Triple Drives ?
 

Can anyone tell me the benefit to put a third drive into a 42'boat with the same engine it is now equiped ? so you get a triple drive.
What will happen with speed ? Performance ? etc.

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

over kill,a stagered twin will run the same speed with the same power!

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

3 x times maintenance, 3 x drives to worry about if you hit something... 3 x engines ::: fuel...
If the budget is'nt a problem... why not?

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

what power and drives do you have now? speeds? big trips are pretty awesome, but haint the easiest to keep running :evilb:
and in all fairness its not THREE times anything unless u plan on putting a single in a 42 :D

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

I have read that "true offshore" boats use triple engines and drives and are propped to go on plane using only 2 motors so if you were running to bermuda or something and 1 broke down you could come back without idling for 18 hours,Smitty

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

3 drives look kewl!
My buddy has a triple engine 42 Fountain. Some guy was looking at the 3 blower motors and asked "So, how many outdrives does this have?"

Here's your sign. :rolleyes: :D

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

Go with a Cary and get quads, then you casn go to Bermuda on 3 instead of 2 if one breaks. :D

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

even if u dont go much faster, they still look badazz, not to mention nice exhaust tone and wake.........
old school offshore boat- (heavyhull+bigpower=speed+noreliability )
Speed > reliability :evilb:

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

I guess I'm old school...

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

I know have 2 volvo SX drive's with 2 tuned up 350 engine producing 420 HP each. What would do a third engine and drive ?

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

42 Fountain 85-87 with staggered....same power with triples will be in the low to mid 90's.

Re: Triple Drives ?
 

whats the engine displacement? fuel injected or carb? any other specs? pics of bilge? going from a twin to triple is a very costly mod (engine, complete drive system, lines for water, fuel etc, adding gagues to panel, steering, throttles, etc.) if you are looking for more speed you would be much better off doing some more extensive mods to the engines you already have. i would run a low boost small roots blower (177 weiand is great value) if your engines were carbureted, or centrifugal procharger in the case that your engines were fuel injected, maybe get around 575-600 horsepower each. i am not familiar with your drive system/strength, but that would be a much more cost effective way to gain speed.

Will the props hit the drives trimmed up

Nothing screams old school bad a$$ better than triples. :drink:

Three identical engines and outdrives on the same hull will go faster and burn more fuel than two of them. The efficiency of the combination does go DOWN though for each additional thing hanging in the water.

550hp is about all you can trust through a Bravo drive, so if you want more than 1100-1200 total hp on a boat with Bravos you go to triples. The most efficient way to go more than 1200 total would be to run stronger drives and stick with two engines, but you'll find a lot of larger 40' plus hulls with triples because of the availability issue. You can get a warranteed HP500 Bravo package and stick three of them in from the factory and still be hunky dory.

There are many ways to reach a similar goal.
Sometimes cost is a big factor, other times, efficiency and space utilization are more important than cost.

Twin 800's with #6 drives will be a faster boat than Triple 500's with Bravos. There will be more space in the engine compartment. The boat will weigh less and be less tail-heavy and handle better. The cost will probably be more for the twin 800/#6 boat than the trip 500/Bravo boat, too.

But like has been mentioned, if you plan to boat big water and be far away from dry land, a triple boat will usually still plane with two running engines (will definitely do so if you have spare props in lower pitches on board) while a twin boat with one dead motor will usually NOT allow you to plane. In bad water and bad weather, that can be the difference between being able to maneuver safely or be at the mercy of the water.

But yeah, more is always faster, but it's not always "best".

MC

I like this thread. :bunnydance:

Hit what? If you are referring to waybomb's pic, I'm pretty sure his are in the trailered up.
Me too :party-smiley-004: Almost seven years since the last post

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume your asking if a prop 1 on drive 1 will hit the drive when you trim it up... the answer is no. Unless something breaks, and breaks a lot.

If your asking if prop 1 will hit drive 2 or 3, again something would have to break a lot. The drives move left and right together (not independently) and the props move up and down with the associated drives (not independently) although each drive will move up and down (with the associated prop) independently of the others. Usually, they all (drives) move together and then are independently "tweeked" to optimize performance for water conditions.

Hope this answers your question.

Go twins.

I saw a tripple boat with a broken tie bar once. Lots of expensive damage. The center drive is guided by tie bars while the steering rams are connected to the outside drives.

how do i know if they are adjusted right. the center prop has nicked both outter drives when they are trimmed up at idle. when i look at them they dont look even.

how about some pictures.

The boats in the water. Should they hit each other trimmed all the way up and the wheel turn all the way

First off I wouldn't cut the wheel all the way while trimmed up,you are going to hit the k-planes,next check to see that all the trim pumps are running in sequence.

Yes they seem to be I hold the out button until they stop so I don't think there uneven I was wondering if the tie bars were out of adjustment. When I look at them the port outdrive looks straight and the center and starboard look turned not a lot but noticeable