Mercruiser I/O vs Outboard SeaCraft?

[jongolds]

anotherr benefit to the I/O is the improved transom access. Doesn't matter if it's for fishing, swimming or waterskiing. They get in the way less than an outboard and in my opinion look nicer too.

[bigeasy1]

I'm in the process of doing over a 74 Tsunami,with I/O power,and hope to have it in the water sometime this coming season.
I thought about a bracket with an outboard,but after i did the math,it was realistically a lot more than i wanted or could afford to spend.

I always was an outboard guy,but around twenty years ago i started fishing the great lakes,where I/O's or straight inboards seem to be the most popular choice of power.
I own a couple I/O boats,and am very happy with them.Both mid eighties drives,one Cobra,and one Mercruiser.

I/O's and Outboards each have pros and cons.Everyone always talks about more deck space in an outboard powered boat,which is true,but for us,trolling with as many as eight rods off the sides and stern,a big outboard hanging off the back makes it very difficult to net a big salmon.
I love that big high flat wide transom,even more so when it's nasty,and the waves are following me when I'm trolling,and
yes,the motor hump can get in the way,but it is a good place to also do some rigging of lines.

As for maintenance,you do have things like the bellows,and shift cable boots that need inspection and occasional replacement to keep the water where it belongs,on the outside of the boat.
The drive has more parts,(gears,u-joints etc)to wear,so in that sense a good maintenance schedule pays big dividends.
One of the pluses,(to me anyway), is that if you go with a carbed powerplant,it's basically a car engine,so you can do lots of repairs yourself,however,plan on getting yourself a pair of knee pads,because you'll be on them when you're working on it.

I happened to get a chance to look under the cowl of a new big Yamaha four stroke "EEK awesome,but very scary,not much there i could fix.
Did i just read on this site that the 350hp Yamaha otbd.was around $24,000.00? A new 300 hp 350mag complete with the drive is about half that.

The fact that you can't tilt an outdrive completely out of the water can be a disadvantage for you salt water folks as far as corrosion goes.
If you fish late in the season,when the temps can be freezing, the I/O can be a disadvantage,as it would have to be winterized with antifreeze,after each use unlike an outboard that drains itself.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a boat with an I/O, but you say the boat is a 1970.Is the outdrive the same year?Some of these older drives had big rubber seals that were prone to leaks,and gear driven tilt and trim mechanisms that could be problematic.

If it's an old drive,I'd give some thought to replacing it with a later model.There's lots of used ones around.If you're replacing the transom,and need a mercruiser cutout pattern for the drive hole,i have one from mercruiser that i can give you.

Finally,my apologies to all the previous replies, if i repeated your answers,it wasn't intentional.

[jjcwheeler]

I've got a couple of pictures of the mercruiser, but I don't know how to post them?