The first boat I ran with a license had a single engine with a Volvo outdrive…I think in 2 summers, I burned up 3 outdrives and 1 engine! Goofy Volvos. They do turn up though. Those turbos will be singing at 2600!
[QUOTE=Swampfox;144996]The first boat I ran with a license had a single engine with a Volvo outdrive…I think in 2 summers, I burned up 3 outdrives and 1 engine! Goofy Volvos. They do turn up though. Those turbos will be singing at 2600![/QUOTE]
Bet the owner of that boat just loved the crap out of you! Don’t bother applying…we’ll call you (or not)
I was just thinking that to listen to you all bitch about this boat having Volvo power, one would think it had effing OMCs in it!
May as well have Vro OMC’s…except you could keep those things running if you bypassed all th BS oil injection. We bitch from experience.
I support your business endeavors but that thing was such a deal because nobody in their right mind would want outdrives for a workboat job. Exception is the line boats in NY but they have heavy duty Konrad units, and usually just one per boat.
I’d stay with single props.
[QUOTE=z-drive;145015]May as well have Vro OMC’s…except you could keep those things running if you bypassed all th BS oil injection. We bitch from experience.
I support your business endeavors but that thing was such a deal because nobody in their right mind would want outdrives for a workboat job. Exception is the line boats in NY but they have heavy duty Konrad units, and usually just one per boat.
I’d stay with single props.[/QUOTE]
don’t worry I got the boat plenty cheap enough…if I come up with a pair of Konrad or Merc TR drives, I’ll go with those in the future but can live with the Volvos till then. If I have to replace them annually it is not a hardship. I can get AQ280s out of scrap Bayliners for peanuts. That is the wonderful thing about 1980’s pleasure boats, the hulls disintegrate but leave engines and outdrives intact.
also, I agree to stay with the SPs…DPs are way too expensive and I am a cheap assed SOB
You will really end up wanting mercs or what not instead of the Volvo units. They just aren’t made to be worked commercially. Unless you are the navy and can afford to service them after every use.
[QUOTE=Traitor Yankee;145022]You will really end up wanting mercs or what not instead of the Volvo units. They just aren’t made to be worked commercially. Unless you are the navy and can afford to service them after every use.[/QUOTE]
now regarding changing out the Volvo drives, not too difficult I believe.
don’t get me wrong people, it isn’t that I wanted the Volvo drives or diesels but what came with the boat. I got it very cheap I believe so have room to improve it although I don’t see going with other power but possibly other drives but only with more robust ones. I have always believed that Konrads or Merc TRs are the best for commercial use but unless I can replace the Volvo drives for less than $6k, it’ll make more sense to just stockpile the AQ drives which I can get for less than $400 each. One goes out, junk it and put on a spare. It is most simple…no?
Besides Volvo/merc you run into issues with the transom assemblies, bellows, gimbal bearings. Most unpredictable in how long those components last I have found. It’s just a reliability thing for a boat that needs to be reliable when on charter. You can stockpile them for $400 a piece but half will be junk (from experience with used drives).
[QUOTE=z-drive;145049]Besides Volvo/merc you run into issues with the transom assemblies, bellows, gimbal bearings. Most unpredictable in how long those components last I have found. It’s just a reliability thing for a boat that needs to be reliable when on charter. You can stockpile them for $400 a piece but half will be junk (from experience with used drives).[/QUOTE]
wouldn’t transom assemblies be just a maintenance issue? I do know that good used drives are out there even if you end up with a couple of duds once in awhile. So what is to terrible about an AQ280? Clutches? Lower gears? Upper gears? What exactly? I would just like to know to be ready. I know there are adapters to use Merc drives to replace OMCs but what about a Merc in place of a Volvo? What about overhauling a Volvo drive? How difficult? I hear Mercs are harder to actually work on.
one thing I do not like about these old Volvo outdrives is the worm gear power tilt arrangement…always seemed so tiny compared to a OMC’s or Mercruiser’s hydraulic rams…
another item I am not too keen on is that the ESTERO has MicroCommander controls. What happened to the old push/pull cables? I am really not too sure about these electrical gizmos they use these daze…
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How about converting them to Arneson drives for some real out of the box thinking.
Usually upper gears in general, especially with diesel torque on a heavier boat. They’re not crappy drives from what I have read just doesn’t strike me as a good workboat setup. But you seem to have gotten a deal so hopefully it works out. You need to find a good outdrive guy for the finer maintenance items while the majority should be DIY’able. My mercuiser guy rips mine apart and reassembles (gears/bearings) on site for cheap $.
well considering a used set of surface drives is selling on eBay for $26k which is twice what I paid for the whole boat, engines and trailer…I think I’ll take a pass on that one even if the ESTERO would likely fly right out the water if I did put them on her!
justa pair of props is $8700 for Christ’s Sake!
no thanks, I keep the pair of miserable little Swedish eggbeaters she has now!
Stick with the single prop, they are much tougher.
Keep checking the oil, which is easy as the dipstick is on top assuming its out of the water at rest.
Make sure you dont put them in reverse unless tilted all the way down.
Sterndrives do last but you need to do maintenance like a helicopter.
As for the engines, make sure the crankcase filter stays clean and change the oil a lot.
Bypass filter would do wonders as those pleasure turboed engines as they have big ring end gap so oil gets diluted and goes black very fast.
Electrical system horrible and expensive.
Pump and injectors work fine.
Turbo ok if exhaust riser not leaking even then a custom riser as high as you can make it will make sure turbo lasts as long as it should.
Maintenance very easy on old 280, checking and changing drive belows easier than a merc.
Yes tr drives are great but parts getting hard to get.
There was a III drive with club foot as well, was way tough, saw action in nam in river boats
thank you for all that great advice shipmate…I owe you a favor
you also go down as a c.captain BFF along with Benjammin!
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Perhaps the Estero could become the “Chief Brody”. That would go well with Orca…
[QUOTE=JackAubrey;145502]Perhaps the Estero could become the “Chief Brody”. That would go well with Orca…[/QUOTE]
taken under advisement, but thank God you didn’t recommend me renaming her the Mr. Hooper!
A man with the strength to crush a styrofoam cup bare handed! In my mind, Hooper is a KPee’r right down to his styrofoam core…
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MV Seal and MV Orca! 
Orca is the bigger boat?
ok just go with chief than
[QUOTE=rshrew;145520]ok just go with chief than[/QUOTE]
but “Hooper drives the boat, chief”
R/v halfass-astronaut
I always liked the line, and it’s kore relevant now than ever with osv’s…“just too many captains on this island.”