Arneson Surface Drives
 

Does anyone have any experience with Arneson surface drives? With all of the upgrades for the Bravo it seems like they are still failing. The new Bravo to surface drive kit from Arneson sounds reasonable for what you get. A stand off box, steering cylinders, transmission, trim cylinder and all hardware for ~16K. And it is good for up to ~ 800 HP, plus you do not have to move the motor forward. I know there are pros and cons to surface drives, it just sounds like there are more advantages to me????? Any comments?

Thanks

cool drives!

never heard a broken arneson.

from what i hear the only way to break an arneson (assusming you bought the right sized drive for your power range) is to have your boat fall off a travel lift onto the drive. And hell it might even survive that (i doubt the hull wodl though...)

I have never heard anything but great things about them!

I used to Work in a Marina Back in the 80's and we had a bunch of customers with Arneson, and Kaama stuff. I don't remember anyone ever breaking an Arneson Drive. We had a 26' Corsair with a single BBC with one It was great except around the dock, it was a ***** to drive around with the single engine. The ONLY bad thing I think I've ever heard anyone say about the arneson stuff is the low speed drivability of them vs. a Bravo.

Bullet proof ! Jet set runs AD 8's with close to 2000 hp per side at around 195mph ! Been running for years !! I have them on my cat ,I love them . If you want V bottom experience , there is a guy near me with a 39 sutphen with arnesons and I think 900's . He took them off his old V bottom and put them on his brand new one . He loves them .

They sink just like any other drive if the boat fills with water.

Seriously, I will find another one to put on the Magnum if I don't salvage the one that went down with the Crusader. It just makes simple sense and is 100% rebuildable from a McMaster-Carr and TRW catalog.

They need paint but.......

they work pretty good......

and these guys can testify to it.......

5 Blade Full Face Nibral Propellers? If the Boat is kept in the water the Rubber boots should be on the Ball Sockets (You want to keep them in the shade)To Prevent Marine growth unless the Boat is used constantly.

Nice photos BTW I like that !!
:D

Big drives.............but they sure look cool!

Pretty good guess, Rolla 60" pitch, 60" Dia., $22,000@, 6" Splined Prop Shaft, no boots available or designed for these.

Drives not available, don't know if spare set of props are available can check if your interested.

Incredible Equip you canot go wrong with Arnesons. as prev mentioned never heard of a broken one!!!!!

Arneson drives are the best. I have one on my carrera a 1981, with serial number 0001. Just replaced an o ring last week. 1st time drive has been apart since 1981, and the boat has had big hp thrown at it for over 20 years.
I,m currently buying an AO 26, and wonder if anyone has an arneson on single motor cat????/ Curious how they work. I,ve heard different stories so not sure.
I've always wondered why folks keep replacing bravos over and over when they could have paid for the arneson.
ANy comments welcome

I have Arneson ASD 12's on a 55' Baia w/ 2 1000 horse MTUs. The boat weighs 50,000 lbs and cruises at 42 Knots (48 mph). It has 500 hours on it and the drives are indestructable. Not only are they bullet proof but they present minimal drag, far less than a Bravo. I believe the molds for this boat were the largest that Don Aronow ever built. He couldn't get the boat in production so he sold them to Baia. If anybody knows more of the history of the world's largest Cigarette I would love to hear it.

I think that they also make a adaptor so that you can run regular props on them instead of speedmaster props

Jon

Jon...............If you got time to type, you got time to sand.:p :p :p

Bob

so :

arneson rulezzZZZzzzz!

Steve1

I have a quick question regarding boots. I have Arnesons #1200 SP's, the boat is used in fresh water. I put new boots on 4 years ago and now there shot. Are the boots just for saltwater? The reason I ask, is to repalce these things the drive needs to be removed from the transom on this model. Additionally, is there a more durable material as this one does not appear to be anything special. A minor problem but the drives are so reliable that is the only reason to take them off.
Thanks
JOhn

Airship the as You Know the Idea is too keep Marine growth off the ball, If the Boat is used frequently that’s also a consideration, Fresh water! Well a clue would be too look an the area adjacent to the Ball-Socket for the buildup, that will pretty much tell what you will face on the Long term in the absence of a cover

A simple split boot like is used on the Automobile replacement CV joint Covers, was never done to my knowledge, leaving the remaining option of having to remove the unit .