Blackhawk Drives
 

I'll be the first to admit that I know 'nada' about Blackhawk drives. How do they compare to Merc's in performance, reliability, parts availability, etc... Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Ricochet.

With the right hull they are faster than any bravo equiped boat. On the wrong hull they're terrible. Generally, they fast around the marina and are slower to plane. I don't know of any particular problems with the drive other than some parts are discontinued, but still available.

discontinued after lek 1-2 years for poduction. I believe it's basically a bravo 3 upper with new lower. uppe rpart swill be ok as you can use B3 stuff lower parts and props are going to get scarce.

They are mercury drives. Top half is a bravo,lower half is a bravo3,only the cases are different.

Had a donzi classic 22 blackhawk edition. gimbal was showing signs of wear after 50 hrs (play in outdrive side to side). got donzi to replace it. I was told that there was an updated gimbal for it and that was what they said they gave me for replacement. I fought donzi to supply me with external steering at there expence. after contacting mercury who provided me with a document stating that boats over 70 mph should be installed with external steering they saw things my way and supplied me with a latham single ram system as well and my dealer installed it no charge. good to go after that. Boat went like stink. a bit tricky to drive, deffenitely needed some seat time figure out, porpoused a bit at slower speeds. Rough water was tough due to the surface drive

We wanted to use them on our race boat. Merc said not to because they would never hold the abuse and 575HP.

Also the boat needed extra rocker built into the bottom to take advantage of the performace gains.

Merc sold us #Vs and we still needed to replace lower gears in one of the drives every other race.

I don't know why people don't use Arnesons or Pulse drives, or Wiesmans or BMax. Anything but merc stuff on the transom

Ron.

That's interesting because a race caliber boat I'm looking at has the Blackhawk on it. It's a 510 c.i. engine generating at least 450 - 500 hp. Is it a mistake to pursue further based on the drive situation?

Any other input is appreciated.

Ricochet.

If the boat you are looking at has the right hull configuration, it may be the right boat for you. Blackhawks where designed for high X demension settings on boats with pads & notched hulls. Do a search on "Blackhawk" to get the address of the Mercury bulletin on Blackhawk drive application.

Blackhawks work best on boats that naturally carry the nose high, they create a lot of stern lift that will improve the hull's angle of attack. If your boat likes to run nose high and has a tendency to chine walk, you'll like the way a Blackhawk will settle the boat down. Because your turning two props with one engine you will need some HP to keep the props turning. Due to the pitch (27-31) that is avaliable, expect art least 5-6 mph idle speed.

There is no reason why the Blackhawk should not handle the HP you quoted. The Blackhawk has the same upper gears of the Bravo I and lower gears of the Bravo III. If you check the part numbers you will find they are identical. You can also buy a beefier upper gear-set from Mercrusier to upgrade the drives upper gears. Blackhawks mount directly to the Bravo Transom housing.

As for props, they are avaliable new from Mercury under two brands. The cheaper brand is the same as the Mercruiser prop but sold in a different box.

If you like the boat, but aren't sure of the drive..buy it anyway. Since the Blackhawks are no longer in production, you can sell it to someone who needs a Blackhawk for enough to get a new Bravo I. New Blackhawks are still around, when you can find them they are going for around 8K with props.

Hope this helps...

I never even saw a blackhawk in person, so other than having Merc tell us not to use them on a 34' Phantom B class boat, I have no other reference for ya,,,, other than they stopped making them,,,,, possibly for a reason.

We wanted Mr. Technology to have all the coolest stuff including two speed B&M trannys and the two prop blackhawks. The B&M got taken out after they broke at the start of the first two races.

There is something to be said about tried and true technology unless you have the pockets to develop a new program.

i wonder how one of reindlls bat boats would handle a blackhawk. i know that with the narrow beam they like the volvo dpx drive alot. i think the blackhawk is a bit higher performance though. :D . . hmmm . . .guess we'll never know . . . . there is a p-29 scarab at a friends shop with those on it.pretty cool. :cool: