I/O or V Drive?

i boat in salt water, no problems with my alpha's. my grandparents still have the same ORIGINAL alpha 1 gen 1 behind their 85 formula that was in the florida keys and Ft. lauderdale the first 15 years of it's life, then it's been in cape cod since then. keep up with maintenance and the boat will last and so will every part of it.

aparently outdrives rot out behind every boat they are behind. better tell 40% of the boat owners at my marina to install lifts...
 
AFD said:
i boat in salt water, no problems with my alpha's. my grandparents still have the same ORIGINAL alpha 1 gen 1 behind their 85 formula that was in the florida keys and Ft. lauderdale the first 15 years of it's life, then it's been in cape cod since then. keep up with maintenance and the boat will last and so will every part of it.

aparently outdrives rot out behind every boat they are behind. better tell 40% of the boat owners at my marina to install lifts...
Click to expand...

I've got an 86 300DA that I just had to replace the out drives on. Use this as a pro, or con, but they were original, cost me maintenance time each spring and fall to correctly winterize, change impellers, drive oil, pressure checks...etc. I got 28 years out of two Alpha 1 Gen 1 drives, and the port side would have been fine to leave on (just the starboard went to crap).

Because I replaced both drives, had them do bellows, gimbal, shift cables, boots, seals..etc - $5,000.00 or there about for the replacement. It hurts a little but after 28 years, who can complain about an OEM part that broke. My boat sits in the water from April 1st to October 31st.
 
When we starting looking to move up. There was one thing only that was the deal breaker... V-drives. If it didn't have it, you could have given me the boat and I would have still passed on the deal.

Now that said, everyone's situation is different and there is no "right" boat for everyone, they both have the pros and cons so you must decide what is right for you, your boating style, wallet, etc.
 
i have I/O's and don't care either way. if it had v-drives it would cost less but i do the maintenance so it's cheap wither way. impellers would need to be replaced anyway either in the drive or out so that is a non issue, although might be a + because even if the entire pump needs to be replaced it is still under $50 for an alpha. bellows...well that is a pain in the tail but parts are not that pricey, it's the time if you are paying for labor. either way a transmission problem with a v-drive or drive would require the boat to come out but with a v-drive in a tight engine room the engine would have to come out of the boat to replace the transmission.

v drives would give me a better edge in the wind at my marina and popping up on plane is said to be faster with v-drives for the same engine i don't know about that, though thrust from the bottom of the boat would give a better push up on top of the water.
 
IMO Vdrives handle so much better in docking situations and tight quarters manuevers than out drives
due to the "pivot point" being farther forward on the boat...a lot smoother for me backing into the slip
 
The fact is that for boats under 30' you are stuck with stern drives, you like it or not. Between 30' and 34' you have a choice and over 34' boat either have direct drives or V-drives.
 
majoma said:
The fact is that for boats under 30' you are stuck with stern drives, you like it or not. Between 30' and 34' you have a choice and over 34' boat either have direct drives or V-drives.
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Sea Ray currently doesn't offer V drives until you get to the 330DA. You can get stern drives in the 370DA.
 
Went from a 310 with B3's to a 370 with V's. Like the performance of the B3's, but around the dock there's no comparison - V's hands down.
 
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