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IO vs OB (need to decide)

On the rcw, the recliners sit on the engine compartment hatch.  The is a 6" stepup from the floor up to the walkway between the recliners.  We did have a battery die and it was an adventure to get the engine room hatch raised.
 
Jack M. said:
Being in Arizona ,do you have to winterize ?
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Winterize?  What's that?  Isn't like 70F everywhere?  :p

I've been here many years, it does get down below freezing but usually at night, think most I've seen is @ 4 nights in a row in the 20s and day temps in the upper 40s low 50s.  This year, I don't even think we got to freezing not one, while the rest of the country had a brutal winter, we had a very warm winter.  I don't know what would need to be done to winterize. 
 
Remediation said:
On the rcw, the recliners sit on the engine compartment hatch.  The is a 6" stepup from the floor up to the walkway between the recliners.  We did have a battery die and it was an adventure to get the engine room hatch raised.
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Believe its the same setup on the Q as the R for the CW anyway.  The engine hatch is the "hump" we're talking about.  Pricing diff wasn't much that's why the Q.  I think I would take the batteries out and put them on a tender when not in use.  Going to be stored on a trailer not at my house (lot is not yet read to accomodate).  

But that brings up a design issue.  If the engine hatch is motorized, why are the batteries under the engine hatch?  Not crazy about that hatch or the motorized hatch for the changing room (under the port aft recliner).  Very slow.
 
Yes it is  that is why I said " offers ".Some dealers will throw it in to close a deal .
 
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I was torn on this dilemma. I do LOVE the look of the inboard with that clean rear end and swim platform. As others have said though, my personal situation being in Canada,  it might cost me a few nice runs because of winterizing early. A cracked block is a pretty expensive gamble on the weatherman being right!! Like that ever happens!! So outboard it was. I was steered towards Yamaha as well, it's what my dealer prefers, but my local Yamaha dealer had some good points too, one being take a look at a lot of the boat Charters and what they are running, lotta Yamahas. But the bigger thing for me was, I like my local Yamaha dealer and since my boat rarely will go back to my dealer, I had to decide who I wanted to work on my motor. Even though he sells Crest pontoons, he has never given me grief because he also knows there is a difference in a Bennington. 
 
I really wouldn't have said anything about preferring outboards had I not had a lot of I/O experience--repairing them.  Now that marine repair labor is $100 per hour, I'm looking for the simplest boating lifestyle.  And that includes not having SmartCraft type of gauges, GPS units and side scan fish finders that I never use.  I like simple analog gauges since I'm never farther than 16 miles from home and can see land everywhere.

Pontoons are relatively light for their length and width--at least until a V-8 car engine's stuffed into an engine pod.  I'd just hate to think what it'd be like to change spark plugs or deal with a trim pump on one.

My buddy's running a 28' Cobalt with the 8.2 engine and counter rotating props.  At 2 mpg, by the time he gets home from the marina, he's spent $80 just to go 10 miles each way to get the fuel.   I feel the same about a big pontoon and big I/O engines--too much fuel for me.

And after spending so much on purchase price, I'd hate to think that a V-8 I/0 is only 2-3 mph faster than my F150 Yamaha on a 24' boat.
 
Bamaman as always you are the voice of reason
 
I believe with the motorized hatch there is a cover that can be removed to connect jumpers for a dead battery.
 
There is not a hatch plate on ours.  There is a ripcord that unclips the ram from the engine hatch. Then you and 5 of your friends might be able to lift the hatch?  I knew I had seen it.  When our battery died, i lifted the changing room recliner (which was a b!tch because the gas struts are weak) and could not find the handle.  I ended up unplugging the switch to the ram and using paper clips and a jumping box  got power to the ram and lifted the hatch.  Got a new battery and had the dealer install a second battery and switch at the next service.

Found the ripcord which comes out the side of the hatch and is really hard to see. 

Still love my I/O but Bamaman is right about the cost of repairs.  On a new boat the warranty evens out that issue.  How long are you going to keep the new boat?
 
I have a question....are the tritoon OB's just as stable in rough waters as an I/O is?  Because let me tell you.....I've had my boat in some very big waters in northern Michigan during high wind/rough water wonditions and even Lake Huron.  My boat is in its element in that type of water.  I feel that the engine (in the I/O) being more towards the center of the boat helps this (simple physics?) but I have no hard facts to support my theory.  I would like to see people on here who are way smarter than me chime in here and then the person who started this thread can also take that into consideration if he feels he will be boating in a rough water environment.
 
In rough conditions a pontoon has so much hull in the water that I'm not sure that engine choice would make a difference. Ours drives like its on rails until you get into swells of 3' that are widely spaced. When waves get that big I would choose to have less weight (engine or otherwise) on the boat rather than more as long as I had enough power to get out of the troughs.
 
However, more weight = less rockin' and rollin' in the water.  That's been my experience with my current pontoon vs. my old one that had an OB on it (and much lighter)...although that was not a tritoon either.
 
Had my new 2575 qcw Merc 300 out on Lake Mead yesterday:

No bow rise

Saw 47mph (2ppl+full fuel)

Did 70+ miles on 37% of a tank

Amazing in rough water (2.5-3.0 white caps)

The clear deck makes the boat feel bigger and more accessible (than the q28 io I considered)
 
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