⚓FREE for Boat Shoppers: ⚓boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boat-buyers-toolkit ⚓ 28-page resource for new & used boat shoppers to assist in the boat research & shopping process. 🚤FREE for Boat Owners: 🚤boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boater-bootcamp 🚤 For newer boat owners gives you the insights on boat ownership basics, navigation and practical rules of the water and how to avoid, be prepared and handle emergency situations. No more not knowing what you don't know in the boating lifestyle. 🛥AVOID Docking Stress! 🛥boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/best-boat-captain 🛥 If you are not 100% confident in your boat handling skills, get nervous docking, avoid fun situations because you’re not sure you can do it, stress over docking and can’t get your anchor to stick, this program is an absolute must for you 😊BUY with Confidence & DON'T PAY TOO MUCH! 😊boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/first-time-academy 😊 Overwhelmed, confused and frustrated with everything involved in buying a new or used boat? If so, the First-Time Boat Buyer’s Academy will help you find the perfect new or used boat at the absolute best price so you can buy it with 100% confidence and have years of happy boating memories.
We got a lake house in wiscosnin. Just bought a new 23 ssi chap last year. The acess on the back to lounge is far more important to us. We can’t boat past October anyways. The lake freezes over. His points are spot on.
I grew up on a 23ft Caravelle Cruiser. I still remember my dad cursing every spring because he would have to put a set of points on the OMC/350ci Sterndrive to get it running. I also remember how awesome the sound of that motor was under full power planing out. The new Mercruiser I/Os are a 100 times easier to work on and very reliable.I have a Monterrey M4 with the 6.2 Merc and Bravo 3. Love Love Love that boat. No OBs for me!
I've always been an outboard guy myself, I think the reason you see more outboards now is the new 4 strokes are so bulletproof. The old 2 stroke outboards were so finicky/ loud/ smokey. They've really perfected them.
On Lake George in Upstate NY, pretty much only pontoons and fishing boats use outboards. Everything else is inboard or stern drive. The main boating season is very much summer only, and there are a lot of spots on the lake to drop anchor or raft up with other boats, so I think buyers see the larger swim platform as very important.
Great topic. It's clear that at least in coastal waters, the desire or willingness to maintain I/O motors has fallen off a cliff. But when I go to any of the lakes in NH, 99 percent of boats I see are still powered with I/O.
My last boat was a I/O, never again. the maintenance required on those thins is not what I want to do any more. At the moment a Yamaha Jet boat owner, next boat (going bigger) will be either another Yamaha Jet or an outboard.
My first boat was a stern drive and I'll never buy another. If you buy brand new I can see stern drives being fine for some people but I'll only buy outboard or jet from now on. My current boat is a Yamaha jet boat. I live in Texas and having my boat unusable from Nov to March is a huge downside like you said. My biggest issue was repair costs. Just replacing the bellows is $750 to $1000+ every 3 to 5 years.
I'm on the Colorado river in The Arizona Nevada California area and back in the day it was all about Jet Drives and its starting to come back we can also boat year round. I/O's were ruling but that's changing
Thanks for this video, I did not realize the inboard share of market had dropped so much. I love the classic lines of my boat (Bertram 25 moppie) and think an outboard would be ugly but with twin inboards it’s tight to work in the engine room!!
I have a 2007 Bayliner 185 with a stern drive engine. I have heard the pros and cons of stern drives. From my experience, any used boat choice is more about how it has been maintained. I would buy another stern drive that has been well-maintained. In my area, getting your boat serviced is a real challenge, unless you do it yourself, especially with stern drives boats. That has been my biggest challenge.
I appreciate the video, it's nearly on topic with what I've been trying to research, myself. I don't see much discussion online about -current- cost comparisons of I/O's vs. Outboards. A lot of discussions end up being, "Go with what you like more." Or, "Outboard in salt, I/O in freshwater". New boats out right now make quite a bit of use of the added room from taking out the I/O (like the Regal 26XO). I'm really interested in a video that highlights what the use cases are, what the cost comparisons are, the associated maintenance and the ultimate comfort of use when it applies to I/O's vs Outboards....
I second this. Really need a cost/benefit analysis between drive types depending on Salt vs Fresh, which ones can handle shallows/beaching, just how bad or unsafe sterns and outboards are for water sports compared to shafts, and so on.
I have three outboard boats, and two merc IOs, and I don’t understand what you mean about the winterizing. There’s a valve you turn in the engine compartment to bleed the system, the rest drains out when you lift it up or put it on a trailer. I would rather a closed loop cooling system with antifreeze personally, but none of my engines have those.
