stern-drive or in-board

[joe bircher]

Hey CC owners. I,ve been looking into a CC 25 and noticed there making them all with straight in-boards. I have never owned one and would like to know what the pros and cons are to owning one and opperating one. Please help a furture CC owner.

[Hey Doc]

Merc Jackshaft

The only advice I can give you is to stay away from any boats with diesels coupled to Mercury outdrives. Those are nothing but trouble.

[JohnD]

stern or in-board

I have a stern drive 25 CC (gas) I love the boat - I have never been, and continue not to be, a fan of I/Os (as a general statement).
You can't (shouldn't) keep a stern drive wet - so it's lift or trailer expense.
When the outdrive breaks, and it will, pull out your wallet.
so that's the downside.
On the upside - at least with the CC25, stern drive manerverablity is great: backing and docking is much easier than a single stright drive (any boat). Boat gets up quick enough on plane and using both the tabs and drive easy to adjust attitude into any kind of seas. I like that a lot.
I have not run a stright in-board 25, however would love to do so. In any case, it's a very solid boat that fishes well.
JohnD

[Bluefin 32]

I will second Hey Doc's comments. If you plan to keep the boat in saltwater, the maintenance burden of an I/O will be very large. If buying used, get a boat iwth a Volvo Duoprop and avoid the Bravo III at all costs, especially with a Yanmar 6LP. The motor is great but the drive can't handle it. I had one so I know. The guy who bought the boat from me (a 2000) is getting his third drive now but has had zero issues with the motor.

The I/O boats are definitely faster, however, perhaps 10-15% with equivalent power.

[Valhalla]

Outdrives

No one will liklely believe this but I have owned two Mac built boats with volvo stern drives and (knock on wood) they have been unremarkable with regard to heavy maintenance. I have a 2001 Carolina Classic with Volvo Diesels and DP outdrives that have never been kept on a lift. I have ran this boat aground (sandbars), and only performed routine maintainence but they have never let me down. Prior to this boat I had a late 80s 24 Albemarle that was kept in the water from the time it was delivered from the factory...no problems at all with the drive. I ran that boat to the stream from Savannah no less than 40 times (70 miles each way) with no problems. Just my two cents. Inspect the bellows and change the oil every year and you will likely be fine.

[Hey Doc]

Volvo

I have heard similar things about the volvo outdrives, but I have never know anyone with the merc drives coupled with diesels getting more than a few hundred hours out of a drive without failure. Let me also add that I am referring to 300 plus horsepower diesels. I think cummins tried with some smaller diesels, but I never heard anything positive there either.

[Over Billin]

Volvos

I currently have the KAMD43 Volvos / duo props on a 2002 28 CC, assuming they will last as well as my last identical volvo setup. 1,800 hrs, wet 6 months a year, never had any issues until I decided to have things rebuilt to be safe for the 60 nm canyon runs. Mechanic did not re-assemble correctly. I prefer the duo props, with SS wheels, as they raise fish. The more polished the better.
"Over Billin"

[outriggers]

The mercruiser Bravo III duoprop outdrive isn't rated for use with a diesel. Using one with a 300hp diesel is asking for trouble. They do have heavier outdrives now that are rated for diesel use. They are much stronger in almost every respect.

[Nicky M]

I had an 02 with the yanmar and merc outdrive on my 25. 250 hrs later I needed a new outdrive and it was the bravo 3x made for diesels. Never the less I upgraded to an inboard 28 with volvo diesels in 04, never more happy

[Hey Doc]

Bravo IIIX

I had a 28 with 300 yanmars. When I bought the boat I put a brand new set of Bravo III diesel x drives on the boat (2002). I spent about 10K. Yanmar and the Merc rep assured me I would have no problem. Both drives blew up before 100 hrs. Break in was done by the Merc people and the boat was lift stored. Merc replaced the drives under warranty and I sold the boat. Three other people have owned the exact same boat and each have put on a new set of Merc diesel outdrives. Merc markets a diesel outdrive, but I think most owners that have had that set up also had drive failures.

[Hey Doc]

Outdrives

Did I mention I now own an 06 28 inboard. The Classic with outdrives offers about 3 knots of speed over the same boat with conventional inboard power. I would even say that the 28 has a bit of a better ride with the outdrives; however, none of that is really worth much if you have to buy a new set of drives every three months. As I've posted before, I'm interested in fishing more than watching a mechanic work on my boat.

[NORM]

In& Out

Mac will not use the outdrive any longer !! You may have to put a BIG PISTOLA NEAR HIS HEAD TO GET ONE !!!!!!

I have had both boats & THE NEW CAROLINA that we have now is the best you can get. We have the new 325 yanmar with the out board ~~ we love this set up we trailer our boat tooooo!!
I still have the last merc o/d off the old boat when we replaced the unit just befor we traded up to the 2006 carolina !! ANY ONE WANT THE OUTDRIVE ???

GOOD FISHIN ~~ NORM

[Diesel]

Outdrive

Norm,

Please contact me about your outdrive.

[email protected]

Diesel

[Bluefin 32]

Did I mention I now own an 06 28 inboard. The Classic with outdrives offers about 3 knots of speed over the same boat with conventional inboard power. I would even say that the 28 has a bit of a better ride with the outdrives; however, none of that is really worth much if you have to buy a new set of drives every three months. As I've posted before, I'm interested in fishing more than watching a mechanic work on my boat.

That's interesting that you feel the outdrive 28 may have a bit better ride than the straight inboard version. I'm just guessing not having any experience with an outdrive 28 but perhaps it is due to a more level, less bow up running attitude? The outdrives have an inherently straighter thrust and also it is possible to trim the drives in a bit and bring the bow down without trim tabs. I think that would make the boat feel as though it had a bit better ride.

I posted a question a while ago asking whether people thought the tabs on the inboard 28 were sufficiently large in part of this reason. Wider tabs would bring the bow down with less deflection and drag. Unfortunately the recess on the hull is a limiting factor in the tab width.

[Hey Doc]

The outdrive ride

That is exactly what I was referring to in my earlier post. The 28 with outdrives ran much flatter than the inboard boat. The boat would run fine with the drives trimed all the way and no tabs. Whereas, the inboard model runs stern down and bow high (even with tabs). Compared with the outdrive boat, the inboard definately feels like it is ready to come out of the water a good bit, especially in a head sea. I don't ever recall having that feeling while running the jackshaft outdrive setup. But again, all that really does not matter much if the boat stays on the hill in the service yard.

For that very reason, I will stay with the 28 conventional inboard over the jackshaft outdrive set up.

Also, my experience was with the yanmar/merc set up. I have heard a lot of good things about jackshaft Classics with the volvo outdrive package.