Pros and Cons of a True Inboard

[southkogs]

I knew about some of the challenges of steering them, but also figured there were enough of 'em out there that it wasn't something you can't overcome. Speed isn't a huge concern to me, but being able to just "cruise" is. I like to explore, especially because there's so much water around me I haven't been on.

I'm assuming if you keep it just on plane and throttle back some, they're reasonably efficient? Kinda' comparable to an I/O?

 

[hogg]

I almost hate to contribute to this thread. My info is so old.
I had inboards, and worked on inboards from 49, clear up to 75. Some up to 32' with twin diesels.
Finally I got a nice 29' with a 327 Chevvy (Mercruiser) and then a 24' with the same engine, both were I/O's.

Some of the older boats had 4 Cyl inboards. All were inline 6 or 8 cylinder engines.

The inboard provides more fishing room in the aft end. If your boat has a Cabin that covers the inboard, you get warmth in the winter and a handy table for Chow.
Yes, slow steering is BAD, but not impossible. Even the I/O has slow speed steering problems.

Behind all that experience, now, if I had another long boat, I'd have twin outboards.
You could debate this topic for a long time and still not have any easy answers.

 

[jafo9]

I agree with pretty much everything that was said above. We use our v-drive mainly for sports but we do cruise in it as well because the kids don't think the pontoon is "cool" anymore. one of my buddies has a 21ft cobalt which is a really nice i/o with the volvo dual prop. it is difficult to hold speed in the cobalt as it wants to jump right on plane. not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it tough to hold a steady speed for boarding. i've never tried it at slalom speed so i can't comment there. we slalom, board, surf, etc behind our v-drive. perfect pass helps on my X30 but i'm not sure how it would handle my friends cobalt deep v hull. one comment not mentioned about safety was that to get to the prop, you have to get past the rudder. on an i/o, even with a deep swim platform, there is no rudder to block the prop. as far as working on the motor, a direct drive would be the easiest vs. a v-drive. in the v-drive you have to climb in the rear lockers to access the sides of the motor and contort to get to the raw water pump and impeller. one thing also not mentioned is the silky smooth throttle response typically not found on i/o's. makes driving a breeze. you get used to the one direction backing and you can actually use it to your advantage. for watersports, i don't see us ever leaving the inboard style boat. good luck with your search.