x power drives any one running
Platinum Member
08-14-2009, 12:15 AM
#4
arneson-industries.com
Offshoreonly Advertiser
Haven't you got that boat running yet?
Hate to think those are holding you up when you could have been boating this season.
Hate to think those are holding you up when you could have been boating this season.
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Arneson Surface Drives www.arneson-industries.com
Arneson Surface Drives www.arneson-industries.com
Pulled a rocker stud out.
08-15-2009, 04:22 PM
#6
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X Power Drive Letters from customers
Hello All,
This is my first post, so try to take it easy on me if I am doing something incorrectly. We have quite a few drives out in the field, and still have never encountered a failure to date. We have put the drive on big V bottom twins, and V bottom singles, and both have gone faster, and we have also put the drives on cats in both the single and twin versions both giving great results.
The only tricky boat was a single engine deck boat with a deeper center pod than the outside sponsons. We in our continued effort to constantly improve every aspect of the X Power Drive recently made some simple updates to the installation height, then the only boat that was difficult to achieve speed gave it to us just like all the others. We just did the testing last Wednesday and this is a letter we just received from the customer.
If I can be of any service please feel free to give me a call anytime.
Best wishes,
Bill Auberlen
X Power Drive
805-320-5631
The X Power Drive is the Real Deal!
I (Lee Crisell) purchased a 2005 Conquest Top Cat II Deck Boat in August, 2004 with a
Paul Pfaff Engine that Dynoed at 1262HP at 6100RPM & 1208 Ft. #'s of torque at 4600
RPM.
I originally ran a modified XR Drive with an X dimension at about 1" to 2" below the center sponson which is slightly lower than the side sponsons on the Conquest.
The boat handled great and my top speed was GPS 114.7MPH (with a 21% slip) in the winter on a cold day at Havasu with full gas (95gal) and three, 200 pounds plus
individuals on the boat.
In the summer, I could consistently run 108+.
Every two or three weekends I would have to be towed in because of drive gear failures.
In November of 2005, a manufacturer guaranteed a new drive which I purchased and in
thirty hours of use I experienced at least seven failures with speeds only in the 90's.
In October of 2006, I gave up and received a refund for the guaranteed drive.
Ever since October, 2006, I have been waiting for the 1st X Power Drive. In fact, the prototype X Power was used for testing on my boat.
Initially, we thought the X dimension should be 4" above the bottom of the center
sponson so the boat was modified and the 2nd X Power production model was installed
and run on my boat with a 17.5" diameter, 18 degree rake, 32 pitch cleaver 5 blade and also various other cleavers with very disappointing speeds (low 90’s) but the drive withstood extreme testing.
We then lowered the X dimension with spacers to about 1/4" above the bottom of the boat and just a few days ago ran a GPS 115MPH (with an unbelievable slip of less than 3%; 30 pitch, 5600RPM, 115MPH, 1.35 gear ratio) on the 1st prop we tried which was a 17" diameter, 18 degree rake, 30 pitch cleaver 4 blade.
Page Two
The X Power Drive is the Real Deal!!
The boat just flew out of the hole with not much throttle and only 5 lbs. of boost. The water was
rough and we were only able to make two short passes without proper trimming to get the best result.
My X power drive has been subsequently disassembled for inspection after at least 40
hours of hard testing and there is absolutely no wear on any of the gear teeth or other
components.
I was very disappointed initially due to the lack of speed, with the high X dimension, but now I am ecstatic and a real believer in the X Power Drive.
I believe with further prop and X dimension testing, I can significantly increase my speed, but for now I am delighted.
The most impressive factor is the X Power slip of less than 3% compared to the 21% slip with the XR and bravo lab finished 34 pitch, 4 blade with a 1.35 gear ratio, which ran 114.7MPH at 6100RPM.
Many people involved in Havasu boating are familiar with my outdrive plight over 5
years. I was very naive initially to put a 1262HP engine on a modified XR and expect it
to work but I was told by certain individuals that it was a no brainer. By the way the
people at Conquest and Paul Pfaff told me I was crazy and it wouldn't work. They were
right.
Thank god for the X Power Drive which transformed my boat from and an expensive
paper weight to a splendid handling fast deck boat. Also, thanks to Bill Auberlen (X
Power) and Joe Baca (Precision Offshore) for all their hard work to make it all happen.
