Convince me to go back

[Badfish888]

So, a while back I bought a terribly neglected sea ray 175 thinking I could "freshen it up " and it would be ok for my first bow rider,
how ever after a lot of maintenance and problem after problems ending with a blown head gasket. I sold it for less then I paid for it just to get rid of it. I now own a small skiff for fishing the ponds and lakes by me. HOWEVER My wife hates it, my kids hate it. And they miss cruising.

My my old boat was so neglected with no maintenance, and kept un covered for so long That it finally caught up to me. With endless problems.

i vowed never to buy another stern drive And was looking for one of the smaller outboard bowriders. But the family wants a full swim platform. And we all know that if you wife likes it, I can take the boat out more.

so on a new boat, or very low hours (less than 100) Being anal with preventive maintenance like I am, AANNDD not keeping it in salt water. How reliable are the 3.0 alpha packages.
And what about the newer MPI versions Since I noticed there not carbed anymore.

 

[wrvond]

Short answer: very reliable.
I have a 2002 3.0L bought new with never a problem. However, if you plan on a large crew, look to a small V6.

 

[BillK2632]

If it is kept on a lift, trailer or dry storage, a stern drive is fine in my opinion. The Mercruiser Alpha / 3.0 is in 1000's of small boats, it is a simple, reliable package. Also, would not be concerned about one that is carbureted, the 2bbl Mercarb is a simple, reliable unit. I have a 4.3 / Alpha in my 1999 185, 550hrs, it is dry stored - for an 18ft boat it is hard to beat in my opinion. Even if I buy another boat I think I will kept the 185, just love that little boat.

Other than maintenance (tune up items, water pump impellers) the only other repair items I have had done:

- Rebuilt carburetor and replaced fuel lines, did it myself, $50 for a kit.
- Replaced bellows, trim/limit senders and shift cable (original bellows lasted 14yrs!)

So for that type of boating I think a stern drive is fine. The problem is, once a boat has been neglected for a few years, the problems just snowball, sounds like your old boat was a problem before you got it. Make sure your next one is in good shape, keep it that way and you will be fine.

One last comment regarding the newer boats with outboards (ie SeaRay Sundeck), nice platforms and probably less maintenance than a sterndrive, but there is some give and take, that big outboard has to sit on the transom, so the swim platform configuration has to be different.

Now, get into larger boats that are kept in the water (salt or fresh) and I have an opinion - inboards / vdrives are the only way to go. I've been there with Mercruiser Bravo III's and the problems can be ugly.

 

[JVM225]

I picked up a 2005 18' Maxum Bowrider for my teen aged kids early this past summer. It's got the carb'd 3.0 Alpha package in it and it's a great little boat. The motor is kind of noisy, and shakes a lot until it's warmed up (I'm told this is normal and the reason for the rubber mounts), but it runs great, is fast as you'd ever want it to be, and really sips gas.

 

[Badfish888]

Some of the issues i have been concerned about is with the outdrive.
i have no doubts i can rebuild the 3.0 But my ild boat had gimbal bearing issues Dry rotted bellows And never shifted right. You mentioned you made it 14 years on a set. Thats amazing. How long will the bearings last. If greased regularly.
sadly when i ditched the boat The outdrive alignment tool And bearing puller when with it.

its funny But every time i see a boat stored with the outdrive trimmed up i wont even look at it
it gived me nightmares about what i went through with my old boat

 

[BillK2632]

My boat still has the original gimbal bearing. I bought an alignment tool, every year I pull the drive off, inspect everything, grease up the gimbal bearing and check the alignment. It takes an hour if I take my time and a $10 gasket set. Have not had to touch the alignment, just check it and so far it's been ok. As far as leaving the drive tilted, I have heard that advice for years, but here is some real world experience, my dry storage requires that you leave the drive tilted, I was worried about that at first, but I am on my 3rd year with these bellows and I can't see where the drive being tilted is causing a problem. At least not enough to significantly reduce the life of the bellows. Granted, given the choice I would always leave the drive down, but in my case I can't and it has not made a difference that I can tell. One thing I did when I replaced my bellows is use an exhaust tube instead of exhaust bellows, much easier, simpler solution for the exhaust bellows.

I'm not trying to talk you into a sterndrive and I would seriously consider an outboard if my next boat comes in that configuration, but I also would not avoid a boat just because it is a sterndrive.

 

[Badfish888]

I was just Leary because of all the issues I had. I was really looking at one of the small outboard powered bow riders But the wife absolutely hates the split platform, and would rather have the platform cover the out drive like my old 175. I believe you about the bellows. But it would make sense that if left tilted up the rubber would get memory to that position and pull harder when trimmed down. And how do you like the exhaust tube vs bellows? No water intrusion issues? Is it a lot louder?

