his Malibu 20' up a sandbar a couple years ago. You could walk behind the boat. After about 4 hours of digging and pulling with the houseboat rope we finally got it back into the water. Much to everyones surprise there was absolutely no damage to the boat. Try that with an I/O and you likely to be replacing the transom.

Mike, I agree with you to a certain extent. If you really run an I/O into an object and take out the drive, yes, you are looking at a huge bill. I'll give you that. But, in most cases it will never come to that. I hit bottom 3 separate times with my old Bayliner I/O and never had any major damage -- a new prop and a little work to the scag and it was good to go.

On 2 separate occasions (and on a recent thread here on wakeworld), I've seen people have damage that would appear to be very minor, only to find out that the shaft had been bent. I've never seen a quote under $1500 (once you replace the shaft, packing, prop, a fin or two, and possibly a rudder). All of that for damage which appeared to be very minor. Just my 2 cents.

I have seldom seen an inboard totaled from striking underwater objects. The boats are more repairable. The shaft is more easily replaceable than a busted mount on an IO. However, in the moderate damage catagory, like those referenced above, the inboard is more "fragile." For light damage, the inboard is less expensive to repair. So, it is a bit of a wash.

I have had both inboards and I/O. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.

As far as accidents are concerned an I/O is often better. If you run aground at high speed, an I/O will kick up and protect just about everything except the prop. An inboard, on the other hand, you can destroy the prop, shaft, strut and rudder which will cost several thousand $$$ to replace.

Over time, however, and inboard will require far less maintenance. All the running gear on an inboard can last forever. An I/O, on the other hand, will start to have problems at some point. If the boat lives most of the time on a trailer and is used only in fresh water then the outdrive may never degrade enough to be an issue. If you use the boat daily or leave the boat in the water then the aluminum outdrive housing will suffer and can end up destroyed after a few years, requiring $4k to $6K to replace.

I would say that you should be extra cautious abotu running aground with an inboard, but otherwise you will have fewer worries.

Rod

how many times have you run your i/o aground? that's the real question. if you boat in an area where where that's more likely, you may want to avoid inboards.

well, we've never ran it aground heh. We've hit a rocky sandar once which did enough damage to need to replace the prop, but we hit sandy bars, not frequently but probably a couple times a season. Is the draft on a say a tige 22i a lot more then an I/O? and would pure sand hurt the inboard if your goin slow when you hit it?