I will have all the parts off the machines next week...

Gee, I had a regular Bravo drive years ago that I had built supposably to XR standards for $3600. That drive stood up to 150 hrs on my cat with 700hp. Why not just get a couple rebuilt XR drives and a Sea Tow membership!:ernaehrung004:

cool., I'm watching as well:cool:

Good advice! If you've been hearing the same bad news about SeaTow as I have, you should back up your drive selection with a BoatUS membership!

Gary, I saw you running South on Barnegat Bay tonight around 615pm when the Formula cut in front of you... your boat looks sharp! Enjoy the weekend!

WOW!!!! I just had the pleasure of meeting Gary & Marcy as they pulled up to my shore house in their beautiful Y2K build by Rick (FX10) and powered by an amazing 806hp N/A Ron Potter engine! Gary & Marcy are a testament to how great this boating community is and are genuinely nice people to boot! They invited me for a ride so what was I gonna do... disappoint them and say no? I was on the Y2K faster than white on rice, LOL!! Superbabi is all grown up and sounds like a dragster & performs like a point and shoot missile. I'm still grinning from ear to ear about the ride quality of the Y2K and your genuine hospitality. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!! You guys are the best!

Dan

Dan, What a great compliment! It was truly our pleasure to finally meet you after 4 years of talking on the site. Glad you enjoyed the BLAST on the Y2K. We were running only at 75% throttle, hopefully, next time, we will be all "dialed in" for a FULL SPEED run. Your vast knowldege & passion of sport boats made for excellent conversation. Stop by anytime.

Gary and Marcy

Sounds like shes running like a raped ape Gary:cool:

Gary you know when the end of the year gets closer your going to have to take her to the max and maybe donate one of those drives to the speed gods.The gods are hungry and love bravo drives. I hear they taste like chicken.Anyway you will have either all winter to fix the drive or wipe the grin off your face. But im sure you get a grin every time you open the hatch.

X-power

http://os.performanceboats.com/?gcli...FQVxFQodMCClrQ

K, you really like the X-power, are you thinking about installing one ???:grinser010:

If one falls off the back of a truck....yea. Otherwise....no!

lol, ..........hey K are you getting many hours on your boat this season ???

I've had her out 3 times. However I bought a deck boat and use that alot more.

I always knew you were that type of guy, any disco partys on your deck ??? lol lol :ernaehrung004: Maybe you need to change your avatar. lol............

Gary,would a # 3 drive be the solution ?

You go to a #3 you better add another 125hp over what youve already added. Im sorry sometimes I went with the speedy. The boat would be deffinatly faster with a bravo type drive. The better bravo type drives didnt come along until recent years. Same with props. Bravo type prop technology has been great these last few years.

Ok, Konrad/Ace versus Imco SCX, what do you guys think ??? Is the Konrad a direct bolt on in place of the XR ???

With the Konrad you still need a tranny, the trannies in the box which is good. But its also more weight. Also the transom hole is different. I think all the new Activators are rigged with the Imcos. And most are running triple diget numbers. If my timing was better and did my conversion last year instead of 5 years ago I would have the imco today. And running triple digets with the Activators.

The konrad ace comes with a 1 year warranty behind 800hp or less,does require some re-rigging and uses bam trans,proven reliable package behind 800hp,the imco scx doesn't use trans so you will have 15-20 more hp at prop,lower units probably close,both a little bulkier than std bravo,imco sold no warranty,time will tell if they can really handle some abuse.Anyone running one?I really love the y2k with the konrad smoked everthing that came my way this weekend and made it back to the dock with no broken parts

Rik,
Any pictures yet?

Gary, I'm going with the SCX. I'll keep you up to date.
They offer one piece 5" gears and claim gear strength is far better than the merc gear. the prop shaft is 1,7/8" or #6 your choice.Water passages through-out so no need for a shower.
The helmet and drive is (i think) 1" wider. The foot larger and yes some speed could be lost over the Bravo.I was told that in most cases prop and spacer tweeking got back most speed losses.

we'll see what happens....
. ordered the gimble assy yesterday

Tom, I'm very glad you pulled the triger on the SCX, I can't wait to see your results with the new drive. I pretty much have narrowed down to the SCX and the Konrad/ Ace ( thanks Dave at MDG performance, your a wealth of info. Dave is running a Konrad/Ace on his Y2K with great results.) I am leaning towards the Imco with the easy swap out with XR. Best of luck Tom. When do you thinks you will be up and running ???? :grinser010:

Ok Gary say you get the SCX what prop shaft do you get ? If you like your props now keep that shaft. I finaly got my slip down to 6% with the number 6 propshaft. I dont know how those props will work with the drive case being so large. Also speedy props are not a dime a dozen.

very good points

Has MDG tried the SCX ? what was the results?

Mike I would think to keep the bravo type props, what are the pros and cons ????