 

[ygbsm]

But the family wants a full swim platform. And we all know that if you wife likes it, I can take the boat out more.

so on a new boat, or very low hours (less than 100) Being anal with preventive maintenance like I am, AANNDD not keeping it in salt water. How reliable are the 3.0 alpha packages.
And what about the newer MPI versions Since I noticed there not carbed anymore.

I agree that full swim platforms are great. And if you are looking at a new boat or one with less than 100 hours on it, you should not have much to worry about on the issues that you are mentioning- especially since you are good at preventative maintenance. The new Sea Ray sport boats come with a 5 year warranty.

 

[BillK2632]

And how do you like the exhaust tube vs bellows? No water intrusion issues? Is it a lot louder?

I like it, main reason I went with it was because I didn't want to buy the tool to install the full bellows. The tube was cheap and easy to install so I figured if I didn't like it I could just replace with the full bellows. So far I like it fine, it is a little bit louder, especially on plane with the drive trimmed up - I kind of like the sound. As far as water intrusion, the exhaust bellows is not meant to be water tight, so no issue there. They come OEM now on larger engines to reduce exhaust backpressure.

 

[OllieC]

And how do you like the exhaust tube vs bellows? No water intrusion issues? Is it a lot louder?

For me (and please note my configuration is different) I hated it. They mistakenly installed an exhaust tube as opposed to the bellow that pushes the exhaust out my prop. The service manager told me it may sound 'cool' and you might get better mileage. It increases the noise.....and when you are cruising some distance, the increased noise beats on you IMO. Another additional annoyance was an increased amount of exhaust fumes, because the exhaust is now coming out of the transom plate area vs. the prop. I had it replaced after 2 seasons.


That's just my opinion. I had no issues with any water intrusion.

edit: I also cruise long distances on Lake Superior and the Mississippi River, so my boating is different than being on a smaller lake.

 

[dvx216]

I think the smaller the boat the less is invested so people tend to stop taking care of them sooner. I've owned three smaller boats all bought used and all had alpha 1 on them and none of them so far has been a problem.If you start with someone else's problems because you got something cheaper unless you have the resources to fix them the frustrations and cost are not worth it.Pretty shiny fiber glass has sold plenty of used boats that are junkers. Badfish sounds like you have learned a lot from your first adventure.Inboard or outboard sounds like you know what to look for in your next boat.

 

[wrvond]

I was just Leary because of all the issues I had. I was really looking at one of the small outboard powered bow riders But the wife absolutely hates the split platform, and would rather have the platform cover the out drive like my old 175. I believe you about the bellows. But it would make sense that if left tilted up the rubber would get memory to that position and pull harder when trimmed down. And how do you like the exhaust tube vs bellows? No water intrusion issues? Is it a lot louder?

The rubber of the bellows is flexible or it isn't. If not, it makes no difference what position it's stored in, it will split the first time you use it.
My little boat is stored under cover and tilted bow high with drain plug out. This means the outdrive has to be in trailer position to clear the ground. The bellows on the shift cable just split this month and needs to be replaced. It is original to the boat, a 2002 I bought new.

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[JVM225]

The downside to an outdrive is that you need to keep an eye on the bellows, but once you do them all they should give you many years of service in saltwater. Other than the fact that a properly maintained saltwater kept Alpha drive won't be as pretty as a freshwater kept Alpha drive after a few years, I don't see any other drastic difference between the two.
I had no idea when, or if, the bellows on the Alpha drive had been serviced on the 18' Maxum I picked up for the kids this summer. But I did inspect them as best I could when I got the boat and they looked to be older and a bit dried out all factored in to purchase price) so as soon as I took the boat out of the water a few weeks ago I had everything replaced back there including all bellows, lower shift cable, gimble bearing, trim sender, and trim limit switch. I was thinking of doing the job myself, but since I never did it before I just had it done instead. Everything looked to be original from 2005 and although there were no problems yet, it was a good time to change everything. Now I know it's good for several years.
The 30' Sundancer I sold earlier this year had twin Alphas on it, and I had all the same stuff changed on them when I re-powered about 4 years earlier. I pulled those drives for winter storage every year and inspected everything and it all was still in excellent shape when I put the drives back on this past Spring before going back in the water.
Admittedly, I like the idea of an outboard on a smaller boat because they require less maintenance and give you more room inside the boat. But the one big downside I see to an outboard on a used smaller boat is the cost of replacement when and if needed. You'd probably be looking at close to 15K to re-power with a 4 stroke outboard of similar horsepower as the 3.0 Mercruiser.