Konrad 540 HP drive. A better idea!!!
 

The highlight of the show for me was stepping into the Konrad Marine booth.

Konrad has unveiled the new 540 High Performance drive. This drive will be a direct replacement for the TRS. I was extremely impressed with this unit and the market for this drive is huge!

In talking with the Mercury rep, TRS parts will be totally discontinued by the end of the year. Up until now the only reasonable alternative was to re-rig with Bravo drives and, in my opinion, the Bravo is a much lesser drive. Speedmasters are the answer but it really does not make much sense to shell out that kind of dough on an older boat.

The Konrad drive fills a big hole in the market when you are running say 650-750 hp, and another benefit is the HP unit is 1.6" shorter than the TRS.

So, all you TRS fans out there have an alternative that make sense!

I'm seriously looking at a pair for this season.

Kurt

Kurt it seams to me I read something about them building a direct replacement for Bravos a couple years back could that be???

Dyno,

I think there is a west coast off-road transmission
manufacturer that is making a pretty stout Bravo
replacement.

Can't remember the name, maybe someone here
can recall............

OR

The Konrad rep said they are running them on the Hong Kong police boats, a v-hull similar to a triple engine 47 Fountain, with 540 Innovation motors. The results have been fantastic, 1000-1500 hrs service!

Konrad warranties the 540 HP to 739 ft lbs torque. He also said that was a very conservative figure!

They also offer a set up for a Bravo conversion, it looked awesome, the tranny is located in a stand-off box so you do not have to move the engine forward.

I'm pretty pumped about this. It's a great alternative for sure!

Kurt :cool:

Here is a pic of the Bravo conversion. Pretty clean unit.

A view of the tranny

check out the website

www.konradmarine.com

Tell them Kurt sent you :D

Wow, that's pretty cool. I've been leery about looking at TRS boats, this might just change my mind...

I had a good look at those last year, although I don't remember them having the standoff box/transmission package. If you have 650-750 hp, this looks like a nice package. I noticed it was hooked up to an Innovation engine, too. Looked like one of the 598 ci/725 hp units that was going into an un-named boat that didn't show up....

Yeah, Did you happen to ask how much $$.
He told me $21k for the trans, stand off box and drive. No prop.

So.... $40k to put drives on...

Warranty was one year, unlimited time for up to 750ft lb engine...

how much for just the drive?

can you unbolt the TRS and bolt up the konrad? or does other stuff need to be changed as well?

Biggus,
I couldn't tell from the website if it came in right and left rotation. Or do you need a tranny with full power reverse capability?
Gary

Drive was around $11,000,

I was standin' with Tim, when the guy told us the price, Nice piece, but our jaws dropped, when he threw out the $20,000+ price tag:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Take the box with the trans in it and bolt on a 6 drive and now you really have something.

price wise that isn;t SOOOOO horrible. cheaper than aspeedy and that is just about what soem of the upgraded bravos are goign for these days. Hell that might even be cheaper than an imco 4x4

Biggus,

Does it bolt up to the TRS transom assembly? Or do you have to change that.

Remember that's not a bad price. The resale on TRS drives is pretty high right now as there is limited availability. You can probalbly sell a complete TRS assembly in good condtion for $4000.00 each. That means $8000.00 That from the $22,000
$14,000 for brand new drives that will out last any Bravo 1 I have seen. And a boat that shifts smooth.
Not to bad.
Also consider a TRS boat is usually cheaper then a Bravo boat (don't know why) a little more savings.

Just my opinion.

Mark

Gary,

Yes, the drive is available left and right rotation.

Mr Cig,

The Konrad 540 will bolt up to a TRS transom assy. The only modification is to use the Konrad bellhousing.

Pricing is around $8000- retail for drive only.(including the Konrad bellhousing) :D .. not bad at all when a fresh TRS is fetching $4500

With the new Konrad 540 now available, all those old TRS boats will be an even greater bargain.

Kurt :cool:

$40k is a bit much for me.....I'll break a few bravo's first!!

THanks Biggus let me kmow if you do it, and how it goes.
Might be worth looking into maybe next winter.

Thanks,
Markn

If you are really interested you need to give Chris Merrill a call in Granger Indiana ( South Bend ) at Merrill Power Boats. We were just talking about the setup a week ago and they are going to send him a drive for a display. Chris has really been helping me out on both my Cigarettes and a straight up guy. He should really have some great pricing on the drives. Give him a call at 574-272-9716

I have been interested as to why these drives are not on more boats. They seem like the ticket. Tougher drive, higher X, you can just swap over the drive or do the transom assembly at the same time. There seem to be a lot of advantages. To swap over to Bravo would be about the same money but then you need to do glass work and that is not so easy or cheap. I hope we can get some more info on this and some real numbers to see what the TRUE cost of the conversion would be.

Jon

Has ANYONE used these? What was the result? Did the gains by the raised X get lost with the longer bullet?

