for the most part i see most have the outboards.......was wondering about how the I/O's in this boat are?...under powered?...was also wondering if because of the full transome there is not as much issues of transome problems......anything else i might wanna know?
question on I/O owners
- Thread starter JP
- Start date
I have a friend who own's an I/o 22' Grady, and there is another guy who I met on here with an I/O Grady. Both have had the transom redone. In many cases, the I/O boats have just as much of a problem, if not more. Since the I/O boats were solid transoms, and then cut to accomodate thre I/O, they were never sealed properly with fiberglass. The outdrives were installed and sealed. Over years of use, if an owner does not check the connection between the outdrive and transom, it will begin to allow water in and it will quickly saturate the transom. As for power, my friends IMHO is underpowered, his has I think a 210hp engine, but the engine itself weighs more then an outboard, he cruises at about 23mph and tops out at maybe 32mph. Not sure about where other boaters cruise and top out at, but with an I/O there are many other power options out there. My 1989 22' was repowered around the same time as his I/O and my 200 Yamaha HPDI kicks his I/O's butt speed wise. Ask the seller about previous work, has any transom work been done, has he checked the seals on the outdrive and the connection of the outdrive to the transom. It is possible it is fine, not all boats have transom issues, but older Grady's, along with many other brands do have a tendency to absorb water over time if not properly cared for. A good way to tell is check the scuppers, if they have cracked anywhere it is likely the transom has expanded from water and is no good. Another way to check is to drill pilot holes near the outdrive, if it is solid wood, stop drilling, if you see water, you likely have a problem. Make sure the water comes out before you fully drill through, you do not want bilge water coming out, I'd suggest doing it a few inches above the bottom to prevent that, but still near the bottom so if it is wet it will drain. Only problem with doing this is that to really seal the hull back up, you need someone to fill the hole and cover it with fiberglass resin, or another similar product, a sealant itself will not work, over time it will deteriorate and be the first cause of a bad transom. Another option is have a yard with a moisture meter check the transom. Some have a good ear and can tell from the sound, but it takes experience to do that. I'd suggest checking the rest of the boat out to make sure you are positively interested, and then have it surveyed and checked for moisture. Don't just check the transom, if that has issues, it can stem to the stringers as well. Not trying to scare you off, just giving you your options. There are tons of Grady's out there with good transoms that have been taken care of. If the transom is no good on this boat, you may need to look elsewhere, or determine if the repair is in your budget. It will probably be a little over $1000 for the work, but you will need the outdrive and engine removed to do the work properly, if you know a buddy who can help you with that that is a big plus. Also, redoing the wires is a job you can do yourself if you have mechanical experience and mark it all yourself, that can also save you some money. If this boat fits your budget and needs well, doing the transom work may not be a bad thing if needed, that way you know you have a good safe transom and hull that will last you as long as you own it if it is properly upkept. All depends what type of a project you wish to undertake or not. Only bad part is getting a fiberglass guy this time of year, most good shops will have a bit of a waiting list and you may not get work done quickly. Good luck with your decision. Hopefully some other I/O owner's on here chime in and give you some input on the power issue.
thanks for the info.....i know with the amount of boats out there for sale i can be a little more picky.....thanks again
I have a 1993 24' Explorer with a 5.7 VP FWC Duo Prop I/O. I absolutely love it. I repowered 4 years ago, checked the transom and all was fine. My Dad has a 1988 Seafarer, also I/O. The original motor was a 5.0 OMC Cobra. We repowered his last year to 5.7. We did not remove the transom shield so I can not comment on his transom. Re-power costs are less than half of what it would have been with an Outboard.
Performance wise, I'll speak about my boat. I burn about 10-12 gph (depending on # people and sea conditions) at 3000 rpm cruising at 26 mph. I have plenty of power left if needed. The boat will easily do 30+ mph. The Duo Prop is a nice. Especially in the area of handling - both high speed and low speed manuvering. The boat has the SV2 hull. Combine the SV2 with the weight distribution of the motor more in the boat and the hard top and she rides real nice into any chop.