Gordon Jennings (Paul Pfaff) and Paul Pfaff also contributed with a great engine.
If anyone has questions regarding my experience with the X Power Drive you can e-mail me (lee Crisell) at [email protected]
This is my first post, so try to take it easy on me if I am doing something incorrectly. We have quite a few drives out in the field, and still have never encountered a failure to date. We have put the drive on big V bottom twins, and V bottom singles, and both have gone faster, and we have also put the drives on cats in both the single and twin versions both giving great results.
The only tricky boat was a single engine deck boat with a deeper center pod than the outside sponsons. We in our continued effort to constantly improve every aspect of the X Power Drive recently made some simple updates to the installation height, then the only boat that was difficult to achieve speed gave it to us just like all the others. We just did the testing last Wednesday and this is a letter we just received from the customer.
If I can be of any service please feel free to give me a call anytime.
Best wishes,
Bill Auberlen
X Power Drive
805-320-5631
The X Power Drive is the Real Deal!
I (Lee Crisell) purchased a 2005 Conquest Top Cat II Deck Boat in August, 2004 with a
Paul Pfaff Engine that Dynoed at 1262HP at 6100RPM & 1208 Ft. #'s of torque at 4600
RPM.
I originally ran a modified XR Drive with an X dimension at about 1" to 2" below the center sponson which is slightly lower than the side sponsons on the Conquest.
The boat handled great and my top speed was GPS 114.7MPH (with a 21% slip) in the winter on a cold day at Havasu with full gas (95gal) and three, 200 pounds plus
individuals on the boat.
In the summer, I could consistently run 108+.
Every two or three weekends I would have to be towed in because of drive gear failures.
In November of 2005, a manufacturer guaranteed a new drive which I purchased and in
thirty hours of use I experienced at least seven failures with speeds only in the 90's.
In October of 2006, I gave up and received a refund for the guaranteed drive.
Ever since October, 2006, I have been waiting for the 1st X Power Drive. In fact, the prototype X Power was used for testing on my boat.
Initially, we thought the X dimension should be 4" above the bottom of the center
sponson so the boat was modified and the 2nd X Power production model was installed
and run on my boat with a 17.5" diameter, 18 degree rake, 32 pitch cleaver 5 blade and also various other cleavers with very disappointing speeds (low 90’s) but the drive withstood extreme testing.
We then lowered the X dimension with spacers to about 1/4" above the bottom of the boat and just a few days ago ran a GPS 115MPH (with an unbelievable slip of less than 3%; 30 pitch, 5600RPM, 115MPH, 1.35 gear ratio) on the 1st prop we tried which was a 17" diameter, 18 degree rake, 30 pitch cleaver 4 blade.
Page Two
The X Power Drive is the Real Deal!!
The boat just flew out of the hole with not much throttle and only 5 lbs. of boost. The water was
rough and we were only able to make two short passes without proper trimming to get the best result.
My X power drive has been subsequently disassembled for inspection after at least 40
hours of hard testing and there is absolutely no wear on any of the gear teeth or other
components.
I was very disappointed initially due to the lack of speed, with the high X dimension, but now I am ecstatic and a real believer in the X Power Drive.
I believe with further prop and X dimension testing, I can significantly increase my speed, but for now I am delighted.
The most impressive factor is the X Power slip of less than 3% compared to the 21% slip with the XR and bravo lab finished 34 pitch, 4 blade with a 1.35 gear ratio, which ran 114.7MPH at 6100RPM.
Many people involved in Havasu boating are familiar with my outdrive plight over 5
years. I was very naive initially to put a 1262HP engine on a modified XR and expect it
to work but I was told by certain individuals that it was a no brainer. By the way the
people at Conquest and Paul Pfaff told me I was crazy and it wouldn't work. They were
right.
Thank god for the X Power Drive which transformed my boat from and an expensive
paper weight to a splendid handling fast deck boat. Also, thanks to Bill Auberlen (X
Power) and Joe Baca (Precision Offshore) for all their hard work to make it all happen.
Gordon Jennings (Paul Pfaff) and Paul Pfaff also contributed with a great engine.
If anyone has questions regarding my experience with the X Power Drive you can e-mail me (lee Crisell) at [email protected]
08-15-2009, 06:04 PM
#7
Registered
Have you been able to develop enough data to be able to make the best X-dimension recommendations for a particular hull type?
