It's the beginning of boating season after a long cold winter. You put the docks and hoist in the water. You prep your baby, In my case my 1996 Sweetwater tripletoon I bought new with a 115 Yamaha that for the most part has never given me a lick of trouble since I bought her. The toons are polished, the pristine interior is cleaned, change the lower unit oil, the plugs in prep for the boating season. She goes on the hoist....... your ready for summer. You take her out for the first run of the season meeting some friends for dinner. The dinner conversation between you and the wife is she wants to head home early before it gets dark in case we break down. My response, relax dear she's a great boat and always gotten us home. On the trip home BAM she quits right there in the middle of the lake at 9:30 at night. This boat has never let you down, remember? You eventually get her running and limp home making a 15 minute trip into an hour and a half trip. You Spend the better part of the next day getting it towed to your trailer and drop it off at a friend of yours that's a mechanic to see if its something simple. He runs a few tests and finds a couple little things but it is over his head and it is knocking. You call all the local marinas and every outboard mechanism you can locate in a two state area. The same answer across the board. Bring it in drop it off....... we will get to it "when" we can but if its major and needing a rebuild or another engine we are a month or more out at best. So summer on the lake is over. Not to even mention a good outboard mechanic gets twice the going rate of a great auto mechanic.
The thing about an I/O is any decent auto mechanic can be found easily. I have a half dozen friends that are top notch mechanics but won't touch an outboard. So for me its an I/O.
The other thing is reading the back and fourth discussions over the years about gas mileage I get that but I would rather pay a little extra than be with out a boat. The tight working area is a pain but again better than no boat.
And the last point that is always brought up is that there is a little difference between the big outboard and big block I/O's. True but as outboards get bigger and bigger to keep up you have to swap engines or buy a new bought every other year with an I/O you can super charge and many more performance add on's at a fraction of the cost of a new motor or boat.
So there is my take on it as a 19 year pontoon boat owner that for many years had the only tripletoon doing 28 to 30 GPS around here. With the old girl laid up I had to make a decision or go with out boating for the summer.
Luckily I found a nice 2007 Southbay Trifecta with a.425 hp 496HO with only 42 hours on her. Should have her late next week. Maybe I will be singing a different toon next year but for now I am very excited to get her in the water and hammer down.
The thing about an I/O is any decent auto mechanic can be found easily. I have a half dozen friends that are top notch mechanics but won't touch an outboard. So for me its an I/O.
The other thing is reading the back and fourth discussions over the years about gas mileage I get that but I would rather pay a little extra than be with out a boat. The tight working area is a pain but again better than no boat.
And the last point that is always brought up is that there is a little difference between the big outboard and big block I/O's. True but as outboards get bigger and bigger to keep up you have to swap engines or buy a new bought every other year with an I/O you can super charge and many more performance add on's at a fraction of the cost of a new motor or boat.
So there is my take on it as a 19 year pontoon boat owner that for many years had the only tripletoon doing 28 to 30 GPS around here. With the old girl laid up I had to make a decision or go with out boating for the summer.
Luckily I found a nice 2007 Southbay Trifecta with a.425 hp 496HO with only 42 hours on her. Should have her late next week. Maybe I will be singing a different toon next year but for now I am very excited to get her in the water and hammer down.
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