Cons to surface drive?
 

Hey guys so after a lot of running around the internet I can't seem to find a con to running a surface drive like the arneson. The only thing I have seen is cost. I was hoping the few guys that run these drives could chime in and if any of you have expierence with a single surface drive that would be super!! Thanks guys for all the knowledge!

I have Kaama twins. Cons??? Well, you have to push them to get on plane. There is no 20mph cruise. You're idling or on plane at 30mph, nothing in between. With trim tabs you can MAKE it do 20mph, but it's just not right. HP for HP they run about 5-7 mph faster than big footed drives. That's all I got! I love them otherwise. Beautiful rooster tail.

I have a friend that owns Stinger Boat Company and his personal 25' shallow V has a single Arneson and twin turbo BBC. He runs a round-eared Rolla. Only "con" I saw was that under hard acceleration it "torques" to one side a little, but levels out when it catches up.

Hope that was helpful.

An arneson sticks out from under your swim platform, adds a little length to the boat.

That's all I found.

yeah the grinder blades behind the swim paltform might be something to get used to but I am sure i can think of something to help out at the sandbar ... maybe a noddle with a bungee cord...

I have a "BEWARE--SHARP PROPELLERS" on the back edge of my swim platform! I also have the scar on my knee that proves it is useless! haha!

yeah stickers and plates wouldnt do it... had to be a cover or something to stop people from bumping it...

Pretty sure Arnson makes one.

They make your boat faster and the insurance goes up.

5 gallon bucket over the props

Nice idea!

I have two quarter inch thick plastic flower pots. I cut a groove in it so it will slip through the Arneson rudder. I drilled a couple of small holes in the pots so I can secure it with bungy cords. They fit perfect over the 18 inch diameter props and the flower pots are thick enough to withstand an impact. No worries if someone runs into it. Just more stuff to put in the cabin.

Is docking an issue ?? nerver been on one with S drives

Docking is not an issue at all. Now if the drives are close (staggered), the props are spinning in, have hairy surging blower engines, add in a good wind, a long boat, a strong current, etc, and things get a little more interesting! :D

I always put my drives up as a warning , if that don`t do the trick then I`m sorry about your missing extremities :greenchainsaw:


http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s3/...63541102-3.jpg

I`m always worried about the kids thou :(


http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s5/...05994809-3.jpg

that last picture would make me a nervous wreck

yeah with twins should be easy, but with a single might be a lot tricky.... anyone with a single arneson chime in?

I was referring to a singe as the OP was inquiring about

Hi there, I have a single Arneson.
Trim it down and the water goes under the boat and it's not an issue.

Jeff

Eeeeeek yea that last pic looks like an accident guaranteed to happen

It becomes automatic--to kids/people/whoever: "Please do not jump off, crawl up or dangle your feet off the back of the platform-ONLY USE THE SIDES!" For the hard-headed, I add "there are (2) 17" round stainless steel knives down there that are 4 inches apart. Unless you are narrower than 4", going off the back of this boat is ugly"

How do you like having the single surface and what boat is it on? Length? And power?

Darr win????????

can you get bow lift from a surface drive?

You can't force the bow up like with a regular stern drive, but they do trim out and gets lift, etc. You can feel the boat raise and lower in the water at speed, it's just not a pointed nose up sort of thing. Basically it's just like a regular boat, nail the throttles, let it get going and max out RPM, trim up until you hear a props lose a little bite, bump down until you hear it grab, and that's your base trim setting. Weight and load distribution is adjusted off that trim setting.

If bow lift is needed, just like in the cases with a Mercury drive, you can use a propeller with more rake if needed.

I am considering Arnesons for my next boat and was wondering if staggered would be better to give the drives better leverage, or side by side to keep the weight back? As far as the drives sticking out, I was planning on a custom aluminum swim platform to cover them.

Depends.. Honestly if your not going over 100 mph I can see little benefit for most boaters to have a stagger setup..

What are you going to build.

So far I enjoy it. 20' Donzi. Just upgraded to a 445hp small block. I've had it for quite a few years.

Jeff

What speeds are you getting out of that combination.?

Not sure yet. I have only run it with the new engine once and it was very brief.
I'll have to wait until next summer.

Jeff

I'm looking at a 39 or 41 Velocity with 1600hp minimum, so definitely over 100.

Then a stagger setup on this application would be a good thing.

Anyone running a 25' or 27' with a single surface drive? If you post a photo of the engine compartment that would be awesome. Looking for a visual of the layout from behind the motor to the transom.

looking for? The engine placement will depend upon which drive you are referring to and so on.

Rik do you have any install photos of ASD6 in a single configuration in 25 V-hull or Cat?

Yes, we have everything from a 22' Eliminator to a 25' Talon, 26 AO, a 26' Firehawk (all the same boat essentially) a 25' Carrera and so on..