Most Reliable Drive
 

What would be the most reliable drive to hold up to 750 HP other than the #6.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Tranny doesnt matter.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Arnison

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

How Much?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

These IMCO 4x4s are rated for 900hp and are for sale. Complete setup. Cheap! http://www.offshoreonly.com/esvon/page-7562.html

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Konrad 540 drive. Run about $13k per side and will run any 1 1/4 hub prop.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

I am not wooried about bying yet. Are the ARNSONS good in rough water??

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

yes the arnesons are good in rough water

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

SSM 3A's

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

wait a year for the Ace?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Konrad all the way. The Konrad was orginally designed for diesel military applications with a continuous rating of @ 800 ft lbs of torque.

The US Navy runs them 24/7 and changes the gear oil at 1000 hrs. They are a commercially rated drive built for thousands of hours of service.

Another small fact.... Since we entered the performance boat market, we have not had a single failure. NOT ONE!!!!! :drink:

Kurt

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Only Surface drives.

Arneson, ZF, Top Speed you name it there´s boatload of producers of them.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Why that would be Mercury's new ACE drive that handles HP applications from 600 up to 800 HP. Most people would likely have to sell their boats in order to afford a pair though - which makes htem last even longer :)

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Kurt,

Does Konrad have a direct replacement for SSM V?

For Alpha One?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

We put a set of Konrads on my own Fountain. It's an old resin bucket with 675hp mills. It's been beat on by a bunch of West Coast goons and the drives are holding up fine. If I make it through this summers poker run season plus all the lunch runs down to the Bay I'll be ecstatic.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Arneson, Weismann or Sage #8

The best of the best.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

How many have been sold? How many in the 750+ hp apllication, make me a believer...You do have a good product from what I have read thus far, so I am not against Konrad, just skeptical.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Tough not to be skeptical in this business, isn't it? We hear about better mousetraps all the time and usually there's a glitch. Sometimes even when "millions have been sold" the product is still junk.

The Konrad is the real deal, because people that were busting TRS regularly are beating the crap out of the Konrad and having no failures. That includes some heavy old boats with big power and no prop slip to save the drive. I'm sure Kurt will give you specific examples but these back to back conversions prove more about the durability than the number of drives sold. You know that the guys running them did everything they could to make the TRS drives live before they bit the bullet and paid for the Konrads.

We put them on a 1986 Excalibur that weighs 8500 lbs, has supercharged 502 engines, and five blade props. We don't even think about breaking drives anymore. BAM transmissions with HD flexplates.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Good testimonial, what you said makes complete sense and I agree. Here's the flip side. My father had a 27' Magnum with the original TRS drives, in his 18 years of ownership there was only one drive failure, I happened to be driving, ithe right drive broke the prop shaft. The boat was powered with big blocks, 450-475 hp, which to me 18+ years of boating every weekend (he owned it for 18 out of the 30 years) without a drive failure, and racing everyone who would give you a shot is pretty dam reliable.

I do know of the instances that you are talking about, the boats such as a 40' Fountain, or 38" Cigarette with the 600+ hp motors that are prone to failure. From what I have read the Konrad is a great product for the conversion to eliminate that issue. If I wanted to replace/upgrade a Bravo drive, to handle to 650hp to 800hp range,then to add a transmission and then add the Konrad(s) seems expensive and cumbersome, not to mention will anyone want to but a used boat with a Konrad drive, other than the Offshore Only Konrad fan club? When the drive is installed on boats direct from the factory as OEM, then some of my skepticism will subside. The question still stands, in the 750+ hp range on twin engine boat applications, how many are out there, and how has the reliability been?

PS - L do think it is a great product for the audience that they are targeting, TRS replacement, but what about the Bravo replacement? What is the best cost effective-solution?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Velocity is putting The Konrad "ACE" package in their boats. 815 hp engine and Konrad 540 drive w/ 1 year warranty. they also sell the package seperatly. I was checking it out at the show and is now a serious contender for my new power package.

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Konrad "ACE"? Did Merc borrow the Ace name?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

no . . merc borrowed the Konrad concept :D :D

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Good info., thanks

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

I have 275 hours on my B-Maxs, the new ones are rated at 950 hp and 950 TQ

Rob

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

But they both call their drives Ace?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

What about the IMCO extreme? Isnt it rated for 1000?

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

I ended up going with Arnison ASD-8's, in a Nortech 4300 v diesel package. Jeff

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Jass,
GREAT choice for drives and power! What diesels and tranny's did you chose?
Congrats!
Dean

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Yanmar 480/925..ASD-8
I was trying to get a 2 speed, which are typically large. We are trying to get the COG of the boat further aft to get a little more bow rise. On this set up I also elected to go with a lighter layup
as well as taken the notch out of the transom. Alot of this is experimental vs the other 4300 with the same package. I have gotten alot of information off this board, as well as alot of help and advise from Super Termolie, Rik-Arnison, and Terry Sobo. What this does is enables the engine to go slightly further back as well as deeper in the boat, which enebles the props to be in cleaner water. A 2 speed at this point would require a box on the outside of the transom, it's getting a liitle to late for that
so Im trying to get a hold of Shifter-Weisman because I read his multi speed tranny is only a 1/2"larger than the stock tranny. I'll know more next week. Thanks for everyones help on this thread. We have a goal of 80 on this boat, without turning it up, and am hoping we can achieve it. Thanks Jeff

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

One that isn't used much!!!! :D :D :D :drink:

Re: Most Reliable Drive
 

Probably Mercurys secret NEW "SUPER ALPHA".