Outboards versus I/O's

[WadeSt]

I am in the market to buy a 5-8 year old Crestliner Sportfish and have seen a number of outboards and I/O's. Can anybody give me the pros and cons of outboards versus I/O's???

[Valv]

I/O generally are cheaper to begin with, a little more gas saver, 4 strokes (of course), but they take a lot of room inside boat, cannot be winterized very easily or used in subfreezing temps, they are slightly heavier.

If the S.F is a 1900 or large I would say go for it, if a 1800 or less don't do it, you won't have any room to fish.

[cold one sd]

I have owned 4 I/Os and I now own an outboard. I have always had boats over 18 feet in length and have had no problems with I/Os as far as maintenance is concerned. My last boat was a Starcraft Superfisherman 19 footer and my new boat is a Lund 1800 Fisherman. The Starcraft had a 4.3 liter V6 Mercruiser and the Lund has a 150 4 stroke. I would say that fuel economy and performance are pretty close to the same. I had the Starcraft for 13 years with zero problems with the I/O. I bought a boat with an outboard because I have retired and I will probably fish during colder weather now or even in the winter.