Hey Matt! Spot on. I think Volvo & Merc should develop new engines, that were compact and efficient like modern outdrives. Pretty sure that would get back some market share for sterndrives. Not sure, if it was a huge investment, since the tech is already out there. Anyway, now it seems they're just milking the cow until it's dead.
Speed and handling are generally better with I/O propulsion. Inboard engines are generally easier to work on yourself as there are a lot of similarities with an automobile engine.
Easier from maybe figuring out how to fix things, but outboards are much easier to actually perform the maintenance and repair from an accessibility perspective
I like I/O They seem easier to workon and access, more like an old car motor. Also if you look at the gph charts the outboards use more fuel. I think also it is cheaper to replace a motor then on an outboard
Another reason: sterndrives are cheaper than jets and v drives. They’re also so easy to maintain for beginners and elders. Not to mention the performance. That Bravo One Mercruiser is a veteran racer for Donzi and is still their highest demanding drive system
I want to replace my sterndrive with an outboard because the maintenance is NOT accessible. I’ve had to replace the starter, the exhaust manifolds, the spark plugs, the oil filter etc and it was all a nightmare to access.
The CAT requirements really killed it more than anything else. VolvoPenta is using a heat exchanger in lot of their IOs to get the raw water out of their block. A lot of the OB run abouts have the cockpit of a 2 foot larger boat as well as a lot of extra payload. Though in all honesty gas engines are going to go to replaced by electric. Both our vehicles are EVs, so is my mower and trimmer. My boat w/ a 5.7 VP and my snow blower are the two last things that use gas. Most people I know fill their tanks up a couple times a year and go out to anchor at the sandbar. Electric engines are so simple and have a lot of torque.
I don’t think boats are going electric anytime soon, neither are planes. We’ve forgotten to address the obvious- weight. Additionally, boats have drastically higher power demands than cars. Aside from that- while possible to seal an electrical system, it’s not well suited to wet environments. Definitely not cost effective/reliable within acceptable parameters of danger to the average operator. I fully expect 50 years from now a significant % of new boats will still be ICE powered. Popular ideas/agendas do not affect the laws of physics.
I've always had stern drives boating on Lake Erie (it's what I grew up with). I've noticed the increase of outboards here too. I've been intrigued by the phenomenon. Here's my question, is one more efficient than the other?
Living along the CT shore and doing 98% of my boating in the salt water, my next boat will have a OB, as I have a I/O VP Four Winns now, which is better suited to fresh water/inland boating, as others have stated.
Every boat I've owned has been pretty old. While I have hade good luck with outboards, I recently switched to a 19' with a Volvo I/O and really started to like it. There are a few things that need to be monitored with this setup but it's quiet, pretty easy to work on and the fuel economy has been better than expected. My saltwater exposed outboards tend to be difficult to take apart as the aluminum likes to swell around all the fasteners. On a side note I do like having the taller transom on my I/O as there is less chance of taking a wave over the back. It can get rough out here sometimes.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon It's a '85 Bayliner 1950 cuddy, with the 2.1L inline 4 and 270 outdrive. After doing some repairs it's a very solid boat (thats rare for one of this vintage), but now I'm working through the cosmetic issues.
@@SRMWorkshop That poor thing must be a dog with only a 2.1... Time to look into a 5.3 LS swap, or 4.3L LV3 swap (LS-based V6, NOT a Vortech, that's 350-based).
@@Drunken_Hamster It works fine, I had it up over 30 last Sunday which is plenty fast for the conditions around here with that hull shape. Besides a swap like that would cost more than what I have into the whole boat and trailer.
I live here in Michigan and that is 90 percent of what you see on any kind of fiberglass boat. We have a defined season when my boat is winterized we are done for months, and no salt water so that is great.
I've never owned a boat. Dad had a Glastron CVX16 with a modded 115 making approx 175. I'm STILL trying to figure out what I should get by posting in your comments and talking with people(what I need/want out of the boat has already been described several times now.) Luckily, it's a long-term decision so no rush, I'm just morbidly curious/ready to figure it out regardless. ADHD is rough, lol.