Functionally the I/O and full transom does have it's advantages. I have a full swim platform. This allows me to back into any slip (again the DP makes handling real nice) for easy boarding or loading. Very nice socially when just handing out in a marina as well. The engine box ends up serving as a table. Fishability is no problem. And trolling at very low speeds is made easy.
As far a maintenance and cost to operate. I remove the I/O every other year and change the boot and do a full service on the I/O. This costs about $500 every other year. Each season is a tune-up at the start and winterization at the close. About $300 for the seasonal tune-up which may or may not include belt changes, WP impellar, etc and $200 for the winterization. I change the oil in the motor in the winterization, and again in August. I usually have close to 75 hours by August, with another 75 possible through the fall fishing season. My next large planned expense with be risers and manifolds either next year or the next.
I bought the boat with the intention of wanting an I/O. Prior to this I had O/B's of all sizes Merc and OMC for 30 years, all 2 Strokes. I blew a powerhead on a 150HP Johnson with less than 300 hours that I had $10K into and said that's it. Only used OMC oil, ring free, and Amaco gas. I practiced very safe fueling. Unfortunalty you run a little lean or something is off and there is no margin, especially on the top cylinders. Adding ethanol to mix would only further complicate the situation. I figured I would minimize the ethanol issue with the I/O to managing the filters and tank. So far so good on that.
On Long Island, we seem to have quite a few I/O Gradys. Given our season of more or less May to November we don't leave them in all year round, so the maintenance works into the calendar. I at least seem to get alot of barnacles (even with the special Tri-lux antifouling I/O paint) so I could see where an O/B would be advantages for a year round situation.
Like anything else - it comes down to how well the boat is maintained. If something needs attention - fix it, otherwise it just gets worst.
My boat is in the Gallery - Explorer model.
Oceanbean
93 Explorer 245
5.7 FWC VP
Long Island South Shore
Performance wise, I'll speak about my boat. I burn about 10-12 gph (depending on # people and sea conditions) at 3000 rpm cruising at 26 mph. I have plenty of power left if needed. The boat will easily do 30+ mph. The Duo Prop is a nice. Especially in the area of handling - both high speed and low speed manuvering. The boat has the SV2 hull. Combine the SV2 with the weight distribution of the motor more in the boat and the hard top and she rides real nice into any chop.
Functionally the I/O and full transom does have it's advantages. I have a full swim platform. This allows me to back into any slip (again the DP makes handling real nice) for easy boarding or loading. Very nice socially when just handing out in a marina as well. The engine box ends up serving as a table. Fishability is no problem. And trolling at very low speeds is made easy.
As far a maintenance and cost to operate. I remove the I/O every other year and change the boot and do a full service on the I/O. This costs about $500 every other year. Each season is a tune-up at the start and winterization at the close. About $300 for the seasonal tune-up which may or may not include belt changes, WP impellar, etc and $200 for the winterization. I change the oil in the motor in the winterization, and again in August. I usually have close to 75 hours by August, with another 75 possible through the fall fishing season. My next large planned expense with be risers and manifolds either next year or the next.
I bought the boat with the intention of wanting an I/O. Prior to this I had O/B's of all sizes Merc and OMC for 30 years, all 2 Strokes. I blew a powerhead on a 150HP Johnson with less than 300 hours that I had $10K into and said that's it. Only used OMC oil, ring free, and Amaco gas. I practiced very safe fueling. Unfortunalty you run a little lean or something is off and there is no margin, especially on the top cylinders. Adding ethanol to mix would only further complicate the situation. I figured I would minimize the ethanol issue with the I/O to managing the filters and tank. So far so good on that.
On Long Island, we seem to have quite a few I/O Gradys. Given our season of more or less May to November we don't leave them in all year round, so the maintenance works into the calendar. I at least seem to get alot of barnacles (even with the special Tri-lux antifouling I/O paint) so I could see where an O/B would be advantages for a year round situation.
Like anything else - it comes down to how well the boat is maintained. If something needs attention - fix it, otherwise it just gets worst.
My boat is in the Gallery - Explorer model.
