Arneson on V Bottoms
 

Whats up everyone? I was wondering if anyone has Arnesons on there V-Bottoms. I heard that with the step hulls they do very well and get you quite a bit more speed. Like up to 6 mph more that other drives. How do they handle? Can you trim your boats properly and would you do them again?
Hunter

It's a step up from the sterndrives in every conceivable way. They are more reliable and faster. They also dramatically improve handling because they are actually meant to operate as a surface drive. Many manufacturers are now mounting sterndrives with such aggressive X dimensions in order to squeeze some more speed that they are virtually running in a surface drive mode. This adversely affects handling and general dynamic behaviour because Bravos, even with Sportmaster lowers are not meant for that. Not even SSM6 is meant for that. Arneson is not exemplary but it is much better than any sterndrive in that department. They can also be cheaper. If you are running around 700hp with a gas motor, you would need a SSM6 unless you're really looking for trouble. This damn thing is expensive. Instead you can run the new Arneson ASD6 which is a lot cheaper than the Speedmaster. In terms of speed over a Bravo sterndrive, I would say that the gain is more than 6 mph. For example, a Hustler 388 Slingshot (whose transom you can see in the OSO side column ads for Arneson) with twin KE 675s and ASD6s ran 110 mph. I doubt it would run 104 with Bravo or SSM6 drives for two different reasons. Bravos are penalized by the fact that they are not surface drives, their thrust is at a greater angle meaning a loss in efficiency. A SSM6 on the other hand is built so heavily that it probably takes 50 or more horses to move the cogs around. Arneson is much more efficient from that point of view. Next time you go to a boat show, find a boat with Arnesons and a boat with SSM6s and try to spin the prop and you'll see what I mean. It takes a lot more energy to spin a SSM6. I've experienced all imaginable drives: Alphas, Bravos 1, 2, 3, Volvo DPs, Speedmaster 3, 5, 6, Pulse Drive, Sea Fury, Levi Drive, BPM, Arneson, Trimax and while Trimax remains my favourite, Arneson is up there and I would never go from those surface drive systems back to sterndrives.

I have Kaamas on my Formula, which are also surface drives. I've heard they run about 10% faster than conventional drives. My heavy azz Formula will do 78.6 with twin 468's putting out somewhere between 450 and 475 a side. I doubt very seriously if it would break 70 with the then standard TRS drives.

The only drawbacks I've encountered are the fact that it is VERY sensitive to tabs. I almost T boned a sailboat during a poker run while moving the tabs. I think this may be due to less "rudder area" in the water. To combat that happening again, I just run with the tabs up all the time. I was told when I bought it to drop the tabs to take off, but I've found that it will get on a plane just as fast with the tabs up and I don't have to fool with them once I get up. The only other drawback I've encountered is the fact it won't stay on a plane at less than 30 to 35 mph. Once it comes off a plane, you have to pretty much start all over.

WELL, IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WON'T SEE A SUTPHEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA WITH SURFACE DRIVES IN THE NEAR FUTURE !!!!

I haven't done a lot of maeuvering in reverse, so I can't really say.

The props do stick out a bit and are sharp, but they are on conventional drives too, just deeper in the water.

I don't know about Arnesons, but I've heard all the gears and bearing in the Kaama can be bought from bearing places. The only thing you can't get for a Kamma is the case itself.

Don't break !!! check this out !!!

I saw some brand new Kaamas on ebay a few weeks ago. They had new 405 horse engines for sale for $5000 and would include a new Kaama for $2500 more. I emailed them to see if they would just sell the Kaamas and they said they wouldn't.

Even with the engines, it would still be a helluva lot cheaper than sixes! Then you could turn the engines for at least the $5000 and get the drives for $2500.

I didn't have an extra 15K laying around or I would have bought them.

When factoring the cost, don't forget the WOW factor that the surface drives bring.:)

Super Termoli/ sounds like you have some experience with surface drives. Is it feasible to mount an Arneson on a v bottom so are you able to get 2-3 degrees of positive trim angle on the prop shaft and still have enough of the prop in the water to get decent efficiency? I guess what I am thinking is, I believe the output shaft c/l is on a plane above the boat bottom by a couple inches. If you try to trim the shaft up you loose your water to the prop. Do you happen to know how close the c/line of the prop shaft can get to the bottom of the boat on installation?

Hi Bob. Just saying Hi from the worlds in Orange Beach. Call you tomorrow!!!:D