Just sayin', Sam. I do however love my Stringer Drive (1979 hydro-mechanical, mated to a 1975 electric shift intermediate housing). It has now survived 34 years and untold quantities of adult beverages, not to mention pulling as many as 5 single skiers down the lake at one time. (behind a 190 hp FORD 302)
.....Plus I do not have to deal with alignments, gimbals, u-joints, shift cable boots, exhaust boots, bearing boots, shift cables and a myriad of other Rube Goldberg contraptions and devices.
The stringer drive also lifts further ( I can actually sit on the transom and change the prop). Lifts faster ( can actually approach a ski rope at the bow, kill the throttle, hit the up-tilt and have the rope pass under the boat and outdrive without hitting the prop) It turns tighter ( I can put the boat in a rotation within the length of the boat and actually dig a deep hole in the water).
In all those years, with all that time on it, I have had one tear down (for grins) that resulted in new seals and a couple of new, albeit, expensive worn shafts. Also, whatever they say, the huge impeller lasts for years and has only been replaced twice in all it's existence and even at that, the removed impellers were perfectly serviceable.
So there! You have my novice opinion.
btw, did I fail to mention? The whole setup is still running with the original transom boot and the original ball gears!
