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New IMCO drive

Old 02-15-2003, 07:44 AM
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Default New IMCO drive

I'm not at the show. I'm home reading HotBoat magazine.

The new issue shows an interesting twist on the Bravo situation. They take the cone clutch assy out of the Bravo upper and throw in an additional passive pinion on the back side of the gear fixed to the vertical shaft. This means that the load in the upper is shared by twice as many gear teeth at any given time. You basically figure the tooth life at half the load and twice the time. If a gear would last 50 hrs at "X" torque/rpm, it should now last 50 hrs at TWICE"X" torque/rpm. The life/torque graph is not linear, especially in the torque range that tempts failure. Halving the torque load on a gearset will dramatically add to the gear's lifespan. I like the idea.

Obviously, the input and vertical shaft still handle all the loads individually, and while the input shaft is not updated, the vertical shaft is very large. This should virtually eliminate upper gear issues in the Bravo.

Course, with no clutches, it is no longer a shiftable drive. IMCO has designed a new extension box that allows normal engine placement and houses a BAM transmission for smooth reversing action.

No prices yet, but I'm sure it will be expensive.

I like the idea though.

Any pictures or pamphlets will be appreciated.
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Old 02-15-2003, 09:54 AM
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You remember the 25' Eliminator with some 1200hp? It set some sort of speed record this past season. That boat had one of the imco "solid" drives. Spun it solid on the first full throttle pass. Which is why, when the magazine reviewed the boat, they didn't make any high speed passes. Merc makes the #6 for a reason!
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Old 02-15-2003, 11:03 AM
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I'm going to the LA Boat Show on Sunday. I will stop by IMCO to get the latest information on costs et. al.

I too am very curious about this drive. I had not heard that they had problems with this high HP Eliminator.
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Old 02-15-2003, 11:28 PM
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Cord -

I think this is different.
I thought the record holding Eliminator had a "regular" Mega Turbo Super Imco Bravo that was capable of shifting, but was left in forward all the time for maximum durabillity.

This new drive is not capable of shifting - at all.

Check out this months Hot Boat.
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Old 02-16-2003, 12:07 AM
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I read it too...looks like a great thing for the upper but, you know the lower is going to become the next weakest link.
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Old 02-16-2003, 09:55 PM
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I was at the LA Boat Show today and saw about 10 different boats with the new IMCO mounted on the stern. The boats ranged from blown single engine cats to large V-bottoms with huge HP. In fact, the Hallett pictured in the article was at the show. This 40' boat had 900 ft/lbs of torque and weighed in at a thin 8,600 pounds. Non of the dealers reported any downside to the drive (no failures reported).

The drive looks great!

As written in the HotBoat article, the drive uses 4 sets of gears (helps spread the power) and omits the cone clutch. Shifting is done by a Cyborg transmission, which is housed in a 13" extension box.

In speaking with Fred Inman, he provided me with the following information:

He would rate the drive conservatively at 800 lbs. of torque on a twin V-bottom set-up. This would work for up to a 15-18,000 pound boat!

They have been running and testing the drive for almost 2 years.

The drive uses internal water cooling, so a drive shower is not needed.

The new drive uses all of the available IMCO lowers.

The drive will be sold as an entire package (box, upper, lower, and transmission).

Fred did hint that an ITS-like (or #6 like) streering system will be in the works for the next year or so. Here, the hydraulic rams would be housed in the extension box.

I must say the drive looked very pleasing to the eye.

The sales person I spoke with stated a price of $22,000 per drive (complete)... did not ask Fred about the price.

I hope I got all the information correct. Fred was very proud of the new drive and was a great host.
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Old 02-16-2003, 10:23 PM
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22K? you can get a pair of Pulse drives and their extension box(so you don't have to move the engine forward) also the trans and props for that price.
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Old 02-17-2003, 09:41 AM
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This cost did include the trans and box, so one does not have to move the engine forward.

Also, I did forget to mention that the cost does include hydraulic steering.

Is this a decent cost? What would this all cost separately?

Drive
Trans
Extension box
Hydraulic steering
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Old 02-17-2003, 10:02 AM
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That is horribly expensive !!
22k per side?
44k per boat?

Yiiiikes!

Box should run around 2k each.
Hyd steering should run around 4k.
Trans? Ask Marc. I'm guessing 2k each?
You are now at 12k.
2 drives must be 32k.

16k per drive?

BMax's are cheaper. What's the point????
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Old 02-17-2003, 04:54 PM
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So is the trans F-N-R or is it a 2-speed with OD?
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