Not sure what his budget is but there is that 38 scarab at double R that is very clean and has the #5s on it already, just add the 572's and pound through the waves. They've had it for a while, pretty clean, saw it this fall, should be able to move them on price...

It sounds like from what others are telling ya,, the TRS drive is very old and difficult to get parts for....Ya, especially for someone getting into boating,,, it seems like it mite be a major "money pit" longterm... i guess another option, might be to save a lil more money and spend a little more to get a V bottom with Mercury (bravo style) drives.... mercury will always be there,, i guess only issue is, its gonna be alot more money.... Good Luck..!

It would have to be a steal of a deal in order for me to buy something with a bravo butt, -- for the money i'd buy the trs's and upgrade based on the power level and availability of a stronger drive.
I would not want to 'get into boating' and have to lay out 24 k in Konrads -- nothing against the drives but too much money for just starting out.

TRS's are a much better drive than the bravos in my opinion.

I see them in usable shape on craigslist for 1000 bucks all the time.

TRS drives were made for a good long run. There are TONS of them out there. I have never had an issue finding parts or complete drives. There are things you can not buy new but in that case just look around and you can find them used. They don't like 4 blade props and they don't like to be beat out of the hole. Other then that they shift sweet as well.

+1 I never had trouble getting parts for TRS's. If you he's worried about running huge power through them (600+), I think he would be money ahead to buy a boat that already has SSM's or Konrads. Most TRS boats are selling for under $60k just because of the age of the boats. Most of those are under $30k. In my opinion it just doesn't make sense to put $30K worth of drives on a boat that is still worth 30K when your done, unless it's a boat he plans to keep for a long, long, long time.

If he finds a clean TRS boat in his price range, I would not hesitate to own it, they are great drives, and way better than a bravo in my opinion.

Yes while it is his first boat he's been around them long enough to know not to blow his whole wad on a used boat. Wants turn key to start with as to not sour his wife on boating before they start along with the lower HP for insurance then once his wife and kid are hooked he'll spend the money on upgrades or a newer boat. He has 75k cash but only wants to spend 50 on boat and trailer, he has a 1 ton truck so thats covered.
He knows they are costly but like me he will do all the work, and his dad has had performance boats and is real good working on them also. Has his heart set on a Cig. unless he gets a great deal on a Scarab, he also needs a full enclosed head so there is only about 20 boats out there that fit the bill. He just didn't want to have all the problems like I had with Blackhawk drives and I didn't know much about TRS drives.

What about all the used Konrads for sale for like 5k are they kinda like the B-max is/was only 2 people on the planet can rebuild them and make them last?

If you are looking at used Konrads you have to make sure they are 540 drives I think it is. The others are for work boats that swing large props.