Converting another boater into an Arneson Believer
12-15-2015, 09:30 PM
#1
arneson-industries.com
Offshoreonly AdvertiserThread Starter
Converting another boater into an Arneson Believer
Avid boaters, Jeff and Ron Tibbe, have been through the usual cycle of high performance boating. Buy a boat, upgrade it with more horsepower, ultimately realizing reliability is the first causality. In effort to address reliability, spending more money is usually the only right answer.
Jeff and his wife Meg, partnering with parents, Ron and Sherri Tibbe, own a 1997 32’ Active Thunder Offshore V-bottom boat – bought completely stock from Florida. In today’s world some might consider it old school with its classic lines and non-stepped bottom but the Tibbe’s chose this boat for its build quality and predictability in all offshore conditions - and with Jeff and Ron’s attention to detail the quality shows throughout. “My dad and I are both engineers that like to get our hands dirty, so the Active Thunder was a great platform to start from. With boat projects, we’re a little bit sick in that we like wrenching in the offseason as much as enjoying them in the summer.”
Just after buying the saltwater boat, in summer of 2006, Tibbe tuned up the original power package, then removed the engines, drives, steering, along with the rest of the mechanical and electrical and sold it during the first winter of owning it. They then built a pair of naturally aspirated 540ci engines and later added multiport fuel injection. Initially the boat was equipped with high performance Bravo drive units. “Our focus was getting more out of the boat by building top-shelf engines that were reliable, not solely focused on horsepower, while upgrading the controls and safety features, being sure it maintained rough water durability – a fairly unique combination”. The first 3 years with this setup worked out well, but after the first set of replacement gears were installed, the drives’s XR lower gears never held up long enough to break them in after that. In a quest to balance the equation of reliability he sought out upgrades. Researching what others had done, Jeff came to the conclusion that a pair of IMCO drives was the answer. Once installed the results of his efforts was the reliability he sought, but it came with a price - top speed reduction that so many boaters see but don’t like to talk about. “Over the last year, with my fairly conservative power and IMCO drives, I was merely keeping up with boats with 300 less horsepower and stock Bravo drives. I wasn’t going to worry about my drives anymore, but I knew I would either need to bump horsepower to the limits of the IMCO drives or just attack the problem from the source and keep the power the same and make the drives more efficient.”
In Tibbe’s readings and conversations he had heard about the Arneson Surface Drives and how they provide both reliability and a speed increase over a Bravo style drive unit. Tibbe had also read the uninformed opinions of how they will they work on a non-stepped boat bottom such as his 32’ Active Thunder. Emailing or calling Arneson to ask the questions directly was the easy first step.
Tibbe spoke with Rik Wimp of Arneson Surface Drives. It just so happened that Arneson has a customer with a very similar boat, a 1996 32’ Active Thunder with ASD6 drives on it owned by Bret Jones out of Jonhsburg, IL. Wimp forwarded Jones’ contact information to Tibbe and let the two parties communicate one on one for an unbiased opinion. Although Jones has smaller power than Tibbe, Jones had a significantly better top speed than Tibbe’s current setup. “I was fortunate to talk with Bret, given he had already done the Arneson conversion on basically the same hull.”
Tibbe contacted Wimp again but this time with much more curiosity and with a lot more questions about the setup process, gear ratios, installation heights and so on.
After discussions with multiple owners of Arneson boats around the country, Jeff, co-founder of the newly formed West Michigan Offshore powerboat club, knew switching to Arnesons would make the difference and allow him to keep up with some of the bigger and faster boats in the WMO event schedule. “From an engineering perspective, I knew the Bravo style drives drag the entire lower unit through the water, lower gear set and all. Arnesons have the advantage of performing the gear reduction above the surface of the water with oversized gears (a luxury normal outdrives don’t have) – leaving only the skeg in the water”
Tibbe made the decision to purchase the Arneson #7M Kits. He sold off his current outdrives, HP transom assemblies, extension boxes, and steering first and recovered a considerable amount of money back towards the purchase of the Arnesons reducing the overall cost for the conversion.