In the salt water environment, yes. But fresh water? A whole different ball game. Sure, jets and v drives have taken over much of the industry, but stern drives are still in a VERY high demand
No, they’re not dead. Buying my first boat and excited to be getting a sterndrive. Grew up with outboards and they’re terrible. In the way of everything you want to do on a smaller boat and loud. Will be using my boat at our mountain place on a freshwater lake most the time, but we live next to the coast so it will be in the salt some of the time. It’s not marinating in it. And it’s all aluminum, it’s freshwater cooled and you can flush it easy peasy. With Easy Drain there is no more work on a sterndrive to winterize than an outboard. As far as these going away, Volvo has released their new coastal series with advanced coatings, active corrosion mitigation, and a 7 year guarantee. None of these features are on a 10 year old sterndrive most people are familiar with. Mercruiser tech seems to be standing still on the other hand…maybe because they make outboards… Sterndrive tech is getting better. It’s possible all these complaints about salt will go away in the future due to tech advances. Until then get a lift if you’re in salt and enjoy that swim platform!
Statistically, stern drives-I/Os outsell direct drives and V-drives 4/1. Go to any inland fresh water lake and the vast majority of the runabouts are sterndrives and then wake boats, ski boats and the occasional outboard runabout. As far as outboards go, that industry is the one that's dying for anything other than basically toons, Jon boats and fishing boats on the inland freshwater lakes and rivers. It's a rare occasion anymore to see a runabout/pleasure boat fitted with an outboard, unless it's an older boat. Stern drives are definitely alive and doing well.
I don’t think I/Os are dead. It’s a cheaper system for people that can’t afford a larger outboard boat. I mean how much is a 250 hp mercury? Around $30k. I can replace my 5.7L v8 and probably my alpha one drive for $10k? Maybe a little more. I think especially in cheaper boat lineups like Tahoe and Bayliner who are made for the middle class. And maybe even some mid tier boats will continue to make I/Os. I could possibly see a company like Cobalt going to pure outboards, idk.
⚓FREE for Boat Shoppers:
⚓boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boat-buyers-toolkit ⚓
28-page resource for new & used boat shoppers to assist in the boat research & shopping process.
🚤FREE for Boat Owners:
🚤boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boater-bootcamp 🚤
For newer boat owners gives you the insights on boat ownership basics, navigation and practical rules of the water and how to avoid, be prepared and handle emergency situations. No more not knowing what you don't know in the boating lifestyle.
🛥AVOID Docking Stress!
🛥boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/best-boat-captain 🛥
If you are not 100% confident in your boat handling skills, get nervous docking, avoid fun situations because you’re not sure you can do it, stress over docking and can’t get your anchor to stick, this program is an absolute must for you
😊BUY with Confidence & DON'T PAY TOO MUCH!
😊boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/first-time-academy 😊
Overwhelmed, confused and frustrated with everything involved in buying a new or used boat? If so, the First-Time Boat Buyer’s Academy will help you find the perfect new or used boat at the absolute best price so you can buy it with 100% confidence and have years of happy boating memories.
We got a lake house in wiscosnin. Just bought a new 23 ssi chap last year. The acess on the back to lounge is far more important to us. We can’t boat past October anyways. The lake freezes over. His points are spot on.
I grew up on a 23ft Caravelle Cruiser. I still remember my dad cursing every spring because he would have to put a set of points on the OMC/350ci Sterndrive to get it running. I also remember how awesome the sound of that motor was under full power planing out. The new Mercruiser I/Os are a 100 times easier to work on and very reliable.I have a Monterrey M4 with the 6.2 Merc and Bravo 3. Love Love Love that boat. No OBs for me!
I've always been an outboard guy myself, I think the reason you see more outboards now is the new 4 strokes are so bulletproof. The old 2 stroke outboards were so finicky/ loud/ smokey. They've really perfected them.
On Lake George in Upstate NY, pretty much only pontoons and fishing boats use outboards. Everything else is inboard or stern drive. The main boating season is very much summer only, and there are a lot of spots on the lake to drop anchor or raft up with other boats, so I think buyers see the larger swim platform as very important.
Agreed!
Great topic. It's clear that at least in coastal waters, the desire or willingness to maintain I/O motors has fallen off a cliff. But when I go to any of the lakes in NH, 99 percent of boats I see are still powered with I/O.
Thanks for sharing real world observations from NH... you're right its very location and boating style driven for sure
My last boat was a I/O, never again. the maintenance required on those thins is not what I want to do any more. At the moment a Yamaha Jet boat owner, next boat (going bigger) will be either another Yamaha Jet or an outboard.
A few extra maintenance items for sure, thanks for the comment!
My first boat was a stern drive and I'll never buy another. If you buy brand new I can see stern drives being fine for some people but I'll only buy outboard or jet from now on. My current boat is a Yamaha jet boat. I live in Texas and having my boat unusable from Nov to March is a huge downside like you said. My biggest issue was repair costs. Just replacing the bellows is $750 to $1000+ every 3 to 5 years.
