Outdrive Aversion - is it justified?

[oldgit]

If only

(Cheap compressor £99 cheap anti-foul gun)

Plus......Weeny tins of leg antifoul you will need 2 per leg @ £20.00 each. £40.00.
Twin outdrives ? £80.00.
You will probably need to prime leg first, 1 x tin primer say, £35.00.
Drive gaitor from cheapo source £40.00
U/J gaitor...............................£30.00
Not forgetting the water intake hose or the shift cable hose of course.
Hopefully you will not damage the big stainless pins or the little ones holding the steering fork to the helmet.
Change the steering shaft fork seals and bushes. £30,00
And then you can see what lurks inside,is the U/J OK can it be rebuilt or is recon needed £150.00,drain leg oil,are the gearshift and propshaft seals OK.
Not mention the rams, ram hoses,lift motors .....aarrgghh.
Oooo and that simple little job of fixing the transom shield bearings,that will be £300 to lift the boat out sir and £ 150 quid for the engine out and ..and... and

 

[omega2]

outdrives?

I would not have another outdrive even as a present, my first and last outdrive nearly had me up Carey Street, and the boat was renamed yo-yo. If you want a boat for all year use it's got to be shafts. IMHO

 

[whisper]

You are having some nasty bills John, but should that put you off all outdrive boats? Its not like you are having this issue every year.. in fact its just this one isnt it?And your problems are not common to all outdrives.
But have you managed to discover if the drying berth is causing of the problem- ie , its a known issue? Hows about a tender, and a mooring. Maybe lease the tidal berth?

No one can tell us the cause, for certain, Gavin.
It is almost certainly due to us having the rams exposed for so much of the year. Now whether the pitting was due to electrolysis, marine animals or original weakness, is anyone's guess.
As you know, we had the boat out of the water for 4 months over the Winter which was a first for us. This regime would improve matters if repeated, as would keeping her on a deep water mooring for some, or all, of the year. We are considering all options at the mo.

I can see a nice big outboard on the horizon!!!??? (smileicon).

 

[PCUK]

(Cheap compressor £99 cheap anti-foul gun)

Plus......Weeny tins of leg antifoul you will need 2 per leg @ £20.00 each. £40.00.
Twin outdrives ? £80.00.
You will probably need to prime leg first, 1 x tin primer say, £35.00.
Drive gaitor from cheapo source £40.00
U/J gaitor...............................£30.00
Not forgetting the water intake hose or the shift cable hose of course.
Hopefully you will not damage the big stainless pins or the little ones holding the steering fork to the helmet.
Change the steering shaft fork seals and bushes. £30,00
And then you can see what lurks inside,is the U/J OK can it be rebuilt or is recon needed £150.00,drain leg oil,are the gearshift and propshaft seals OK.
Not mention the rams, ram hoses,lift motors .....aarrgghh.
Oooo and that simple little job of fixing the transom shield bearings,that will be £300 to lift the boat out sir and £ 150 quid for the engine out and ..and... and

Use Flag antifouing at about £40 per large tin. If the old A/F is OK why prime? Slap the new on as per the boat hull.
U/J set is same as old mini. About £15 and one hour to overhaul. Nothing clever needed, only a big bench vice and a couple of sockets.
Yes there are the unique Volvo "stitch-up" parts, but they should not need regular replacement. Ram hoses made up from the local hydraulics supplier.
You've got to stop shoppiong at marine dealers!!!
The trouble is you South Coast people don't realise how you are being exploited. About £100 for a lift out at Watchet.
I'd prefer shafts but a well maintained O/D is a robust piece of engineering.
You know Oldgit, I'm seriously thinking of opening my own repair shop working at sensible prices. Trouble is, everyone will think he's too cheap and keep paying over the odds because that's what they have been conditioned to think!

Going back to the boat in a bag. It seems worth thinking about.
Why antifoul the bag? Who cares if it gets weedy on the outside?