After working on the conversion to Arnesons Tibbe put the boat in the water for his 2015 boating season debut on Saturday June, 6th and things went GREAT. Adjusting to the different style the cleaver propellers require to get on plane, Tibbe quickly mastered the techniques and ran the boat in the rough Lake Michigan waters. “The leverage the drives have on the boat was a huge improvement that I wasn’t expecting. With side by side engines, I was used to the boat acting stern-heavy in waves, the boat now acts balanced almost as if the engines were staggered. The boat rides on rails and is always predicable – I have all the benefits I heard about with Arnesons with none of the perceived issues.” Jeff’s wife Meg was surprised at the difference in the boat: “When we decided to make the Arneson conversion, after so many frustrations with our previous drives, I was seriously AMAZED at the difference in how the Active Thunder handles and carries on the water. Any fears I originally had with traveling well over 90 on the water have diminished, which is a fantastic feeling.”
Although Tibbe has only tried one set of props so far, the results are already proving out. The boat has gained 15mph of everyday speed with a few extra mph in the right conditions. Results couldn’t be better. Steering is great, handling is great, and no significant difference in docking. Did we mention he now goes FASTER too! “The Arneson conversion has brought me back from worrying every time I touch the throttles about drive gears to enjoying the boat and just being on the water.”
Jeff and his wife Meg, partnering with parents, Ron and Sherri Tibbe, own a 1997 32’ Active Thunder Offshore V-bottom boat – bought completely stock from Florida. In today’s world some might consider it old school with its classic lines and non-stepped bottom but the Tibbe’s chose this boat for its build quality and predictability in all offshore conditions - and with Jeff and Ron’s attention to detail the quality shows throughout. “My dad and I are both engineers that like to get our hands dirty, so the Active Thunder was a great platform to start from. With boat projects, we’re a little bit sick in that we like wrenching in the offseason as much as enjoying them in the summer.”
Just after buying the saltwater boat, in summer of 2006, Tibbe tuned up the original power package, then removed the engines, drives, steering, along with the rest of the mechanical and electrical and sold it during the first winter of owning it. They then built a pair of naturally aspirated 540ci engines and later added multiport fuel injection. Initially the boat was equipped with high performance Bravo drive units. “Our focus was getting more out of the boat by building top-shelf engines that were reliable, not solely focused on horsepower, while upgrading the controls and safety features, being sure it maintained rough water durability – a fairly unique combination”. The first 3 years with this setup worked out well, but after the first set of replacement gears were installed, the drives’s XR lower gears never held up long enough to break them in after that. In a quest to balance the equation of reliability he sought out upgrades. Researching what others had done, Jeff came to the conclusion that a pair of IMCO drives was the answer. Once installed the results of his efforts was the reliability he sought, but it came with a price - top speed reduction that so many boaters see but don’t like to talk about. “Over the last year, with my fairly conservative power and IMCO drives, I was merely keeping up with boats with 300 less horsepower and stock Bravo drives. I wasn’t going to worry about my drives anymore, but I knew I would either need to bump horsepower to the limits of the IMCO drives or just attack the problem from the source and keep the power the same and make the drives more efficient.”
In Tibbe’s readings and conversations he had heard about the Arneson Surface Drives and how they provide both reliability and a speed increase over a Bravo style drive unit. Tibbe had also read the uninformed opinions of how they will they work on a non-stepped boat bottom such as his 32’ Active Thunder. Emailing or calling Arneson to ask the questions directly was the easy first step.
Tibbe spoke with Rik Wimp of Arneson Surface Drives. It just so happened that Arneson has a customer with a very similar boat, a 1996 32’ Active Thunder with ASD6 drives on it owned by Bret Jones out of Jonhsburg, IL. Wimp forwarded Jones’ contact information to Tibbe and let the two parties communicate one on one for an unbiased opinion. Although Jones has smaller power than Tibbe, Jones had a significantly better top speed than Tibbe’s current setup. “I was fortunate to talk with Bret, given he had already done the Arneson conversion on basically the same hull.”
Tibbe contacted Wimp again but this time with much more curiosity and with a lot more questions about the setup process, gear ratios, installation heights and so on.
