Black Hawk Drives
 

I’ve been out of boating since 1993 and am just now coming back to the sport. My question is when I got out the Black Hawk was the hot setup. Now that I’m back into it, I’ve noticed they seem to have disappeared?? I’m just curious as to what happened to them. I have a friend considering a 22 Donzi with the 502 setup with the Black Hawk. I have my reservations. Can anyone shed some light on the subject??

Thanks

They won't stand up to high horsepower applications, especially in heavier boats. They are considerably faster. I have a buddy who used one on his 22daytona with a 900hp Blown 540. Ran about 10mph faster with the Blackhawk over the Bravo one.

I owned 1995 and sold it to a guy Tom Lentz in the Michigan area. Serial # 29 out of 40 Blackhawk editions. Black hull etc...Boat was quite fast low 80's but a handfull and requires a little seat time to get it there. Fun none the less though my wife might say otherwise... Never a problem with the outdrive. Had a problem with the steering a worn out gimbal at 58 hours, and after much ado between Donzi and Mercury marine (mercury marine eventually provided me with a document that was sent to all manufacturers about the need for external steering in high speed applications over 70 mph.) when all was said and done, Donzi did have installed at no charge a latham single ram external steering and what I was told was a upgraded gimbal. After that the only other issue was the shift cable. I have heard that they all are hard on shift cables. Many of the same component as the bravo 3. Ultimately what killed the blackhawk was its steep price and limited applications.

This guy's boat is originally a Bravo hull. He breaks that Blackhawk at least twice a year. The boat runs close to 120 with it though.

I'd go with a pulsedrive! Five year warranty, and a 10% performance boost over a conventional sterndrive. Line is rated to 1600 HP, and made in FL. 888-818-6039 9-6 pm EST

The BlackHawk technology is still superior to a standard surface piercing drive because of the two counter-rotating props that cancel the "p-factor" as well as the tendency to "paddle-wheel" across the surface of the water. The drive, however may fail prematurely due to heavy loads when shifted in gear, ie; six blades in the water and its ability to "hook" much harder. Go for the Donzi with a BlackHawk! The handling/performance characteristics will be much better than without one.

.......and he only had to fix them damn near after every time he went out. :eek: :eek: Good thing he worked for MW Boats and had a spare drive.

.......and no hydraulic steering at 117mph:eek: :eek:

Good thing Fast Eddie sold that boat.

cheitman just cus your buddies popping a black hwak with 900 hp doens;t mean tehy can't hanlde power. that drive was never intended to handle that much power. That isliek runngin an HP500 on an lpah an wondering why its breaking. A bravo woudl;nt hold that much power. Hell a new XR woudl pop unde rthat load.

Everyone that I've seen with blackhawks won't ever leave them. It's hard to find props for, but they can't be beat for speed. A friend just got his re-worked by max machine. I think he said he has broken it 6 times! never trashed the case though. He put big hp through though.

I friend of mine had 725 hp in his Donzi Blackhawk for two years without breaking the drive. He never had it in rough water to air it out. When my friend bought the Donzi Blackhawk, the original owner gave him a driving lesson that he laughed about until he was on his own. He ended up calling the original owner back about the proper drive and trim levels at the different speeds.

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!

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.... ;)

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.

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.

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.

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

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??????????????????????

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

Brian

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.

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.

Hey cheitman, boatguy is who I was talking about..........small world.

Brad Perry, yes it is a small world!