Sea Ray 220 SRV

Jes2bryant

New Member
Sep 17, 2020
6
Boat Info
220 srv 1978 hard top
Engines
351 mercruiser with mercruiser outdrive
I am looking to purchase a Sea Ray 220 SRV Hard Top 1978. In driving the boat, there was wind which made it incredibly difficult to dock. However out in the open water I noticed that with the wind of about 15 mph, you could not back up and turn the motor to control the direction of the boat. The wind completely over powered the boats ability to turn in reverse. Is this normal, or could there be an adjustment or something to fix this. Its a mercruiser outdrive. Also, I am not used to older boats the steering is hard to turn when up on plane. Its easy to turn the wheel at low speeds but on plane its effort. Much different than my 99 sea ray 210. Again, is this common with older boats or could something be wrong?
 
With a single Alpha outdrive, it's difficult to control any boat in reverse, especially with wind. The Bravo 3 helps, but still not as good as twins.
As far as steering, that sounds normal if it does not have power steering... if it does have power steering, it needs to be checked.

Some reading for you:
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/220-srv-forum.81731/

Best of luck and welcome to CSR!
 
If the boat has tabs and they were down, that can make reversing more difficult. Also, don't be afraid to give it some juice. Trimming the motor up a bit can also help - it allows the propwash to more fully go under the hull, as opposed to smashing into the transom. This is usually more of an issue with engines on brackets, though.
 
If the boat has tabs and they were down, that can make reversing more difficult. Also, don't be afraid to give it some juice. Trimming the motor up a bit can also help - it allows the propwash to more fully go under the hull, as opposed to smashing into the transom. This is usually more of an issue with engines on brackets, though.
 
Thank you both didn't realize the outdrive made a difference one mercruiser to another. I was so used to a later mercruiser outdrive so expected similar results. Also it does have trim tabs which I am not used to so I bet that made a big difference as they were partially down. Are omc outdrives any better or similar results?
 
Are omc outdrives any better or similar results?

I would stay away from an OMC outdrive since they haven't been made since 1992. You can read about the history of the OMC outdrives at https://www.glmmarine.com/30yearsomc.html . OMC Cobra/Volvo Penta SX drives (1993 and newer) are good drives, but they are really Volvo Penta drives, not OMC.
 

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