After discussions with multiple owners of Arneson boats around the country, Jeff, co-founder of the newly formed West Michigan Offshore powerboat club, knew switching to Arnesons would make the difference and allow him to keep up with some of the bigger and faster boats in the WMO event schedule. “From an engineering perspective, I knew the Bravo style drives drag the entire lower unit through the water, lower gear set and all. Arnesons have the advantage of performing the gear reduction above the surface of the water with oversized gears (a luxury normal outdrives don’t have) – leaving only the skeg in the water”
Tibbe made the decision to purchase the Arneson #7M Kits. He sold off his current outdrives, HP transom assemblies, extension boxes, and steering first and recovered a considerable amount of money back towards the purchase of the Arnesons reducing the overall cost for the conversion.
After working on the conversion to Arnesons Tibbe put the boat in the water for his 2015 boating season debut on Saturday June, 6th and things went GREAT. Adjusting to the different style the cleaver propellers require to get on plane, Tibbe quickly mastered the techniques and ran the boat in the rough Lake Michigan waters. “The leverage the drives have on the boat was a huge improvement that I wasn’t expecting. With side by side engines, I was used to the boat acting stern-heavy in waves, the boat now acts balanced almost as if the engines were staggered. The boat rides on rails and is always predicable – I have all the benefits I heard about with Arnesons with none of the perceived issues.” Jeff’s wife Meg was surprised at the difference in the boat: “When we decided to make the Arneson conversion, after so many frustrations with our previous drives, I was seriously AMAZED at the difference in how the Active Thunder handles and carries on the water. Any fears I originally had with traveling well over 90 on the water have diminished, which is a fantastic feeling.”
Although Tibbe has only tried one set of props so far, the results are already proving out. The boat has gained 15mph of everyday speed with a few extra mph in the right conditions. Results couldn’t be better. Steering is great, handling is great, and no significant difference in docking. Did we mention he now goes FASTER too! “The Arneson conversion has brought me back from worrying every time I touch the throttles about drive gears to enjoying the boat and just being on the water.”
__________________
Arneson Surface Drives www.arneson-industries.com
Arneson Surface Drives www.arneson-industries.com
Platinum Member
12-16-2015, 06:46 AM
#7
Registered
jeff & ron's boat rides real nice & goes pretty darn good with the power they run. we have run a couple of club events with them & i had the pleasure to be pulled in by them once a number of years ago after running out of fuel at the pier head. lol. always loved surface drives, i have had one on my 19' baron since the late 80's. the only thing i have done to it is change the oil & the prop shaft seals when a ski rope wrapped around it. here's to another great boating season.
todd
todd
12-16-2015, 07:07 AM
#9
Banned
iTrader: (1)
We took a 3600 Nor-tech SC from a 525 EFI, Bravo XR with boxes and upgraded to 775 HP with IMCO SCX's. The speed increased from mid 90's to 109 mph but the boat was a lot to handle above 100 mph becoming a drivers boat that without notice would bow steer so bad that pulling out of the throttles was the only way to save it. We found this was caused by the larger SCX lower dragging (acting like a tab) in the water with the centerline being 1 5/8" above the bottom of the boat. This year we decided to switch the boat to Arneson drives. We set the boat up with the props turning out because that was how the boat came with XR's and mixed answers about which was better. The first test drive was short as the boat felt a little loose above 100 mph and a oil line issue with the starboard engine. We switched the drives to turn in and retested the boat. This test took us to the 120 mark with a feeling that the boat was on rails something I have never felt in a V hull at top speed. It was the most fun I have ever had with my clothes on giving me back the "I can't wait to go boating" feeling I had lost several year ago. 3rd time out I bought the boat.
12-16-2015, 07:18 AM
#10
Registered
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Michigan
Posts: 252
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice, Brian! For me the SCX drives turned outward was pretty much on rails, inward was a bit loose, but there was porpoising in the 3000-3400 range with both directions of rotation. Just like bravo's the boat seemed very stern-heavy in waves. I had to run a lot of tab in rough water - killing even more speed.
The Arneson drives have no porpoising whatsoever (I've only run the boat with props turned inward), and I rarely use tabs except for slight adjustments in waves. I was also surprised at how well the boat handles and steers on plane, no difference from Bravo's.
The Arneson drives have no porpoising whatsoever (I've only run the boat with props turned inward), and I rarely use tabs except for slight adjustments in waves. I was also surprised at how well the boat handles and steers on plane, no difference from Bravo's.