For example, I am assuming from your website video this is primarily a surface piercing drive. Since your target market is bravo replacement which is not a surface piercing drive, there would probably be an ideal change in X-dimension to make the switch to your drive?
Last but not least, what about using the ITS Gimbal? I read you are developing a Gimbal too, is ITS in the picture or is the stock unit strong enough?
For example, I am assuming from your website video this is primarily a surface piercing drive. Since your target market is bravo replacement which is not a surface piercing drive, there would probably be an ideal change in X-dimension to make the switch to your drive?
Last but not least, what about using the ITS Gimbal? I read you are developing a Gimbal too, is ITS in the picture or is the stock unit strong enough?
08-15-2009, 10:26 PM
#8
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X Power Drive
We have done a ton of testing, mostly with underwater cameras and Motec data aquisition to come up with most of the optimal settings. The nice thing is once you have done the leg work for a particular kind of boat, it will transfer over to like styles of boats. The settings will be close, but not exact, we can probably get you within a 1/2 inch. As far as surface piercing or not, when we designed the X Power Drive I had 3 or 4 requirements.
1-It must be the most reliable drive available
2-It must be faster than any drive it replaced
3-It must directly replace a bravo drive with no modifications at all.
4)We must be able to replace a bravo drive that is running approximately 1 inch under the bottom and have a short enough drive so you can just bolt the drive on and be in the correct surface X Dimension. A bravo is approximately 21 inches input shaft to prop shaft, and the X Power is 16.79 inches, and can be spaced up to 5 inches.
Because of these requirements I went with a surface piercing style, because they tend to always be the fastest style of drive you can run. IE just about all the fastest race boats run them.
I went with a fully dry-sump style drive. It is run by a 3 stage dry-sump pump with two pickups in the lower unit, it scavenges so well that when the drive is running you can pull the drain plugs out and no oil will run out. It feeds the oil via spray bars and spray jets. No gears or bearings are ever submerged in oil ever. All of the oil is contained in an oil tank right under the carbon fiber backbone cover. Before the oil is sent into the drive it is cooled and filtered. This makes for a super efficient drive. It uses the least amount of power out of any drive on the market.
We are just about finished bringing a new replacement to a bravo gimble ring to market. It will be 3.5 times stronger than stock. We are also in the works on bringing a replacement helmet to market except this will be 6 weeks away. Both of these items will be a direct replacement to the stock gimble ring and helmet.
The new gimble ring will fit in the ITS application as well, and we have bolt on mounts for the ITS steering rams.
Just for information the X Power Drive bolts directly onto an ITS transom assembly.
Bill
1-It must be the most reliable drive available
2-It must be faster than any drive it replaced
3-It must directly replace a bravo drive with no modifications at all.
4)We must be able to replace a bravo drive that is running approximately 1 inch under the bottom and have a short enough drive so you can just bolt the drive on and be in the correct surface X Dimension. A bravo is approximately 21 inches input shaft to prop shaft, and the X Power is 16.79 inches, and can be spaced up to 5 inches.
Because of these requirements I went with a surface piercing style, because they tend to always be the fastest style of drive you can run. IE just about all the fastest race boats run them.
I went with a fully dry-sump style drive. It is run by a 3 stage dry-sump pump with two pickups in the lower unit, it scavenges so well that when the drive is running you can pull the drain plugs out and no oil will run out. It feeds the oil via spray bars and spray jets. No gears or bearings are ever submerged in oil ever. All of the oil is contained in an oil tank right under the carbon fiber backbone cover. Before the oil is sent into the drive it is cooled and filtered. This makes for a super efficient drive. It uses the least amount of power out of any drive on the market.
We are just about finished bringing a new replacement to a bravo gimble ring to market. It will be 3.5 times stronger than stock. We are also in the works on bringing a replacement helmet to market except this will be 6 weeks away. Both of these items will be a direct replacement to the stock gimble ring and helmet.
The new gimble ring will fit in the ITS application as well, and we have bolt on mounts for the ITS steering rams.
Just for information the X Power Drive bolts directly onto an ITS transom assembly.
Bill
08-16-2009, 09:41 AM
#10
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X Power Gimble
It will be made of stainless. We have looked into welding the ITS steering point but the way it is designed, it has locating pins and great ARP hardware. The steering point is stronger than just about any other part of the ring in the analysis. This should be a very strong part, then we will just have to do testing to see where we find the next weak link.
Bill
Bill
