Ok guys, so my wife wants us to get a boat. We are looking for something that will hold 8 people (4 adults & 4 kids). Been mainly looking at designs like the Bayliners or Chaparrals. It seems that 90% of these boats have an inboard/outboard instead of a regular outboard. I know nothing about the I/Os. What do yall think? Any pros or cons? Watchouts?

I had a Dynasty with a 3.0 mercruiser. It was a solid engine. The 4.3's that I've been around were great, too.

Most of those boats are underpowered with the stock motor. 8 people in a boat of that type would need a 4.3L as a minimum.

Maybe a pontoon boat? Thats a lotta folks. You can find good used pontoons for pretty cheap

The 4.3s are great motors but they really like fuel. Friend had a Tahoe (Q4 I think????) That was great but with more than 4 people it was sluggish. That many folks I'd look pontoon.

That or a ski boat. Ski/wake boats get a bad rap on here but there are great for cruising the water and typically have more than enough power.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to do in the boat. The second thing to remember is that no boat will do everything very good, ones strengths is anothers weakness.

Speed is not a big deal, mostly just cruising from one sandbar to the next at the river. It will be 4 grown folks and 4 girls aged 2-6. My only experience has been with outboards. I have heard horror stories about trying to do even routine maintenance on the I/Os because of lack of accessibility. I've also heard they are car engines and not meant to be run at high rpms for extended time periods.

I definitely don't want a pontoon boat.

Also, not planning to do any fishing from it. Just riding and maybe pull a tube a little.

Now how can you be a countryhick and make a statement like that?

I would get an outboard

We cruise on wake boarding boats pretty comfortable. Plenty of power and pulling power, storage, radio. Pretty nice boats. They look good and are safe. You can swim and relax on the rear also. But they aint cheap dang they are high

Yes the I/O are car motors but the timing and tune are made to be run as such. Very reliable motors. For what you're wanting a big deckboat with an outboard would be about perfect.

My friend had a chapparel and he would leave it in the water tied to his dock on smith lake. He bought it brandnew. He was an old feller and had money. It would get rained in. Never covered it or docked it. Id guess after about maybe 3 years, maybe 4 years...it sank to the bottom of the lake. He totally destroyed that new boat. Im not a fan of those but i guess any boat is junk if you do what my friend did. Just let it rot like that

Deck boat with a outboard. You can ski or pull a tube. Or just cruise. The one I've rode in . Rode better than a pontoon and got better on gas.

You can get real good deals on pontoons with soft decking its nothing to replace maybe 3 sheets of plywood tops just dont use treated the copper will react with aluminum and eat it away and you can buy finished ready to screw down seating in any layout you want for the whole boat for less than 2 grand. My buddy bought an old toon hardly ever ran like new motor that someone let set in the yard and rot out redecked it replaced the seating polished the aluminum and resprayed all the paint had maybe 4k in it when it was done and was nicer than alot i see people spending 15-20k on.

If you could find a Fisher deck boat that is aluminum with an outboard, you would have the best of both worlds. Pontoon type seating but still have the speed and torque to tow a kid on a board. I/Os are not bad. Just have to do some maintenance on them. BUT, I have seen some that have electronic fuel injection be a nightmare to diagnose and fix. This was on a Mariah bow rider though. Good luck.

try to find a used cobalt with low hours. finest boat made imo. Dad has had 3 all with volo penta motor. Father in law has sea ray with mercruiser. both are fine motors if taken care of

If you don't want a pontoon, which would be ideal for your situation, you're going to need a 21' or longer deck boat. With that many people and gear, you are not going to be happy with an outboard on a deck boat. I don't even think the 4.3 I/O would be enough power. I would recommend a 5.0 or 5.7 I/O injected engine. There is nothing worse than buying an underpowered boat and never being happy with it. It will however require annual maintenance, oil & filter, fuel filter, drain engine block and manifolds in the winter. Good luck !

Used to work for a guy that had a Malibu. Was super nice and held 8-10 comfortably. I think it cost more than my house, but dang nice boat!