 

[PCUK]

Having looked at the Sea Pen, it seems overly complicated. I am thinking about a bag that is pulled under the boat manually and then pumped out. I can see the need for some sort of air retaining membrane to allow air to circulate around the hull as just having a poly-bag pressad against the hull would lead to antifouling and even gel-coat problems.
Sorry about hi-jacking your thread Ahoy2!

 

[oldgit]

Yes but

Use Flag antifouing at about £40 per large tin..... You may wish to speak to Flag and ask if they recommend its use on aluminium !

Ram hoses made up from the local hydraulics supplier.....and after a couple of years in salt the mild steel unions rust solid and the steel mesh inside the hose likewise......also the automotive hose thickness used,makes them a right bugger to fit and they get crushed when the leg goes up and down.
Just for good measure they are also so stiff that they can undo the nut at the hose to transom joint,where upon the blimming thing will leak like billy O.......

 

[PCUK]

Hydraulic suppliers have stainless steel as well - I never mentioned automotive - where do you think Volvo get theirs from?
If the leg is already covered with several layers of old A/F later antifouling types are immaterial.

 

[Davy_S]

I only have a small boat with single outdrive(Cranchi 21 with Volvo 290 leg) I dont pay someone else for maintenance, I diy its cheaper, plus you know nothing has been skimped. Not had any problems with the leg apart from normal bellow changes.
We now have major problems with the transom, the boat is old, mid 80s, the area around the transom shield is taking in water, especialy in reverse. What has happened is that over the years the transom has soaked up water. This is party due to a bad design that always leaves water in the bilges.
The result is the transom has gone soft around where the bolts for the shield tighten, this allows water ingress. The answer will be to take the engine out, cut out the grp and plywood, and replace the transom. It does not seem worth the trouble for an old boat. I have another small fishing boat, so for now I dont really care as I am on the water 2 or 3 times a week.
I only really posted this because anyone purchasing an older boat would do well to check for similar issues.
For me, small cruiser/sportsboat, outboard motor, for larger cruiser, shafts only, i would not entertain anything with sterndrives again.

 

[tinkicker0]

I only have a small boat with single outdrive(Cranchi 21 with Volvo 290 leg) I dont pay someone else for maintenance, I diy its cheaper, plus you know nothing has been skimped. Not had any problems with the leg apart from normal bellow changes.
We now have major problems with the transom, the boat is old, mid 80s, the area around the transom shield is taking in water, especialy in reverse. What has happened is that over the years the transom has soaked up water. This is party due to a bad design that always leaves water in the bilges.
The result is the transom has gone soft around where the bolts for the shield tighten, this allows water ingress. The answer will be to take the engine out, cut out the grp and plywood, and replace the transom. It does not seem worth the trouble for an old boat. I have another small fishing boat, so for now I dont really care as I am on the water 2 or 3 times a week.
I only really posted this because anyone purchasing an older boat would do well to check for similar issues.
For me, small cruiser/sportsboat, outboard motor, for larger cruiser, shafts only, i would not entertain anything with sterndrives again.

A common problem on the older cantilever engines, they do put a lot of stress on the transom, then a little water gets around the transom shield and into the wood core.

 

[AndieMac]

The issue of soggy transoms in older boats is not just restricted to sterndrives/outdrives. Outboard powered boats will suffer similarly.

Installation practices were of varying standards, and the appropiate sealing of freshly drilled mounting bolt holes, was not a high priority, in some cases.

The grinding out and replacement of transoms in 70's and 80's boats is quite common, and is usually preformed at the re-power stage (20 years).

 

[AHoy2]

Still averse, but willing to consider

Thanks for the responses, made for some interesting reading. As mentioned above, there are plus points to outdrives which can counter the higher maintenance and durability issues if I take a balanced view. It is back to that boating compromise, so I will widen the range of boats to consider, there must be outdrive boats that will tick a lot of the other boxes for me and could be an enjoyable compromise. Off to do some more research on drives and resume scanning the adds.