Drives vs Inboards

raybo3

If you had a choice would you rather have stern drives or inboards on a Cruiser????? I will be interested in everyone's opinion........... 

McGarnicle

Inboards hands down. I've only had drives but I know a few people with inboards and very jealous on how much easier it is to maneuver around the dock and how fast they shoot up on plane with 2 people or 15. 

Dream_Inn

For a typical cruiser in my area, definitely drives.  It allows you to go in many of the shallower areas without draft concern of the inboards.  Also the fuel efficiency is better.  I will say, that efficiency probably evens out with the extra maintenance cost of the drives.  I will say, the ride at a slower cruise speed is so much nicer on the inboards.  It makes it great for being able to enjoy & walk around on the boat while moving at cruising speed.  Someday though, I'll have a larger boat with the inboards and be happy with less maintenance.

LaRea

Sterndrives, but that won't be my answer a few years from now.

I'm still in my working years, which means I am always time-starved.  With sterndrives, I cruise at 32 mph instead of 24.  And I can tolerate shallow water, so I never have to wait for high tide.  I'm not doing any long-distance cruising, so I don't mind the annual haul-out and maintenance.  

When I retire, I'll have more time, and speed will be less important.  I'll also want a bigger boat with longer legs for, say, a Great Loop voyage or maybe just snow-birding.  So, like @Dream_Inn - inboards are in my future.  

zaverin1

Well shallow makes no difference lol
my brother in laws boat has tunnel drives and he can float and take off in shallower water then sterndrives.
peoole always say man I can trim my drives up and get into a foot of water lol
well
you can but maneuvering or getting out will be a chore.
most sterns and inboards can float and function in 2-3 ft of water 

McGarnicle

zaverin1 said:

Well shallow makes no difference lol
my brother in laws boat has tunnel drives and he can float and take off in shallower water then sterndrives.
peoole always say man I can trim my drives up and get into a foot of water lol
well
you can but maneuvering or getting out will be a chore.
most sterns and inboards can float and function in 2-3 ft of water 

Agree. My buddy has tunnel drives on his Sea Ray and can go places I cant 

skennelly

I thought inboards were harder to maneuver vs drives because they only rely on rudders for steering????

04FV270riverrat

I'd rather have the 2 out drives like the Sea Ray 370 Venture.

LaRea

Maybe.  But show me a 40-foot inboard that does what my boat can do:  navigate in 24 inches of water, cruise 32 mph at 0.8 mpg, and hit 43 mph when needed.  My marina only has one tunnel-drive boat, and she's a pig.  Cruises 22 mph on a good day.  

raybo3

skennelly said:

I thought inboards were harder to maneuver vs drives because they only rely on rudders for steering????

They are harder except backing up. Inboards are much easier to back up but that is not a reason to buy inboards. 

Liberty44140

raybo3 said:

skennelly said:

I thought inboards were harder to maneuver vs drives because they only rely on rudders for steering????

They are harder except backing up. Inboards are much easier to back up but that is not a reason to buy inboards. 

Twin Inboards are way easier to maneuver in all facets of docking than twin stern drives. Props are farther forward and you have a ton more control. My father in law has twin inboards on an older boat so I’ve operated both extensively and when docking. 

Agree this isnt isn’t the reason to buy inboards. Buy inboards for the smoother ride and the reduction in maintenance....knowing that reduction in maintenance will be offset in higher fuel costs. 

LaRea

Liberty44140 said:

Twin Inboards are way easier to maneuver in all facets of docking than twin stern drives.  

I'm always mystified by comments like this.  What could possibly be easier than docking a boat with twin sterndrives?  Does it give you a backrub when you're done?  I could dock my boat on a dime and give you 9 cents change.  

@raybo3 great topic.

Liberty44140

LaRea said:

Liberty44140 said:

Twin Inboards are way easier to maneuver in all facets of docking than twin stern drives.  

I'm always mystified by comments like this.  What could possibly be easier than docking a boat with twin sterndrives?  Does it give you a backrub when you're done?  I could dock my boat on a dime and give you 9 cents change.  

@raybo3 great topic.

Just a lot more control. Yep same here, no problem docking my boat, just amazing how much more control I have on the inboards especially in tight spaces or in big breeze. Much easier to get it to go sideways and close the gap to the dock than drives if that makes sense. 

Black_Diamond

Maybe less maintenance. lol. Had a guy with a 42’ SR blow a tranny this fall. Another had a prop shaft shear off. lol

a lot more room below with outdrives, at least in my range of 34’

Black_Diamond

Honestly the direction of new designs it might be outboards VS Inboards VS Outdrives

Liberty44140

So on the fuel portion of this topic stern drives use a lot less fuel than inboards. There is a boattest out there showing an inboard 342 uses 30% more fuel than a stern drive 343. when I made a list of what I wanted in a boat the stand up shower and drives were part of going with the 342, I wanted drives for the fuel economy. When running with my buddy on his sea ray 34 with inboards he burns twice as much fuel as I do (no joke) to keep up with me at 29mph, he cruises at 25 and then burns 25-30% more fuel than me. That said I also run with a sea ray 40 with diesel inboards and we both tracked our fuel on a 100mile trip and he burned exactly the same amount of fuel as I did. 

