31 Dancer inboards or I O's ?

M

mstaglia

New Member
Apr 20, 2009
124
Boston
Boat Info
1998 310 Sundancer
Engines
350 Mag MPI
Looking to buy a 31 Dancer. Read a lot about the water ingestion problems and v-drives lack of engine room space.
It seems the I/O's don't have the water ingestion problems, and have a lot more room in the engine compartment. I see them for sale with Bravo 1 and Bravo 3 Outdrives.

What are the advantages of inboards over I /O's?

I have had Alpha 1's for years with no problems, how are the Bravo's to work on?
Mike :huh:
 
This question usually comes down to how is the boat going to be stored. I/O's will provided superior performance and more space in the engine room but the V-Drives will be easier to deal with if the boat is stored in a coastal wet slip. I/O's that are kept in costal waters can become a real maintenance issue, especially when you have two of them.
 
I am a member of a private club on the Mystic River in Medford,MA. It is fresh water through a set of locks.
Did the Bravo's have maintenance issues.
How about handling and power issues?
 
bravos will last a long time and will hold the power with no problems. bravo3 will have better manuverability from the duo props.
 
As far as working on them the bravo's dont have those goofy ignition interuption switches that the alpha has and they also have the raw water pump mounted on the engine and not in the drive like the alpha.
 
Lots of thread and opinions on this if you do a search. There is no right or wrong answer.

Inboards (V-Drives) will lose about 30% of the power and fuel economy. They also need a bigger draft.

However, Stern drives have more maintenance problems when stored in the water, but these problems usually take years to develop. A lot of moving parts that are submerged in the water will just beg for extra problems & maintenance.

I thought it was tough to find a 31 with inboards???
 
My experience with sterndrives is that they are a maintenance nightmare. I looked at the 310, but it was too small for a proper inboard installation so I went with the 330 instead. Almost went with the 380, but after a test ride, I thought it really needed diesels, so I skipped it since I wasn't ready yet for diesels. And if I was ready for diesels, the 410 was a better choice, but twice the money of the 330 and a huge jump from a 26 footer.

Anyway, in short, sterndrives? No @#$%@#$%ing way would I ever again have them!

Best regards,
Frank
 
I have a 2000 310 with the I/O's. I had two 310's to pick from, one with V-drives, one with I/O's. I picked the I/O boat mainly on the fact that it was in such great condition.
I've had no problems with the I/O's at all; the boat is fast and handles very well.
If the V-drive boat was the one in better condition, then I would have chosen that one, and made sure the "ingestion issue" had been addressed.
 
We have a 330 with drives and wouldn't trade it for a V-drive boat.I'm on plane at 2800 producing a 27mph cruise.The engine room is like a dance hall compared to a V-Drive boat.Arguments can be made either way as maitenance.
 
I have a 340 with I/O's and would not change to V-drives but I'm also in brackish water and the boat is kept on a lift. It planes in no time and I can reach up to 46 mph. My local marina sent out a captain last year to pick the boat up to be winterized and the captain called me when he got back to the marina to tell me how well it thought it handled and fast it thought it was.
 
Boating Mag. did a comparison on this model a year or so ago. They listed all the pros and cons for both configurations. See if you can look up their back issues online. It was an informative comparison.
 
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