Blackhawk Drives
 

I'll be the first to admit that I know 'nada' about Blackhawk drives. How do they compare to Merc's in performance, reliability, parts availability, etc... Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Ricochet.

With the right hull they are faster than any bravo equiped boat. On the wrong hull they're terrible. Generally, they fast around the marina and are slower to plane. I don't know of any particular problems with the drive other than some parts are discontinued, but still available.

discontinued after lek 1-2 years for poduction. I believe it's basically a bravo 3 upper with new lower. uppe rpart swill be ok as you can use B3 stuff lower parts and props are going to get scarce.

They are mercury drives. Top half is a bravo,lower half is a bravo3,only the cases are different.

Had a donzi classic 22 blackhawk edition. gimbal was showing signs of wear after 50 hrs (play in outdrive side to side). got donzi to replace it. I was told that there was an updated gimbal for it and that was what they said they gave me for replacement. I fought donzi to supply me with external steering at there expence. after contacting mercury who provided me with a document stating that boats over 70 mph should be installed with external steering they saw things my way and supplied me with a latham single ram system as well and my dealer installed it no charge. good to go after that. Boat went like stink. a bit tricky to drive, deffenitely needed some seat time figure out, porpoused a bit at slower speeds. Rough water was tough due to the surface drive

We wanted to use them on our race boat. Merc said not to because they would never hold the abuse and 575HP.

Also the boat needed extra rocker built into the bottom to take advantage of the performace gains.

Merc sold us #Vs and we still needed to replace lower gears in one of the drives every other race.

I don't know why people don't use Arnesons or Pulse drives, or Wiesmans or BMax. Anything but merc stuff on the transom

Ron.

That's interesting because a race caliber boat I'm looking at has the Blackhawk on it. It's a 510 c.i. engine generating at least 450 - 500 hp. Is it a mistake to pursue further based on the drive situation?

Any other input is appreciated.

Ricochet.

If the boat you are looking at has the right hull configuration, it may be the right boat for you. Blackhawks where designed for high X demension settings on boats with pads & notched hulls. Do a search on "Blackhawk" to get the address of the Mercury bulletin on Blackhawk drive application.

Blackhawks work best on boats that naturally carry the nose high, they create a lot of stern lift that will improve the hull's angle of attack. If your boat likes to run nose high and has a tendency to chine walk, you'll like the way a Blackhawk will settle the boat down. Because your turning two props with one engine you will need some HP to keep the props turning. Due to the pitch (27-31) that is avaliable, expect art least 5-6 mph idle speed.

There is no reason why the Blackhawk should not handle the HP you quoted. The Blackhawk has the same upper gears of the Bravo I and lower gears of the Bravo III. If you check the part numbers you will find they are identical. You can also buy a beefier upper gear-set from Mercrusier to upgrade the drives upper gears. Blackhawks mount directly to the Bravo Transom housing.

As for props, they are avaliable new from Mercury under two brands. The cheaper brand is the same as the Mercruiser prop but sold in a different box.

If you like the boat, but aren't sure of the drive..buy it anyway. Since the Blackhawks are no longer in production, you can sell it to someone who needs a Blackhawk for enough to get a new Bravo I. New Blackhawks are still around, when you can find them they are going for around 8K with props.

Hope this helps...

I never even saw a blackhawk in person, so other than having Merc tell us not to use them on a 34' Phantom B class boat, I have no other reference for ya,,,, other than they stopped making them,,,,, possibly for a reason.

We wanted Mr. Technology to have all the coolest stuff including two speed B&M trannys and the two prop blackhawks. The B&M got taken out after they broke at the start of the first two races.

There is something to be said about tried and true technology unless you have the pockets to develop a new program.

i wonder how one of reindlls bat boats would handle a blackhawk. i know that with the narrow beam they like the volvo dpx drive alot. i think the blackhawk is a bit higher performance though. :D . . hmmm . . .guess we'll never know . . . . there is a p-29 scarab at a friends shop with those on it.pretty cool. :cool:

Back when I was looking at the Reindel, I asked him about the BH. Of all the drives they had tried, they had not tried the BH. The volvo was working and they decided to stick to a known combination.

Ric-I you are looking to get out of the BH, I'd be looking to get into one. I also have a 2" shortie drive that would work very nicely in it's place.

Blackhawk Props
 

KenD,
Can you go into a little more detail about the availability of the Blackhawk Prop. I have a 22 Classic with the Blackhawk Drive, and when I called Mercury about new props, they told me that they have some new front props in the warehouse, but no rear ones. What brand does Mercury sell?

I'll check my notes. I talked to a supplier about two weeks ago who told me they where avaliable. Must have halfheimers, I can't remember who told me they had them.

If you can use a pair of 27" props, I have a spare pair of props, new in box (if I can find the box), that I could let you have at whatever the suppliers price would be.

KenD

Blackhawk Props
 

KenD,
Thanks for the reply. I did find a used pair during my search. The Donzi Blackhawk uses a 31 pitch. When I spoke to Mercury Racing (5 months ago) about them, they said that there were talks of possibly resuming production of the props. Maybe they have already started.

