Best riding SeaCraft model ?

[cdavisdb]

Music to my ears Father Frank, good info, thanks

On I/0s in salt water: Up north, with short seasons, apparently you can get away with leaving them in the water for the season. At least, so I'm told. I would not have an I/0 kept in the water year round in Florida, not even a Volvo.

On a trailer or lift is a different story. I'm a fan of the I/0. It does have more maintenance than a modern outboard and you do have to be fairly anal about maintenance. but it usually rides better, normally has better torque, you can work on the engine yourself and that old car engine will warn you before it quits, if you are listening. The key is good maintenance. Do that and an I/0 is an extremely reliable system.

Specifically on my boat(s): In 35 years, I've had 4(all volvos) and changed an engine in one of them. Never had a serious failure offshore. Total significant repairs on the drives, 2 bad u-joints (both definitely my fault), one tilt mechanism(0000H are those little parts expensive), one set of power trim cylinders, and a leaky lower seal on one I just bought. That could have been VERY expensive if I had not caught it before any damage was done. Everything except the trim cylinders an the tilt mechanism was bad maintenance, or(the engine) bad advice from a mechanic who was supposed to know what he was doing, but didn't.

Fuel economy: varies a heck of a lot, not sure why. Light load, 3 kmpg. Heavy load, around 2 kmpg. That's with a single 5.7, TB fuel injection, volvo duoprop. Tankage, 100 gallons, figure about 93 usable.