Oceanbean
93 Explorer 245
5.7 FWC VP
Long Island South Shore
Another indicator that an I/O boat has a bad transom is stress cracks on the transom, below the outdrive, and above the garboard drain plug. The couple I/O boats having bad transoms that I have seen (they weren't Gradys though) had stress cracks in the area I described. They looked were crescent shaped, almost like the smile part of a smilely face. The one I was looking at (if I remember correctly, it was a 24 ft Cobia from the 80s), the repair man said it was going to be about a $5,000 job to replace the transom. I remember that at the time, that sounded a little steep to me. But in all honesty, I don't think $4,000 would of been out of line for that job. I'm by no means an expert, but it did seem like a big job.
I owned an I/O. Around here, that's the most popular power package in use, with the exception of the aluminum riveted fishing boats. What I liked about the I/O was that parts and service were readily available around here. I also liked the full transom, which allowed me to keep my fish box on the full swim platform. What I didn't like was the fact that you have to take more steps to safeguard against a freezing block. I was nevervous about starting my season too early, or finishing it too late, because I didn't want the block or manifolds to freeze. Sure, I could've drained them after use in the early and late parts of the season, but that's a pain. I always wondered if I could've of addressed concern by merely installing a full closed cooling system and only draining the interchanger (intercooler, whatever the part's called) after use. I think I could have. Another thing I didn't like about the I/O was additional parts that needed to be serviced. Bellows, gimble bearing, coupler, u-joints, manifolds and elbows. But then again, like I said, around here, parts and service were readily available and parts didn't seem to be overwhelmingly expensive. I should've stated, I only boat in freshwater. I don't know what owning an I/O boat in a saltwater environment would be like. Probably just need to replace the exhaust manifolds, risers and elbows a little more often.
Some people like the motorbox (I made a starboard tackle table with rocket launchers for mine), other people don't like it. I think it depends on the layout of the boat whether or not it's a hinderance. The boat that I owned that had an I/O had too big a cabin, which on a 22ft boat means less cockpit, so it was a hinderance. But my older Brother had a 23 ft boat with more cockpit space, and you didn't mind the motor box. I would think that on a Grady (which has an excellent layout IMO), the motor box would not be a hinderance at all.
Check the bellows on the outdrive. The leading cause of I/O boats sinking at the dock is a leak in the bellows.
I owned an I/O. Around here, that's the most popular power package in use, with the exception of the aluminum riveted fishing boats. What I liked about the I/O was that parts and service were readily available around here. I also liked the full transom, which allowed me to keep my fish box on the full swim platform. What I didn't like was the fact that you have to take more steps to safeguard against a freezing block. I was nevervous about starting my season too early, or finishing it too late, because I didn't want the block or manifolds to freeze. Sure, I could've drained them after use in the early and late parts of the season, but that's a pain. I always wondered if I could've of addressed concern by merely installing a full closed cooling system and only draining the interchanger (intercooler, whatever the part's called) after use. I think I could have. Another thing I didn't like about the I/O was additional parts that needed to be serviced. Bellows, gimble bearing, coupler, u-joints, manifolds and elbows. But then again, like I said, around here, parts and service were readily available and parts didn't seem to be overwhelmingly expensive. I should've stated, I only boat in freshwater. I don't know what owning an I/O boat in a saltwater environment would be like. Probably just need to replace the exhaust manifolds, risers and elbows a little more often.
Some people like the motorbox (I made a starboard tackle table with rocket launchers for mine), other people don't like it. I think it depends on the layout of the boat whether or not it's a hinderance. The boat that I owned that had an I/O had too big a cabin, which on a 22ft boat means less cockpit, so it was a hinderance. But my older Brother had a 23 ft boat with more cockpit space, and you didn't mind the motor box. I would think that on a Grady (which has an excellent layout IMO), the motor box would not be a hinderance at all.
Check the bellows on the outdrive. The leading cause of I/O boats sinking at the dock is a leak in the bellows.
I can tell you a bit about my experience with my 1988 25 ft. Sailfish. I also boat in fresh water. The boat is kept on a lift and stored inside in the winter in a 45 degree heated building. I put about 50 - 60 hours on the big enigne a year, I troll on Lake Michigan for salmon with a kicker.
