Inboard v's Outboard

[jambo]

Please fogive me for starters but its raining again!! I have always had OB's and never had an IB With me starting the winter process of looking around I thought I might look at the differences between the two. I am looking for someone who may have experienced both to give me some pointers. I in the main use my rib for cruising in the waters of the West of Scotland so I would be looking for good overall cruising but also do a bit of toy towing . To be honest I do like the 'kick' of the OB but I am open to opinions.
many thanks and I know I will put up the before the usual suspects DO!!

[Locozodiac]

Personally wouldn't go for a Inboard on a rib mostly because it occupies too much available space at rear, unless you have a large rib. The transmission between engine and leg is more complex and time demanding to service, change parts, etc. The OB is much easier and space friendly to service. Will continue to stick with OB's.

Happy Boating

[Ribliam]

I have owned 7 boats throughout my boating career,5 with outboard engines namely
Mariner 60 hp 2st ,Suziki 70hp 4st, Evinrude 90hp ficht, Evinrude 225 ficht & Suzuki 250 hp 4 st. and 2 with inboards.

I never had any problems with any of my outboards but then again I used to move the boats on fairly often ,seemingly I got off lightly with my Evinrude 90hp.

My experience with inboards has been with Volvos, first one I only kept for 2 seasons as I got an offer to good to refuse.

This brings me to my present boat which I have owned now with 4 years the boat in question is an Exalibur 8.7 mt fitted with a Volvo D6 350 hp. supercharged / turbocharged coupled to a DPR outdrive.

My first year with the boat I had to replace 1 of the hydraulic trim hoses (this was my 1st experience with Volvo prices) since that time I have carried out the following 4 new steering hoses,2nd trim hose,2 new steering rams (this year) and then to top it all off I had to replace my sump this year as corrosion had caused a pin hole.

After removing the engine changing the sump and refitting the engine with a new sump fitted I thought that was the end of it for a while, but no on start up I discovered I had a leak in my power steering pump, new pump ordered and fitted.

Now reading this post people might think that I would say outboards everytime after my experience with the Volvo D6... But I am really happy with this boat and engine setup, I am lucky that I am able to carry out all my own work as otherwise this would have have been an even costlier year had I had to pay for all this work.

The things I like most are the increased range and economy the diesel gives & availibility of diesel in my cruising area of west Cork, and oh yeah as you can see spending a lot of time under the hood working on the engine.

[willk]

That's very interesting Ribliam. If you had had to do that work through a Stealer or Marine Mechanic, how much in Repair and Service cost do you think it would have been, approx?

I'd say there's likely a diesel showing in my tea leaves, but it would be nice to get a handle on the real running costs

Oh, I bumped into Joe McCollam last week - he seems in fine tune.

[Ribliam]

I have never really calculated the running costs as I am luckly able to get the green diesel still (although thats after increasing a lot since I first started with diesel).. (depends on the water )... servicing cost are apprx.€300 per anum which would include engine oil 20 litres,outdrive oil 5 litres, 2 oil filters, 2 diesel filters. I do the 2 belts every second year,as well as the impellar off hand can't remember the prices for these but I have found a Volvo penta agent whose main work is with Volvo machinery, his prices are not as bad as if you were to have to go to a Volvo marine supplier.

I got a quote from a guy (Joe) knows him to remove the engine change the sump and refit I recall him saying "about €800 if I have no problems" believe me I had problems but felt that I would do a better job myself as the engine bay got a good clean and repaint..

"Go on go for the diesel you know you want to"

[Vandad]

I suppose the OP's question is mainly focused on Ribs with Inboard and I have no experience of them on a rib - but I had a Volvo Penta Kad32 on a cruiser.

The most important thing to remember is that Inboard could also be diesel so wherever petrol availability is an issue you will find so many ribs all with inboards! I noticed this in Scottish Highlands where quite a few stormforce and humber ribs were all with inboard.

what I hate about inboards is the shaft and legs etc. as others have mentioned there are so many issues with it (leaks, motor malfunction, etc.)

I personally prefer ribs with outboard.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Ribliam

"Go on go for the diesel you know you want to"

Thanks for the info - that's actually not as bad as I had imagined, granted you're doing it yourself - but based where I am, that is not such a bad idea.

The "engine out" pics are impressive - bet you're glad you stopped to take them. What is the silver/grey paint you used - is it heat reflective or anything interesting?

[Ribliam]

Can't remember the name of the paint it has some heat resistance qualities but nothing like you'd need for coding, just makes it look a bit cleaner ..

[jambo]

Thanks for all the replies that plus the PM's I have received have helped me make up my mine. Again tx to Ribnetters.
Cheers

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[Crusher]

Originally Posted by jambo

Thanks for all the replies that plus the PM's I have received have helped me make up my mine. Again tx to Ribnetters.
Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

And the decision is .............

[jambo]

Ah I thought I would keep the mystery for a while! The decision of the panel is to keep to what I am used to OUTBOARD Many tx to all again appreciated.

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