Lunasea,

good luck. I hope it works out for you. I can not imagine what a nightmare it must be. You buy a boat to enjoy it, and I hope you do soon.

Goodfella,

I know KE has put this combo in a bunch of lighter boats(675 and xr) with great sucess. i hope I am one of those stories as well. Ya know what i mean.:D

Dear Goodfella
You are dead wrong about myself picking the wrong engine package. It is totally Mercury Racings fault. Peace out. Luna Sea

Well, with all due respect I certainly don't believe it's denohew's fault either. He's an innocent consumer who got screwed and is entitled for some restitution. He paid the money in good faith for a new factory product.

denohew, you certainly didn't deserve this kind of grief...especially with a BRAND NEW boat with all STOCK equipment, BUT it sounds like you make a decent buck to afford a boat like that. Unless things are finacially tight for you right now, go buy 3 B-MAX drives and hang them on your boat and go boating for crying out loud. I know $30,000 isn't exactly chump change but if you can afford a NEW 50' Nortec with tripples and REALLY want to go boating, I don't think $30G's is going to sting too bad. I think you have a fair and very valid argument with Merc and perhaps you can recover some of that $$$ from Merc to fund the B-MAX's. I don't know how long the waiting list is for a B-MAX and if you keep waiting it may be too late to purchase any in time for summer. But if you can afford the B-MAX's now then by all means DO IT and GO BOATING man! ;)

DenohewBEAUTIFUL RIDE! #5 Speedmasters hooked up to your 575 SCI would have done the trick. You would have had trouble free performance boating from the first time you launched of your first wave.:D You would have had to spend a little more on drives instead of spending it on attorneys fees.

I am also looking at a new large boat, and am
concerned over the drives. It seems as though
the manufactuers want to have no hassles with
the rigging, so they recommend the Merc. package.

I had to ask direct questions to the manufacutuer to
get the real scoop (after many months). I do not beleive they were trying
to hide anything (all good people), but there is incentive
to get the boat in and out and not have to deal with
special rigging. Initially, I even got pushback with
the BMax idea (no special rigging required). My guess is that
they make more $$ off the Merc package when ordered
as a complete engine and drive set up.

I also understand that the KE 675s are trashing the XR
drives on big boats (40'+).

I am looking at the BMax and the Konrad 540HP for
my application.

Thanks for the posting... your headaches/problems
can help the rest of us learn that the product is
not a good application in these heavier boats.

Hang in there.

Hey Boomer 880
Bmax's are also blowing on Nor-Tech's according to Terry Sobo so I wouldn't waist my ( your ) time. #6's are the only way to go. It will take alot of work but I am going to do the conversion.
Read this it is eye opening:
Dennis,

Here is an excerpt from www.powerboatmag.com.
"FK" is Fred Kiekhafer, who is "Da man" at Mercury
Racing.....

PB: What's the best thing that's happened in
performance boating in the last 10 years?

FK: Electronic fuel injection. It makes these engines
run beautifully and is the stepping stone to the next
10 years' best innovation, which is electronic engine
management.

PB: And the worst thing?

FK: That has got to be the misapplication of the
Bravo One drive. It's designed to handle 300
horsepower, and you get people *****ing because
900 horsepower breaks them. I don't know what is
worse, that misapplication or not being able to steer
people to the proper product.

"Misapplication??" Mercury is the one who lists it in
their catalog! If it's not right, they should be
recommending Speedmasters with everything bigger
than a 5.7. Looks like good ammo for your
class-action suit....

(I also added this to your thread on OffshoreOnly.)

Best regards,

Chuck Sprague

Heavy Heavy Boat
 

Denohew,
Do you know the reason why the B-Max drives are failing on the
Nor Tech's. It is a very HEAVY boat. It has nothing to do with the structual integrity of the drive. Both the B-Max and the Bravo I XR are being pushed to there limits on these applications. You are finally admitting that you need to upgrade to a LARGER DRIVE It has nothing to do with horsepower in your case it is all about weight. Nortech should have sat you down and told you this when you left them a deposit.

Goodfella,

What do you think that the XR drive can handle? At what boat weight and or hp do you think the XR can handle if you feel that the issue is heavy boats???

Thanks for the information on the BMax drives failing in the Nortechs. Any idea of how many failed, which sized Northech, and how much HP?

I had not heard a problem with the BMax drives, and the added
warranty seemed to fit my application. I am looking at 780 hp (twins) in a 40+ foot boat. I would love the #6s, but they really
hit you hard on price. We are working hard to get into the boat, and the #6 would make it unreachable.

I am working with Bruce on the engine builds, and he recommend
the Konrad 540 over the BMax. In speaking with Ken Konrad (great person by the way) he as had great success with high HP and high torqued diesels in front of his drives. I like the Konrads over the #3 or #5, as they are less money, offer a higher HP rating, and use standard props.

I have no issue with the added
transmission needed for the Konrad, but I may have to put the trans. into and extension box in order to make everything fit in the engine compartment. The concern here comes from the builder. The boat already had build-in extension boxes... thus the added length of the box and drive location MAY cause some handleing issues. OY, why can't htis be easier!?!?!?!

I am convinced that the XR is only good up to ~38' and only if you drive it conservatively. Merc. had created a need in the market!!!

By the way, Bruce had been very helpful in the entire planning process. Maybe he could shed some light on the topic!?!

den: are you going triple 6s?
If you are , that's one serious setup, but honestly, if i were you , i'd run triple 800NAs in that boat. It's honestly the blowers that are killing the drives. That's not the only attribute, but having a torque curve that kicks at 3700 really stresses the drives. On bravos blowers arn't the way to go, go naturally aspirated, but if your going to go 6s, the choices are up to you, but i'd stick to NA if you want hastle free or go with triple 850s ;) hydraulic and never have to worry about much except changing the oil. But anywho good luck!

--Roller