The engine is a Mercruiser 7.4 liter 330 HP with a Bravo 1 outdrive. Crusie at 3200 RPM is 22 - 24 MPH using 12 GPH measured on Floscan.
The engine is still strong after twenty years. The only major maintenance was the repacement of the alternator. Spark plugs changes and an oil/filter change at the end of the year. Our boating typically starts in early/mid April and ends mid to late October.
Storing a boat on a lift takes away a lot of cleaning and maintenance headaches. Storing in a heated building means the engine does not need winterizing of the cooling system. I pull the outdrive every third year for an alignment check, a check on the bellows and the gimbal beaing, and then greasing of the universal joints. Everything on the outdrive is original except the decals which were getting faded. There are no issues with the transom.
The dog house is something to work around when netting salmon. But not a huge issue. I'm able to net over the transom. Not many OB guys can do that. I spend a lot of time in the back of the boat managing 3 down riggers sometimes with nine total lines out. It's workable
If it were an OB boat I would likely have repowered at least once by now - with two engines. But, OBs today are far better engines than they were 20 years ago. One thing I do like is the rumble of the GM big block. As I'm going and returning I travel between piers with metal sheet piling. It rumbles and echos off the sheet pilings.
Folks walking the piers take notice.
The engine is a Mercruiser 7.4 liter 330 HP with a Bravo 1 outdrive. Crusie at 3200 RPM is 22 - 24 MPH using 12 GPH measured on Floscan.
The engine is still strong after twenty years. The only major maintenance was the repacement of the alternator. Spark plugs changes and an oil/filter change at the end of the year. Our boating typically starts in early/mid April and ends mid to late October.
Storing a boat on a lift takes away a lot of cleaning and maintenance headaches. Storing in a heated building means the engine does not need winterizing of the cooling system. I pull the outdrive every third year for an alignment check, a check on the bellows and the gimbal beaing, and then greasing of the universal joints. Everything on the outdrive is original except the decals which were getting faded. There are no issues with the transom.
The dog house is something to work around when netting salmon. But not a huge issue. I'm able to net over the transom. Not many OB guys can do that. I spend a lot of time in the back of the boat managing 3 down riggers sometimes with nine total lines out. It's workable
If it were an OB boat I would likely have repowered at least once by now - with two engines. But, OBs today are far better engines than they were 20 years ago. One thing I do like is the rumble of the GM big block. As I'm going and returning I travel between piers with metal sheet piling. It rumbles and echos off the sheet pilings.
Folks walking the piers take notice.I just repowered my boat last year. Went from twin Merc. 470 to a single Merc. 496. Yes I had to have the transom redone, the holes for the drives were sealed properly but the holes for the cockpit drains were not. Anyway I like the I/Os As I have owned the boat since '87 I have had lots of time with these particular motors and drives. Compared to outboards of the times they were very cheap dates and I could do much of the service myself. The new engine I don't have much time with yet as I did not get the boat back untill late in the season. So far I like what I see, runs great and the boat is a little lighter now. MPG is interesting so far - at any speed from 20 knots to 35 knots get from 2 to 2.25 mpg. doesn't seem to matter what speed I go. So I like it so far and the speed is fine for me top speed so far is 45 MPH but I'll see what it is after I get a few more hours on it.
hmmmm....great even more things to think about.....thanks for the info guys.....like anything else i guess pros and cons to everything
89 bracket sailfish, lift kept inside, 500hrs on the boat bought two yrs. ago. had a wet transom, water squirted out when i drilled a cable tie hole!!! stringers if you want to call them that(2x3) where okay but the tanks and hoses where shot. don't get me wrong i still love the boat, fixed all but the trans, wet but still strong for now. get a independent survey, not one from the boat yard. and new trans properly fixed is more like 4-5k. older g/w's had/have trans issues, that is it. but they can be fixed. in this economy the choice is all yours. i love outboard power 2 or 4 stroke, more reliable and lighter than a v-8 with cast headers and a i/o with seals to maintain.