Ricochet:

In response to your original reply, blackhawk parts are getting fairly hard to find. I blew the vertical drive shaft. My badluck, with the cold weather setting in, I only had fishing boats to run up against. I caught a little air (hey - its not like I am not running this thing off-shore) and I blew the shaft. I ordered the replacement shaft and bearing carrier assembly - no problem. Alot of the parts are common to bravo III's. The problem that I am having is that some of the merc specialty tools have bean backorder for several months. I have been scolded on Donzi.net for the following comment - Mercruiser Blackhawk service is hard to find (in Indiana anyway - so I opted to do the repair myself).

I am 1-2 hours south of you if you what to stop by for a ride. I plan to purchase a trolling motor so I won't get trapped out in the lake. Not kidding, after I made it a point to piss-off all of the fisherman, it was difficult to find a tow in.

I really do like the blackhawk and I do recommend it, however, be prepaired to spend some money.

Andy

Thanks for everyone's input.

Andy- Where in Indy are you able to get your repair parts? Or are you mail ordering from another location? I run up in Syracuse at Lake Wawasee. It's as close as we get to offshore conditions here in northern Indiana, what with an eight mile open stretch and nothing but sea walls buffeting the shorelines. On a good day we can get 3-4 ftr's.

Do you run out at Geist? Roughly what did the parts cost you?

Ricochet.

blackhawk
 

? has anyone had imco or maxx work on a blackhawk to try to keep them together

Ricochet,

When I am running, it is Geist. I obtain most of my repair parts off the internet. Stem-to-stern because they are competetive and have a full illustrated parts breakdown for blackhawks (it was also nice that they came up in a yahoo search). Also, mercury parts express and you pick the distributor. I am sure there are many others.

I did order Imco repair parts. I was surprised and disappointed when the parts came in a quicksilver package. I was hoping for something bullet proof. Being from Indiana, if anyone claims that their part or drive is bullet proof, I am going to buy it and take it to the back yard and shoot it.

bearing carrier - $ 167.40
IMCO (quicksilver) drive shaft - $ 168.90
propeller nut tool - $ 56.00
bearing retainer wrench - $ 59.58
bearing adapter tool - $ 54.24
trolling motor for sea trials - $$ priceless $$

Andy

looking for black hawk props 29 or 31 even if you have none matching sets pleas let me know or call 661 860 9298

Contact Offshoredrillin he has a new set in the box i believe, not sure what size.

how do i contact them is ther a # or web site thanks

call my cell 410-746-0020 I have a brand new set of 27's never been on a shaft. the 31's I am using.

has anyone tried a bh on a 26 american offshore, eliminator cat, etc?

This is kind of old now, But in his web site it shows he has 29 pitched blackhawk props in stock, Might be worth a call you never know. Good luck. http://www.thepropellercompany.com/


vette131, If you do a search on Blackhawks either here on [OSO] or over on Performance boats forums you will find some good information about running blackhawks.

Also if anyone needs some information about wanting to buy a used Blackhawk drive, I know of someone that has a few to sell. You can "PM" me and I will give you his number if you want, He has no props though.

sean/airpacker had one on a cat, forget which make and it ran well until he exceeded its hp limit. up until that point he really liked it.

Get a couple strippers together and offshoredrillin will certainly call you...

we tried one on a twenty something foot Eliminator cat (24-25?) with pretty good results. The boat was slugish at first and would only hit about sixty at like 4000rpm. Hit the trim and it shot to eighty plus like a bullet, pulled real hard up to speed. Tells me we need to ad some X to the boat but other wise happy with results. Its a great drive but takes some tuning. If you want an alternative Anthony with Wazzup racing in NJ was telling me he believes he can assemble a better variant using XR uppers, an Imco shorty lower case and BravoIII internals.

thanks for the info i have brand new labed 27p by bronson hill i am runing 22ft daytona 509efi 560 hp an just under 90mph its blowing the props off so i was trying to get a hold of 29 or 31 to see if 100mph possible

has anyone ever converted a BH to a single prop?

Yes, there was a kit available from I don't remember who that converted it to a single SSM style prop shaft.

Why you would want to reduce the efficiency of the drive though I am not sure.

I was just thinking with the lack of props in the right pitch it would be something that may or may not work.

Do you know how the drive reacted with a single screw?

herring is still making them.

I'm wanting to try a Blackhawk on my 26 American offshore 500 hp did anyone ever try
 

I'm wanting to try a Blackhawk on my 26 American offshore did you ever try one

I'm wanting to try a Blackhawk on my 26 American offshore cat 500 HP did anyone ever try one on an A O or a 25 talon

I think Eliminator ran them on their 25, pretty sure that bottom was derived from the talon as well as your AO. Might want to do a little research in the Eliminator section.

I believe that the center pod on an AO is actually lower than the outer sponsons. I could be wrong though - it is just something I read. The boat must have natural bow lift for a Blackhawk drive to work on that hull. I would think that most cats would fit that category.

I heard eliminator may still be sitting on some new BH drives for use on the 25's.

If you had let's say 31 and are mint what are they worth. Ohh I am running a blackhawk on my 18 Donzi which is supercharged running. In the high 80's and love the drive..what I love is when people see it and always askk what the hell is that.

If anybody has a Mercury Blackhawk drive for sale contact me!