Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

[txbandit44]

Basically I got a bass boat and its just that a bass boat. To small to pull a skier. My wife wants to ski personally i dont care for it much, maybe that will change. I have started to look at ski boats and I dont mind tinkering and doing alittle work here and there. Have discovered that I/O or direct drive motors are mostly fairly easy to work on.

?'s

When looking for an older I/O what are some things to look out for?
Should I steer more towards mercrusier, volvo penta, chevy, ford......?
I am looking for someting in the early 90's and older, what brands should I just flat out avoid?

What is a good horse power rating? I have seem alot of v8 v6 I-4 and I-6 engines in boats, does the block configureation make a difference or should I just look at horse power numbers?

What style boats will make good universal water sport boats?

The big question I/O , Direct drive or Jet?

I have only seen a few jet boats and most where for pissing off fishermen, going fast, and only 2 or 3 people could fit in it. But I have seen online the new seadoo jet boats. Theyt look pretty cool, i like the safety factor it gives haveing no prop. Are there any older versions of these runnabout style jet boats?

Just wanted to get some insight, if there is already a thread on this point me to it. I cant seem to get search working properly. bout all i can do is post and scan post by post in a forum. all my searches come up blank.



thanks for the help

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

why don't you ask the wakeboarder and skiers. i prefer outboards personally.
http://forums.iboats.com/

 

[hibbert6]

Re: Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

OK, Bandit, I'm going to take this one because I'm pretty naive and yet opinionated, unlike most others on this forum. But the advice I'm offering comes from a combination of my limited experience and mostly from what I've learned from reading this forum for several years.

Sounds to me like you'd like a dual-purpose boat - fishing and skiing - for not too much money. I can relate.

Here's what I'd recommend: a tri-hull with an outboard. Tri-hulls were probably the first open bow pleasure boats, and were popular in the 1970's. They stopped making them in the early 80's as far as I can tell. Brand is not really important - there were many, and they can be found in good condition. They're very stable when just sitting on the water - good for fishing and general safety. The rectangular shape gives useful fishing space in the bow and stern. They tend to come in 2 popular sizes: 15' and 18'. I have a 15 footer. It's a bit cramped, but there's room for 6 adults. My engine is a 65hp Merc O/B. (I wish it was 80hp-the max hp rating for my hull.) The 65 will pull up a 150lb slalom skier, but it takes some finesse.

I pull it with my minivan.

The downside of a trihull is the ride. It doesn't cut through choppy water, it bounces over it.

My Dad had an 18' trihull with a Volvo inboard/outboard, 170hp, I believe. It was great, except that it was quite heavy (required a full-size V8 pickup to pull it out of the water). And, my brother, who built hot rods, was completely lost when he looked at the Volvo marine engine.

I like my outboard. So simple. After reading this forum a lot, I've concluded that they're the way to go. Jets had the safety advantage, but they're terribly inefficient (huge V8's to move the boat from one fuel stop to the next) and don't steer well at slow speeds. Inboard Outboards, while seemingly offering the best of both an inboard and outboard, mostly offer the disadvantages of both - a complex, difficult-to-work-on engine mated to an outdrive that sticks way out there behind the boat. Inboards eliminate that problem, but often put the engine in the middle of the rear passenger area. (Look at a MasterCraft) And for fishing in shallow water, etc., a bit risky. The O/B is lighter, requires less HP to move a given hull, is easier to work on, can be tilted up, and has many other advantages.

Also, one of the 3 companies that made a lot of the older I/O outdrives, OMC, is out of business, which may eliminate a lot of boats from consideration.

I'm trying to get my wife to let me upgrade to an 18' trihull with a bigger O/B - at least 100hp. These are more rare, and I'll need a larger tow vehicle - but for fishing and water sports on the cheap, this seems the way to go.

I bought my 15' boat 12 years ago for $2100, and I've put maybe $1000 into it over the years. They seem to sell for about that price still today. The 18' would be more, of course.

The trick is to buy a solid boat. Read these forums so you'll know what to look for, and can get an idea of how difficult any repairs will be.

I'm sure you'll hear differing opinions. Good Luck!

Dave

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

Mercruiser and Volvo are good, OMC's are difficult to get parts and service for. Apparently the Mercruiser 470 was not good.

 

[s2gots]

Re: Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

from what Ive read, OMC doesnt have the best reputation on this site, alot of people saying parts are hard to come by, and not too many people left that know how to work on them.....but after I looked in the phone book and started calling around, I noticed that just about every place I called serviced OMC!! So, what Im trying to say is, dont be afraid of the OMC if one comes up on your search......do your homework though on that perticular unit...

 

[txbandit44]

Re: Whatg not to buy for ski and wakeboard boats

Thanks for the advice. I am acually thinking about a boat for family skiing and running around the lake. I have found fising from a ski boat is a PIA.