Tank
I am glad to see Konrad do what they did. But the 2" higher propshaft is a concern to me, spacers or not. As is the single downshaft and smaller propshaft of the Konrad. Mercruiser #3 and upgraded #3A have years of racing heritage behind them. Maybe Konrad will build a twin downshaft, heavy propshaft drive that can take SSM props. That would really give guy's considering the NXT or 6A drive another choice!
Ed

Oh, don't get me wrong...I love Kurt like a bro and I think the Konrad drive is an awesome well proven drive (I know how kurt has punished his with out a break so far). I'm very glad to see all they've accomplished and think anyone that gives Mercury a run for their money is good for business. Especially when Konrad build such a great drive.

But yea, I agree with you 100%. The 3a is the second best thing to a ssmVI.

Hey Ed,

Technically, the Konrad/SSM replacement is 1.78" shorter than the SSMIII. From what I've seen, most factory installed SSMIII systems were mounted rather deep. (the Top Gun I just converted had a propshaft height of 5.5" below)
The boat responded well to the increased propshaft height, no negatives at all, open ocean testing. The boat gained a couple mph to boot.
As mentioned above, we have spacers to duplicate the SSMIII input shaft to propshaft dimention. Also spacers are offered in 1/2" increments.
This package is not intended for huge hp applications but will work just fine up to 800 hp. It's basically the same unit as our proven TRS repacement

Thanks for the props Tank! Love you too Man

Happy holidays my OSO friends!!!!

Kurt

I'm at 1.5 now and the konrads are already 1.7 shorter than 3's....spacers can go another 2 inches but that leaves me no other options if that doesn't work

I'm also kind of concerned with shaft dia....seems like it might be an issue down the road ....?

Hello Kurt

I hope Konrad produces a Speedmaster type drive in the near future. That would really get them on the cover of the Rolling Stone!
Ed

Check your local marine museum....they might have some 3A's on display. Who knows.....they may sell them!

Konrad guarantees the 540 to 800. That's a bit more than Merc's rating of the III and equal to the IIIa. Plus you can get parts for them and get them worked on by way more places than can properly do a speedmaster. I looked hard at the IIIa before ordering the Konrad.

As far as a "speedmaster" type drive, everything I ever put speedmasters on slowed down. There's way more internal parasitic drag. Plus the bullet lower doesn't really do anything until about 90 or so.

Lastly, and I got this from speaking to more than a couple Konrad users, props are so much better today than they were 20 years ago that the struggling to get up on plane has been substantially reduced. Deep X'es aren't as necessary as before.

Just some thoughts...

Chris

Put 800 hp in front of both. Put them in identical 41 Apache's. Let a Ace throttleman....Bobby Saccenti....
run them though 4' to 6' rough water. Do you really believe the Konrads will hold up as good as the SSM 3A's?
The reason there is more parasitic loss is because there is more rotating mass, as in shafts, bearings and gears. Sure, it eats power, but lends durability. Re-entry in a heavy powerboat is hell on drives.

I know the SSM3A is no longer in production, but the Konrad is not it's equal.
Ed

Well one thing....I'm at least glad to see that i'm not the only one struggling with this delima.....

Maybe Konrad can buy the 3A tooling from Merc and produce the drive.