Hardcore

What are the limits of a Blackhawk drive in terms of Max. HP and type of use? I keep hearing either really good or really bad things about them but it seems that the type of hull and whether you are running hard in rough water are the major issues.
I'm thinking of putting one behind a Teague 575HP 509 in an American Offshore 2600. I will only be running it hard (top end speed runs) in relatively calm water (say less than 2 ft. chop). Does anyone have experience with a similar setup and, if so, how long do you think it will last?
Also, what are the weakest parts of this drive and does anyone upgrade them to handle like 600hp? I've seen a couple advertised on this site with Max Worx and/or Imco parts and I know they use Bravo 1 Upper Gears and B-3 lower gears. Also, are there any props available at all for these drives?
Finally what kind of gains in speed wouyld I see over a B-1 with either stock depth lower (w/ nosecone) and an Imco 2" shorter L/U?

IHTFP

Yes, there are props available. Hoss Props in Oklahoma fabricates Blackhawk Props. They are available up to 34 pitch.

Supposedly, the Blackhawk will give you 7 MPH over a Bravo 1.

Cord

iTrader: (2)

Airpacker just put one one his boat so he can offer you first hand experience. It is my understanding that your boat is exactly what the blackhawk was designed for. That 509 is a blower motor right? If it was N/A I'm sure the drive would live, but a blower motor makes alot more torque, so I'm not sure. If you are serious and are willing to buy something from them, I can refer you to a dealer that can set you up with the drive. They also have on staff one of the drives original designers. You can't get a much better source of information than that!

blackhawk

Blackhawks work well on cats. Prolly a 5-8 mph gain over a bravo. With that kind hp I would upgrade the upper gears. As long as you're not airing out the drive it should last.

Tom Earhart

I tried to run them for two years at about 900 to 1000 hp on a 24' eliminator. Never had any trouble with the lower but broke the upper gears at will. I am thinking about marrying a blackhawk lower to a b-max upper because I like the way the blackhawk drove and performed. I currently have a b-max.

Tom Earhart

Mbam

I have a brand new one, already has the latest style upper gears. I will say that is probably a lot of power to put through one.

If you have a hull that the drive will work with, there is nothing better. No torque reaction or crabbing due to a high drive height.

IHTFP

The Blackhawk Drive throws a nice roostertail. Check out this video of mine:

Blackhawk Video

Airpacker

HMMMMMMM. It will live IF you take it easy on it. Hole shot seems to be a bit of a trick though. With a B1 and a 28 bravo I could plane out the boat with 6 adults and full fuel,with the hawk its not going to happen. The reason being the amount of grab this sucker has when the boat is off plane is brutal. The first try with the hawk and I had it dash boarded and couldn't pull past 3000rpm trying to plane off. I eventually twisted the top 2 inches off the vertical shaft making plane. One drive = 3.2 miles Once I figured out how to airate it,it got much better at planing but it still won't plane off with 6 adults onboard. Life span has been about 50 hours and at least 1/2 of that has been running hard. I just drained it saturday and not one metal flake in the oil I am running it on a 25 daytona with a 500efi and it netted me 7mph up top but lost that much and more in mid range cruise. with a B1 it ran 72 mph at 4000rpm and 83 at 5100. with the hawk it runs 65 at 4000 but 91.2 at 5100. It takes time to build the speed but once it starts to pack air,the drive really hooks up. Mid range accel is way soft compard to the B1 and the boat has a tendency to ride rougher at slower speeds because you cannot trim up the nose. Docking.well,thats a different world altogether(idles at 7.5mph). Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.

Hardcore

Thanks for all of the responses guys! Just what I thought - I should probably buy one just to do top-end runs with and keep my old B-1 for regular use. They do bolt up to the same gimbal don't they?
BTW: I have a full hydraulic steering kit from Imco with the rear "cap" w/ ears to connect the steering rams to. How do I connect the rams to the Blackhawk?
Thanks again.

BTW: Marc, how much do you want for the one that you have?

Cord

iTrader: (2)

I too have the imco rear cap system. Imco does make a bracket for their rams. I don't think it's on their website, but I know they have one. I believe that it is fabricated out of stainless plate and attaches to the drive mounting bolts. I just put in a order for this bracket, perhaps they could could add you to my order.

Hardcore-Marc is a really nice drive, and he's asking quite a bit for it. Now I'm not going to rain on his parade, but perhaps you should do a search in the formal classifieds section. Hint, hint.