I'm on the Colorado river in The Arizona Nevada California area and back in the day it was all about Jet Drives and its starting to come back we can also boat year round. I/O's were ruling but that's changing
Thanks for this video, I did not realize the inboard share of market had dropped so much. I love the classic lines of my boat (Bertram 25 moppie) and think an outboard would be ugly but with twin inboards it’s tight to work in the engine room!!
I have a 2007 Bayliner 185 with a stern drive engine. I have heard the pros and cons of stern drives. From my experience, any used boat choice is more about how it has been maintained. I would buy another stern drive that has been well-maintained. In my area, getting your boat serviced is a real challenge, unless you do it yourself, especially with stern drives boats. That has been my biggest challenge.
I appreciate the video, it's nearly on topic with what I've been trying to research, myself.
I don't see much discussion online about -current- cost comparisons of I/O's vs. Outboards. A lot of discussions end up being, "Go with what you like more." Or, "Outboard in salt, I/O in freshwater". New boats out right now make quite a bit of use of the added room from taking out the I/O (like the Regal 26XO).
I'm really interested in a video that highlights what the use cases are, what the cost comparisons are, the associated maintenance and the ultimate comfort of use when it applies to I/O's vs Outboards....
I second this. Really need a cost/benefit analysis between drive types depending on Salt vs Fresh, which ones can handle shallows/beaching, just how bad or unsafe sterns and outboards are for water sports compared to shafts, and so on.
I have three outboard boats, and two merc IOs, and I don’t understand what you mean about the winterizing. There’s a valve you turn in the engine compartment to bleed the system, the rest drains out when you lift it up or put it on a trailer. I would rather a closed loop cooling system with antifreeze personally, but none of my engines have those.
Not all I/O's have that type of set up... and not all of them are to be trusted fully because they can leave water in the system
Hey Matt! Spot on. I think Volvo & Merc should develop new engines, that were compact and efficient like modern outdrives. Pretty sure that would get back some market share for sterndrives. Not sure, if it was a huge investment, since the tech is already out there. Anyway, now it seems they're just milking the cow until it's dead.
Speed and handling are generally better with I/O propulsion. Inboard engines are generally easier to work on yourself as there are a lot of similarities with an automobile engine.
Easier from maybe figuring out how to fix things, but outboards are much easier to actually perform the maintenance and repair from an accessibility perspective
Thanks for adding to the conversation guys!
I like I/O They seem easier to workon and access, more like an old car motor. Also if you look at the gph charts the outboards use more fuel. I think also it is cheaper to replace a motor then on an outboard
Another reason: sterndrives are cheaper than jets and v drives. They’re also so easy to maintain for beginners and elders. Not to mention the performance. That Bravo One Mercruiser is a veteran racer for Donzi and is still their highest demanding drive system
Really, that's interesting about the Bravo I being MerCruiser best seller
I want to replace my sterndrive with an outboard because the maintenance is NOT accessible. I’ve had to replace the starter, the exhaust manifolds, the spark plugs, the oil filter etc and it was all a nightmare to access.
@@jward92 Well that’s what happens when you don’t take care of your boat
@@SA1NT53 No, that's what happens with any inboard motor that uses raw water for cooling and you use it in salt water.
@@jward92 And you didn’t flush its intake after? Like I said, you didn’t take care of it
The CAT requirements really killed it more than anything else. VolvoPenta is using a heat exchanger in lot of their IOs to get the raw water out of their block. A lot of the OB run abouts have the cockpit of a 2 foot larger boat as well as a lot of extra payload. Though in all honesty gas engines are going to go to replaced by electric. Both our vehicles are EVs, so is my mower and trimmer. My boat w/ a 5.7 VP and my snow blower are the two last things that use gas. Most people I know fill their tanks up a couple times a year and go out to anchor at the sandbar. Electric engines are so simple and have a lot of torque.
I don’t think boats are going electric anytime soon, neither are planes.
We’ve forgotten to address the obvious- weight. Additionally, boats have drastically higher power demands than cars.
Aside from that- while possible to seal an electrical system, it’s not well suited to wet environments.
Definitely not cost effective/reliable within acceptable parameters of danger to the average operator.
I fully expect 50 years from now a significant % of new boats will still be ICE powered.
Popular ideas/agendas do not affect the laws of physics.
Check out the new electric Mercury Avator, with starts with a 7.5 weighing only 40lbs, and goes up from there
I've always had stern drives boating on Lake Erie (it's what I grew up with). I've noticed the increase of outboards here too. I've been intrigued by the phenomenon.
