Marine Drive Types

Outboard Motors

Outboard motors are self-contained units mounted to the transom. Each has an engine, propeller, and steering control through the lower unit that acts as a rudder. Outboard motors are the most common type of boat propulsion.

Outboard motors range in size and power from <1HP to >350HP.

Outboard Engines can also be either 2 Stroke or 4 Stroke petrol engines.

They can be used in multiple numbers on a single boat.

Outboard Engine

Outboard Engine

Inboard Drives

Boat Outline

The term drive is interchangeable with motor and engine, so an inboard drive is simply a marine engine enclosed inside the boat. With an inboard drive, the shaft, rudder and props are beneath the boat leaving the transom clear. Inboard drives can either be gas or diesel powered, and single or twin engines are optional. A marine V-drive engine is a modified conventional inboard drive that is placed closer to the stern of the boat than a conventional inboard drive.

Inboard BoatInboard Boat

Inboard Enginecustom-size

Sterndrives

Otherwise known as the inboard/outboard marine motor, stern drives are thought by some to be the best of both worlds. The engine is mounted inboard forward of the transom with a shaft that goes through the transom to the drive unit. Similar to the outboard lower unit, this portion of the engine has a propeller and acts as a rudder to steer the boat.

Can be used with either Petrol or Diesel power plants and in multiples on a single boat.

Sterndrive EngineSterndrive EngineSterndrive Boat

Surface-Piercing Drives

Surface drives are specialized drives, mostly used by high performance boats, with a propeller that "pierces" the surface of the water to provide increased thrust. They operate half in and half out of the water in the planing wake of the boat, with a propeller shaft that exits almost horizontally through the transom.

Not widely used in leisure boating.

Surface-Piercing DriveSurface-Piercing Drive BoatSurface-Piercing Drive Engine

Jet Drives

Most often used in personal watercraft or very large boats, jet drives replace propellers to push a boat through the water using high pressure air forced out of the stern of a vessel. The water jet draws water from beneath the hull, and passes it through impellers and out a moveable nozzle that steers the boat.

Jet drives can be used in all types of water craft from PWC’s to ships.

JetskiJet DriveJet Drive