[macojoe]

Welcome to the site!!

Yes I am a advocate for brackets!!

I was once a I/O guy with a stright 6 cyl. Spent lots and lots of cash keeping it up!!

IMO I/O is cheaper to replace, but in the long run I belive the maintance will make up the difference!

OB will be more in the begining, but less maintance over time there making them pretty darn equal in the end.


So in the end if you want cheap and you like to play with your boat all the time, then I/O will be what you want.

If you want dependable hassle free boating then you will go with a OB

Now as for power, IMO I belive the smallesat motor on a V20 should be a 150hp, anything else is a slow waste of time and you will over work and shortin the life of the motor! Unless you like 20 mph all the time.

You will need a 25" shaft to keep the motor out the water properly.

As for 2 or 4 stroke motors, thats up to you. I like 2 strokes myself, they have stood the test of time and have lots of power!

4 strokes have less power out the hole, have not stood the tet of time in my book, and they will add a bunch more weight to the back of your project!!

A floataion bracket is the way to go!! But there are many to chose from!!

I have a Stainless Marine Bracket with full swim platform. Aprox $1,600 new I got used for $400

There is no need for a full swim platform, they sell just the bracket for about $800 new, and $300 to $500 Used.

There are a couple members that have brackets here for sale, one will be full and the other just the box.

Full brackets weight in at 125# and the avrage 2 stroke motor 400#, so you will be adding at least 525 # off the back of your boat.

So one thing that has to be concidered is your transome and how strong is it??

The best way to check right now would be to lift the outdrive and then grab with your hands and try to lift it up, wiggle it around, is there any movement in the transome??
Go around with a rubber mallet and hit the transome, do you hear any hollow spots??

Last you can go on the inside and drill a couple of 1/4 holes and see what comes out the core, Is it clean looking wood? Dirty wood? or just dirt :o

Once this is done and you insure that the transom is good then you may proseed o the next level.

I will stop here, for a rest so you can take it all in!!

Hope this has been helpfull so far?