Here's my question, is one more efficient than the other?
I literally takes me longer to put my cover on than it does to take out the 4 plastic thumb screws out to drain the water out of my Mercruiser.
Living along the CT shore and doing 98% of my boating in the salt water, my next boat will have a OB, as I have a I/O VP Four Winns now, which is better suited to fresh water/inland boating, as others have stated.
100% I'm with you on the outboards in salt!
Every boat I've owned has been pretty old. While I have hade good luck with outboards, I recently switched to a 19' with a Volvo I/O and really started to like it. There are a few things that need to be monitored with this setup but it's quiet, pretty easy to work on and the fuel economy has been better than expected. My saltwater exposed outboards tend to be difficult to take apart as the aluminum likes to swell around all the fasteners.
On a side note I do like having the taller transom on my I/O as there is less chance of taking a wave over the back. It can get rough out here sometimes.
Thanks for sharing your experience. What kind of boat are you running with the Volvo?
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon It's a '85 Bayliner 1950 cuddy, with the 2.1L inline 4 and 270 outdrive. After doing some repairs it's a very solid boat (thats rare for one of this vintage), but now I'm working through the cosmetic issues.
@@SRMWorkshop That poor thing must be a dog with only a 2.1... Time to look into a 5.3 LS swap, or 4.3L LV3 swap (LS-based V6, NOT a Vortech, that's 350-based).
@@Drunken_Hamster It works fine, I had it up over 30 last Sunday which is plenty fast for the conditions around here with that hull shape. Besides a swap like that would cost more than what I have into the whole boat and trailer.
I live here in Michigan and that is 90 percent of what you see on any kind of fiberglass boat. We have a defined season when my boat is winterized we are done for months, and no salt water so that is great.
Yep, and I think that's why I/Os will always be a part of the industry, lots of boats in Michigan!
I've never owned a boat. Dad had a Glastron CVX16 with a modded 115 making approx 175. I'm STILL trying to figure out what I should get by posting in your comments and talking with people(what I need/want out of the boat has already been described several times now.) Luckily, it's a long-term decision so no rush, I'm just morbidly curious/ready to figure it out regardless. ADHD is rough, lol.
In the salt water environment, yes. But fresh water? A whole different ball game. Sure, jets and v drives have taken over much of the industry, but stern drives are still in a VERY high demand
Just because they aren't total shit in freshwater, doesn't mean they're good.
@@testboga5991 Tell me why they’re bad then
It will come down to cost and reliability
No, they’re not dead. Buying my first boat and excited to be getting a sterndrive. Grew up with outboards and they’re terrible. In the way of everything you want to do on a smaller boat and loud. Will be using my boat at our mountain place on a freshwater lake most the time, but we live next to the coast so it will be in the salt some of the time. It’s not marinating in it.
And it’s all aluminum, it’s freshwater cooled and you can flush it easy peasy. With Easy Drain there is no more work on a sterndrive to winterize than an outboard. As far as these going away, Volvo has released their new coastal series with advanced coatings, active corrosion mitigation, and a 7 year guarantee. None of these features are on a 10 year old sterndrive most people are familiar with. Mercruiser tech seems to be standing still on the other hand…maybe because they make outboards…
Sterndrive tech is getting better. It’s possible all these complaints about salt will go away in the future due to tech advances. Until then get a lift if you’re in salt and enjoy that swim platform!
yup
i/o for me all the way, cheaper to fix and i want my swim platform at the back
I like the swim platform too on the lake!
Statistically, stern drives-I/Os outsell direct drives and V-drives 4/1. Go to any inland fresh water lake and the vast majority of the runabouts are sterndrives and then wake boats, ski boats and the occasional outboard runabout. As far as outboards go, that industry is the one that's dying for anything other than basically toons, Jon boats and fishing boats on the inland freshwater lakes and rivers. It's a rare occasion anymore to see a runabout/pleasure boat fitted with an outboard, unless it's an older boat.
Stern drives are definitely alive and doing well.
Thanks for adding to the conversation
I don’t think I/Os are dead. It’s a cheaper system for people that can’t afford a larger outboard boat. I mean how much is a 250 hp mercury? Around $30k. I can replace my 5.7L v8 and probably my alpha one drive for $10k? Maybe a little more. I think especially in cheaper boat lineups like Tahoe and Bayliner who are made for the middle class. And maybe even some mid tier boats will continue to make I/Os. I could possibly see a company like Cobalt going to pure outboards, idk.
They are dead for sure. shouldve happened sooner
Thankfully TOYOTA doesn’t make I/O engines