Liberty44140

Black_Diamond said:

Honestly the direction of new designs it might be outboards VS Inboards VS Outdrives

Agree, seems like outboards and stern drives are the go to for a lot of the new designs 

reneechris14

I guess my definition would be..
Stern drives on a sport cruiser
Inboards on a bigger cruiser 
Personally outboards don't belong in the cruising market I (we all) spend way to much time on the back of my boat.
I agree with above inboards have bigger props under the boat and weight more up front. This helps to plan off better and ride level at low speeds.
I'll stay with outdrives for speed and efficiency.
Well till I get old and get trawler.

212rowboat

Pods..... Heheheheheeee, or.. Do those qualify as outdrives? 

LaRea

Don't drag outboards into the discussion unless you're ready to add pod drives too.  Sterndrive boats haven't gone much beyond 42 feet, but pods can go much bigger.  And there's now a 65-foot center console powered with outboards.  Idiotic?  Sure -- that's the whole point of it.  

LaRea

Ha 212 you beat me to it.

DanD2

Stern Drives all the way for me. We like to back up to sandbars and the stern drives allows us to get closer to shore.

212rowboat

Nah, I've seen 36' mackerel tourney boats here with four 350's across transom, and holding 800ga of fuel....... Burning that fuel in one day entering tourney in morehead city and chasing mackerel to Virginia Beach and back in one day making it back by weigh in. Those things will MOVE, and between tourneys if an engine coughs they're literally two hours out from hanging a spare in its place. For pro or sponsored boats, they make complete since .

212rowboat

And an aside: I backed my diesel into a side island at a local station and topped her 110 gallon tanks off one afternoon on way to pick kid up from practice.. They sell rec fuel there.  A big but not massive CC was there with four big OB's of stern bit dont recall what they were... When I went in to pay one clerk said to another while nodding toward boat "they just crossed a thousand"... I thought dollars and didnt think much about it until I glanced at the machine they were looking at... They were talking gallons.  I remeber thinking "where are they keeping that fuel? There can't be room for wells on that thing!! "  I picked kid up and they were still fueling as I passed back by... Momma was out of town that week so tje kid and I went straight to a car hop bbq for dinner... Its adjacent a state ran launch most decent sized boats use.... This boat being pulled by a f750 "not for hire" rig was heading that direction while we waited... After chowing down I'm waiting for traffic to clear when the rig and empty dripping trailer comes back by... I pulled out directly behind him... He hits center turn lane to make a left at a light, and as soon as he touched the brakes that trailer locked up hard- he hadn't released his trailer brake after dumping... Smoke show... I made a comment to the kid about how nice it must be to be so nonchalant with such an investment... I wager the trailer alone was a $60k investment being I beam likely 10" rails across 3 or 4, cant recall, at least 10k axles. 

Heckuva rig... All about chasing those tourney bucks. Tying this tale in, there has to be a reason they choose outboard and it cant be solely for ease of engine swaps/maintenance... It has to be about space and speed... Point being, if thats a consideration outboards on boats of that class make sense.  Ive seen 35' Grady whites with ob's ... Ive seen cabo's and albemarles with ob's as an option... Gotta be space, huh? 

04FV270riverrat

reneechris14 said:

I guess my definition would be..
Stern drives on a sport cruiser
Inboards on a bigger cruiser 
Personally outboards don't belong in the cruising market I (we all) spend way to much time on the back of my boat.
I agree with above inboards have bigger props under the boat and weight more up front. This helps to plan off better and ride level at low speeds.
I'll stay with outdrives for speed and efficiency.
Well till I get old and get trawler.

plenty of space out back, the outboards are under those rear facing seats! Boattest.com claims the boat is more quit than standard inboard and burns less fuel. I know its a Sea Ray and not a Rinker, but it looks pretty sweet.

raybo3

IMO I do not get "Twin Inboards are way easier to maneuver in all facets of docking than twin stern drives". I will say that it is a little easier backing up with inboards but that's all. I do not have any issues docking with my stern drives. I love the way my 342 handles while up on plain. BTW I owned a Carver with twin inboards so I have had both. 

Willhound

Can't comment on the inboard vs sterndrives as I've only had a sterndrive.
And maybe an entirely new thread......but for my 2 cents I am very intrigued by the outboard idea. Hull integrity. No bellows or hull seals to worry about. Potentially easier maintenance. New models are fuel efficient and extremely quiet. Easy to set up with digital throttle and joystick control. Less odour perhaps in the aft cabin.Flame away!

LaRea

Outboards make fantastic sense, if you don't want a swim platform. 

Yes, you can hide them under rear-facing seats like the photo above.  But don't forget, you still need a mechanical room for the genny, water heater, batteries and other systems.  It's not like outboards suddenly gain you a ton of extra space.  The result is a 32-foot boat with all the space and features of a 28.  

zaverin1

Most inboards don’t even need tabs when trying to plane.
i mean even when you have 10 people when compared to stern.
my bros 13 ft beam twin onboard is a beast and it runs 37 wot and can cruise at 25-28
stay on plane at 12

LaRea

For people that are serious about water skiing, I think it's inboards all the way.  

04FV270riverrat

LaRea said:

Outboards make fantastic sense, if you don't want a swim platform. 

Yes, you can hide them under rear-facing seats like the photo above.  But don't forget, you still need a mechanical room for the genny, water heater, batteries and other systems.  It's not like outboards suddenly gain you a ton of extra space.  The result is a 32-foot boat with all the space and features of a 28.  

Check out photos of the Sea Ray Venture 370, it's a pretty sweet layout. It's still too new pricing wise for me....maybe when I can upgrade in a few (10) years.