Sage #8 vs. Merc #6
 

Hello everyone... does anyone out there have experience with these drives?? Pros vs cons??

The only Sage boat I have seen on here was a Superboat Y2K with a single turbine mated to a Sage 8. It looks like a fantastic drive for our purposes, but he had trouble getting it to work in a single application. Cant imagine the cost of it. Plus, it is HUGE. Like incredibly massive. But it has a changeable X dimension and trim, which is pretty interesting.

Totally different drive than a #6. Alot of guys on here with #6 experience.

The only difference from #6 to #8 is the lower heavy duty only. Upper has same parts as #6. Same Trasom assy. lower housing assy. heavier. Otherwise no difference/

Dave Wesseldyke used them on his boat.

http://www.wescoracingengines.com/

616-662-2250


Also Jim Dyke Used them and last I knew still had a pair in his shop he may part with ?

http://www.airshipribs.com/airshipcms/

866-967-1073 0r 440-967-1073


Good Luck
Jon

Should you have any questions call me at; 954 237 0332

I think you may be refering to the Mercury #8,.......not the SAGE #8 ?


Jon

O you are correct. Thanks I wasn't thinking the Sage 8 is a different drive. Thank you.

Thanks for the info guys!! I bought a pair of the drives off of Jim at air ship ribs... that is why I started the thread. Just wanted to see what the general thoughts were on the board... (good experiences? bad experiences?)

I have a 47 Fountain Flat Deck... the green, black, and silver one... it looks like these drives can take some real power.

Right now my transom is solid... I could go with standard twins... or put a third motor back in it... but then I am stuck trying to find another Sage #8. I think staggering would be too costly at this point... but I could be wrong.

Thanks guys!!!

Q

Been a long time since I was at Jim's Shop.
But if memory serve's me seem's like Jim and his
Crew improved a few little quirks they had.

Seems like the only other thing I remember was after sitting in the water over a weekend of racing etc. had to pull the plug and let the water out.

Didn't sound like a huge issue,........just something to be aware of that they can leak a little bit inside.

Personally I would ask Jim about it,...if he didn't already go over it with you.

.................................................. ..............................

Dave Wesseldyke likes his from what I remember

Both are great guys to talk with and won't BS you.

Other than that I think info will be hard to find, very few of these drives out there.


FYI #6 drysumps take on water too.........




Jon

Does SCS still build this drive? Should ba as strong as the ASD#8.

Thank you for the info Cougerman.

I did call SCS today... they took my number and said they would call me back with a price. Still not sold on the triple motor package though... I'd almost rather put 1500hp motors in as twins and turn them loose...

What do you guys think?

Here is a few thoughts.

What would the downtime be on twin 1500 hp motors, compared to say, triple 1000-1100's? For instance 1500 hp motors needing rebuilds every 50-75 hr's and the 1000-1100 needing rebuilds every 100-150+ hr's. Also thinking reliability, with the higher hp number.

Maybe needing race fuel for the 1500 hp mills.

As the drives are rated for 1500hp/1500tq. Will the entire setup be as reliable as you wish, or are you looking at possible drive issues in the future, running big power.

Lower fuel consumption with the twins. (If important to you)

Twins being faster. (Depending on the triple power)

This is just one way of looking at it, and rebuild times ect. are of course very much a question about, how the boat is run and treated, not to metion how the motors are put together. I like the triples, but that's me.

Interesting project.

good point... does anyone know of any high HP twins or trips available out there for sale? (besides what are posted in the classifieds?) If so... PM me and I'll check it out.

I'd like to see what is out there then make a move on either the stag set up or triple set up...

Thanks for the help guys!!!

something else to think about, I've been told tripps dont necessarily make the boat that much faster on the top end but it will get ya there quicker. Would also explain why most of the big fast stuff that use to be built with tripps is mostly now being built with twins (OL GTX's and the like) just a thought i had while reading this. I always thought the Sage was pretty badass.

I'd go with twins, but expecting 1500's to last long or be very reliable is probably asking a lot. I'd probably look to do twin 1100 to 1200 or so as a compromise.

Glad to see something is going to happen with that Fountain. I've seen it on ebay forever, it's a sharp looking boat!

Check out that 47' apache thread converted to a staggered.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...storation.html

1,100's / 1,200's and runs 116 mph


Pretty respectable.............

Have RF powerboats convert it to a staggered.
Not that big of a deal for the conversion and sell of your third set of hardware.



Jon

I knew that I had a picture somewhere. This is from Skaterfest 2001 in Brick, NJ. Photo courtesy of T2X.