Jon

Jon, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you go TRS-to-Bravo, you're looking at moving both motors back 12 inches or so because you no longer have the trannies? So to convert TRS-to-Bravo you have to:

• Pull both motors
• Fill and recut the transom
• Remount both motors further back and higher
• Bend over and smile when the Merc parts bill for the new Bravos comes
• Hope like hell your 501hp motors don't grenade the Bravos ;)

The real question is, does a boat old enough to have TRS drives warrant the investment?

My guess is there are plenty of them out ther. I know Giggus's boat sure is. There are a lot of them out there. Now I know that not everyones is but the TRS was one of the most popular drives in the histry of boating.

Jon

Sutphen 30,

You have the wrong info. The drive AND transom assembly list out @12k retail.

Pricing for the drive alone is @9k retail.
I do not feel that is unreasonable for a drive that has been proven to last, with over 1500 hrs in the Hong Kong police boats. Warranteed to 740 ft lbs of torque!

This will be a direct bolt-on if your existing TRS gimbal assembly is in good shape.

I'm very excited about this product. It really fills a void in the drive market and if you are shopping for a used boat it will make a TRS boat an even better bargain.

Kurt

Kurt what is the deal with the Bravo Conversion? Is that a TRS to Bravo or a Bravo to Conrad set up? That transom assembly looks fairly large due to the tranny being in there? I wonder if that would bolt up to a TRS cut out with out any glass work and if so are there any benifiets/negatives to doing so over the drive you are looking at.

Also the transom assembly is 4 grand!!!:eek: :eek: Is it sapposed to be stronger then a stock unit? Why change over if you do not need to?

ALso are they cool with running 4 and 5 blades with that much power? I know that most recommend that they DO NOT run 4 and 5 blades on the TRS drives. It looks like the display has a 4 blader on there.....

8 grand is not bad for a drive that will take that kind of power I do not think as you will spend about 4-5 grand rebuilding a TRS drive (with a new case) and often times have to use a lot of old parts to make it happen. So for 3-4 grand more I can have something that is guaranteed to hold a lot more HP and is NEW. Not cheap by any means but I think as you said the value is there.

Also as you said people avoid TRS boats like the plague so you can ussually Steel them!! Now steel them and put these drives on and you have one hell of a package. Not to mention they are cool looking :D:D

Plus if you swap over I can buy your TRS stuff off ya :D:D

Jon

The Bravo conversion pictured is a rugged unit also. This set up is for someone who is at their limit with the Bravo drive. This package keeps the motor in the same location as a Bravo set up. The stand-off box bolts to the standard Bravo transom bolt pattern and the tranny is located inside the box.

The Konrad transom assembly is the same transom cut out and bolt pattern.

As I have mentioned above, if you have a good TRS transom assy, you can swap the drives. (minor differences in the bellhousing)

Kurt

Man how do they get a Transmision through that small hole!!!! :eek: :eek: a

PM mongo. He has a friend with a big 42 Corsa with Konrads....
Mongo will fill you in..

$8k makes it competitive with SSM IIIs and Vs in both price and power handling. And you dont need to glass the transom of a TRS boat.
Sounds like a good deal to me.
Gary

I think that there is definately a market out there for these guys... Great idea:eureka: :eureka:

TTT for Stecz20

Biggus,
I heard you are going to get the Konrads.
Keep us informed of your experience.
Let me know if you pick up any MPH with the raised x

Mark

i myself will soon be in the market for drives...i will definitely look at this setup..thanks for all the info biggus.. i think i would be silly for someone not to jump into this market. there are so many of us trs guys that love our boats and do not want to get raped with putting in #3s... in my eyes there is a a large market for this, it will just take a few guys to have the balls to take a shot and these guys will be in business. just my 2 cents..Mr. Wonderful

biggus how long have these guys been in the game? i wonder if it would be tough down the road to get parts...

Stecz20

Konrad has been making these drives for the past seven years, the company has been in business machining for 34 years.

With all the recent Navy contracts over the past four years the parts will be available for a long time.

AudioFn

If one converts from a Bravo, the cutout is larger to fit the Huber planetary, reversing gear. A tailpiece (carrier bearing) is bolted on to the gear. The extension box is made to the exact length for proper input shaft engagement from the drive into the tailpiece. This is the same as the #3 and shorter than the TRS, eliminating the gimbal bearing. The box cutout is larger than the existing Bravo Hole.

In the case of the Corsa 42 that Tim G mentioned was converted from Bravo to Konrad, a Cummins diesel was the engine and the torsional aspects of the six cylinder prohibited the direct couple as in the gasoline style. When traditional stern drives are concerned, diesel has a different set of rules from the flywheel to the drive input than gas applications.

Furthermore, the TRS replacement is much easier. Essentially, everything inside the boat is the same, even the inner transom plate. The bolt pattern is the same so the TRS gimbal housing is pulled out and the Konrad 540 fits right in to the transom. The oil hose is the same, etc.