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Konrad's- Been any Failures??

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Konrad's- Been any Failures??

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Old 08-09-2007 | 10:10 AM
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Agreed.

We only have around 380 hours on the Konrads we put on our own Fountain with a pair of 675hp mills. It's about 300 hours more than I would have expected from the competitors drives in the same app.
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Old 08-09-2007 | 08:07 PM
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I have installed several Konrad drives zero problems,all were installed on engines with less than 800hp.I feel the konrad is the best replacement drive available for 600-800hp applications.The outdrive was design to replace the trs and bravo applications that could not handle 600-800hp load,It was not designed to replace the 6 speedmaster and 1000-1200hp loads,some people will try to overload the drive with too much torque but have no right bashing if failure occcurs,they misapplied the product and now have to pay the price.I am currently installing a set of trs replacements on a 35 cafe with 572-600hp,the trs failed but i am sure the konrads can easily handle the load.The konrad people are great to work with and customer service awesome,I truly believe the konrad when properly installed(600-800hp) will provide years of trouble free operation and low maintenance cost.
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Old 08-09-2007 | 10:15 PM
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4yrs of Racing and Poker Runs with the Konrads, running 2X600+HP and we NEVER EVER had a drive failure.
Previous to installing the Konrads Brian got to be pretty good at rebuilding TRS's
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Old 08-10-2007 | 02:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Audiofn
Lofty. My guess is that the other guy gets the boot from the web site because he is caught lieing and slandering a company. He lied about how much he paid for the rebuild, and he was not forthright about the modifications that he did to the drive. Now he has his chear leading section come on to try and bash the drive....... As you said it is not like there are tons of people on hear saying that their drives blew up as these guys claim. SO I guess that I am waiting for them to tell us who all these customers are, other wise I only know of two and they were both well in excess of the drives specs and one of them is the drive that was modified and that customer was taken care of in MORE then a fair maner IMO. The real money rebuild cost tot that guy was like 300 bucks, BIG DEAL then he comes on hear and bashes the company? GET REAL
I have been reading for 2 or 3 years that there have been ZERO failures of Konrad drives,I have found this to be suspicious since there is ALWAYS someone that is going to exceed the power rating of ANY component or ABUSE it until it breaks. The Konrad dealers have been posting on every drive thread that the Konrad drive is the answer to breaking other drives and have outright said "even though it is rated for 800 hp it has been used successfully beyond the rating",implying the drive is very under-rated as far as the power level rating. The truth has come out,yes,people have broken konrad drives BUT in very few instances. Are they blowing up behind 700 or 800 hp motors or less,it doesn't appear so from what information can be found thruout the internet. It seems Rock-pirate lied about the circumstances surrounding the failure of his drive,it sounds like from what Jon/Audiofin is saying Konrad did give him a pretty good deal on repairing/upgrading his drive further,I wouldn't want to be him If/when he breaks it again,they most likely won't be giving him any kind of deal/help in the future after his thread on here.
The 2 things that stand out in my opinion that most likely contributed to the drive failing in his particular application was the fact he was running a big, whipple charged motor-similar set-ups have made over 1000 ft lbs of tq down low in the mid range, these big tq numbers absolutely kill drive parts. The other factor, if its true,running a 30 pitch maximus prop in a single engine application. Maximus props are humungous,they weigh 26 lbs in un-modified form,they run with very low slip numbers which is very unforgiving on drives when combined with a extreme amount of tq. I personally sheared off a billet max worx bravo prop shaft testing a 28 pitch maximus prop with 950 ft lbs of tq in a smaller boat so I have a idea of what low slip numbers /hi tq and a heavy prop can do to drive parts,Smitty
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Old 08-10-2007 | 07:40 AM
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Smitty Konrad did say in their post on the poofed thread that they have had a very small number of failures. They did not elaborate on that but I don't think that they are trying to hide anything.

I think that problem with RockPirate was that he saw that no drives were blowing up and people have been very happy with them. He saw that there ARE drives holding up well under extream use like races and poker runs. He thought that since they have been holding up so well that it would last in his aplication as well. IMO you have to trust what the engineers at Konrad tell you and that is that the drive is only rated for 800HP anything more and you probably should be looking at a different drive that as we all know is not only a LOT more money but also requires a tranny IN the boat......

You are also correct about the Maximus props. Those things are KILLER on drives so his situation really was a double even tripple wammy

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Old 08-10-2007 | 02:29 PM
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Well said!!! I have TRS and would switch to Knorads in a heartbeat if I stay under 800 hp, after that Arneson's for me. I really like the Konrads and the US Gov't tries to get the best Bang for the buck, they have done a great job at filling the nich market, hats off to them.
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Old 08-10-2007 | 03:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Lofty

Boatless, what is your experience with Konrad? You keep posting derogatory and inflammatory things about them so let's hear it!
I would say that his screen name tells all!!
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Old 08-10-2007 | 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Pantera28-650HP
Konrad drives are warrantied for 800HP and less. They are very clear on that from speaking with them directly and in their literature. I have not heard of ANY failures when operating within the specified HP and torque ratings. Yes there have been issues when exceeding the specifications.

There is nothing on the market that can compare to Konrad in performance or customer service. As a replacement to a TRS and within the HP rating the drive is bulletproof!!

If you don't have a Konrad Drive then how are you qualified to comment?
I understand that you had a failure, a trip to WI for repair etc. The story is out there. Period. Are you over the HP rating? Fact of the matter is no company is perfect. You would think that this site could remain unbiased. I am not saying don't promote your wares but people come here for the truth not a sales pitch. I'm sure under most circumstances that Konrad builds a great drive but at the end of the day it is a piece of equipment that can and will break under many circumstances even normal operation!!!
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