cheitman

I never tried to imply that the drive is junk, only that it has its limitations. The guy I know running one swears by it and has never damaged the case. He has upgraded the internals to "XR" specs. for this year. Griff, he is now running the combo in a mid-eighties 18 or 19' Checkmate. Ran 104 at the shootout W/O the blower. At midnight the night before the shootout he was still wrenching. He tuned it on the way upriver to Cottonwood. The same day I bent a rod, I went for a ride with the blower and the Blackhawk broke at near 100 with plenty of throttle left. Scared the **** out of me when the drive let go!

jollyroger

Conquest...

Its not that the Blackhawk drives have dissapeared, its that most boat builders didn't want to build a hull to take advantage of the BlackHawks best qualities. The Donzi your friend is looking at, if its an original BlackHawk boat, has some seriously pronounced rocker in the the hull. I believe too much rocker. It causes the boat to porpoise at anything other than WOT unless you drag a serious amount of tab. They are fast, and really fun to drive. Mercruiser has an upgraded XR gearset that should increase the lifespan somewhat. The biggest problem with the drive was the props re-entering the water. You need to drive it like an offshore racer when it comes to throttle position.

The other downfall is a lack of props. Mercury hasn't made props for these in quite some time, and they are starting to get a bit scarce.

All that being said, a BlackHawk is a kickass drive, and way ahead of its time. If you have any questions about the BlackHawks or the Donzi's, send me an e-mail [email protected] I'll be happy to help out.

Woodsy

PS: Yes those are my BlackHawks for sale in the parts for sale section... this lack of a job is a real killer when it comes to powerboating....

TSNAVE

Just to let you guys know. I have a 1:36 BH drive with a set of 27" labbed props, as well as a BlackMax transmission and an aft 29" cleaver, new in the box. It's all for sale! E-mail me at [email protected] if any one is interested.

michigandale

The Pulsedrive is surface piercing and doesn't paddle wheel. Both engines can turn in the same direction, the counter takes place in the port trans. At least 5% performance gain over any Merc, Blackhawke, TRS, Speed Master, and up to 12% normally. With a 5 year warranty, one very minor drive failure in 16 years of production. If put on a new boat at the factory, we will warranty the drive for ten years against parts failure at any HP up to 1200.
888-818-6039 ask for Dale. The last drive you will ever need, guaranteed.

AZDominator

Owned one for 5 years. 25' Warlock cat 502MPI/Blackhawk 1.5, 29p props labbed to 30p, thinned blades, etc. Loved the efficiency of the drive, although kind of a handfull around the docks (the drive doesn't like reverse very much at all). This boat was at least 4-5 mph faster than a Bravo on this boat. Only one problem with mine: cracked the case in the lower out of warranty, Mercury gave me one for free all I paid was R&R of old drive into new. I have also heard that there are plenty of cases still available form Merc.

boatguy68134

oh i have broken it more then i would like to say, but it is good for speed and it sucks around the dock, and there are no props left from mercury i have checked hopefully the xr gears well hold up. never have broke the bottom end of it, but have broke a prop would of hated to be behind me when it came off FYI it only ran 102mph at the shoot out

cheitman

Hey boatguy, I heard of a particular cat, and you know who i'm talking about, who ran you down in front of surfside last fall. Care to explain??????????????????????

Fast Forward

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll pass all this on. I think for myself I'd pass on the Black Hawk.

Brian

Out There

Had a 96 22 Donzi with a 502 Blackhawk and it was a handfull
to drive. It should have a foot trottle because you always had to adjust the tabs due mid range porpoise. On that boat you would have to let go of the throttle to operate the tabs. The boat would also put up a large wake at idle that was a problem in marinas.
Never had a problem with the drive but only ran it around 20 hours. Was still a fun boat to drive and about 7 or 8 mph faster than a bravo 22 Classic setup.

rbtnt

DonziZX,

Your message reminded me that my friend's Blackhawk had tab and trim buttons on the steering wheel. These worked great. A hot foot would have been nice.