Gary I dont know anybody running #6 type props on bravo type cases. Over the phone they will say anything to sell you sI would stomething. The larger diameter props are a definate plus for lowering the slip number. But low slip doesnt always equate to more speed. Older #6 type props have 14 degrees of rake ,not real good for bowlift. New high rake #6 prop are custom made by throttle up. 5K for a single. Thats one pretty expensive guinee pig. Will it work, who knows. I would stick with what works.

Mike, looks like bravo type props are the way to go.

Here is the first one...

Very nice Rik, can't wait to see some performance data. How much HP/Trq is the drive rated at ? Also no Skeg on the drive ??

My thought is alot of time spent on something thats going to have some really bad slip numbers. The arneson drive is a great drive. Ment to surface . The drive is going to be to high to have bravo type props get enough water to be effective . The diameter of the bravo type props are around 15 inches on the large side, including the hub. Put those props on that drive with 800hp at the surface and watch the blades come off. My boat with a 4 blade at 15.5 in diameter will not even plain off, running a speedmaster at 2 below the bottom. High x needs big diameter, and for a 30 superboat that diameter is a min of 17.

Not so. You are looking at what you have to do with your drive and a Speedmaster propeller, not an Arneson nor a Bravo propeller.

What you are not looking is the fact that the Arneson is adjustable. Unlike a Bravo or your speedmaster I can bury the down to get on plane whereas you cannot with your drive or a Bravo. Also without a Speedmaster propeller the boat will get on plane much faster.

As for surfacing, you are 2" below the bottom of the boat. I will be even.. That is not going to have an effect as if you could run yours higher and still get on plane you would. You are compromising between the two I am not.

There is a skeg. Look in the photo again. I took a quick pic and used a 2X4 to hold the drive up with rather than going through the work to put a trim cylinder on and then take it all back apart.

Ok you got me on the plane off thing. Now with the drive even with the bottom I still dont think your going to have enough blade area to be effective. The other arnesons have very thin hubs using larger props and effectively using alot more blade of the prop.
I think Arneson should use Superbabie for testing. If it works like you think im sure Gary would more than happy to buckup.
I did notice the skeg. Whats the square block on the top for ? The up and down ram . Also looks like the steering ram locations will be in the way of water flow. I would have put them higher maybe on the side of that top plate. By me they would get covered with weed and it would never plane off.

The standard Arneson has a Standard Speedmaster propeller. A standard Merc SSM#6 or Hering was always used, nothing special.

Your running a speedmaster propeller yourself. Just look at how much thicker (in this day and age of thinning the blades down 1/16") your speed master propeller is in regards to the Bravo propeller. That leaves a lot of speed on the table. Also you are fighting the bow lift of the cleaver design, vs the cup and rake and camber of the Bravo design.

I think what you are missing is that they are surfacing a Bravo propeller already on a lot of boats (the ones that can at some point get on plane that is) and they still work. You have to overcome the Arneson point and look at a propeller is what a propeller is. Same as it is with a Speedmaster propeller. Everyone thinks the propeller knows what is spinning it.

Rik, sorry I did not see the skeg this morning when I posted. That really is a slick looking drive !!!! How much power can she handle ? Did you do any trial runs ??

Same power rating as the standard #7M. The #7MB drive is the same just a different housing and such to accomodate a Bravo propeller.

Should be testing mid next week.

Personally I see a few flaws such as Mike said. Steering rams should be located at least 6" higher, on top of cavitation plate. Is there one? Steering rams will cause water turbulance, raising slip #'s. Any clean wayer hitting those rams will distroy the slip #'s
This is just my opinion. RIK possibly tested the unit. And had excellent results. But this is my opinion. Everyone is entitled to one.

Already tested the steering years ago. It is not in the water nor is it an issue. I did a video filming of them on a race boat and in 30 + minutes the steering cylinders never got wet nor did they interfere with the water flow to the propellers.

Believe me I studied this for months before I did it. The steering is the same as it is on the standard #7M drive units and I get less than 5% slippage with the #7M' so I see no reason why it would be an issue now. Remember, the drive is out of the water and the steering cylinders are attached above the water line. You have to visualize how an Arneson works. Other than the rudder, there is nothing in the water.

I was far more concerned with things greater than this. All I have changed from the standard #7M (which has been working great for the past 3-4 years) is the design requirements to accept the Bravo style propellers. I put more time in looking at the propeller hubs than anything else. The fronts of the propellers are different based upon manufacturers and had I only seen one brand of propeller I would have designed a major screw up. Luckily, I had the opportunity to design around their obstacles before I made this drive. Unlike others, I have not copied others nor Mercury. So I had to go about things in a different manner.

As Mike stated, propellers are a major thing that even he has had to learn to adjust to. A cleaver propeller is a cleaver propeller. They have a different “lock up” speed than a conventional bravo style propeller. In order to over come this, the diameter has to increase to make a compromise between getting on plane or not. What has a positive effect on one end has a negative effect on the other. There are many many other attributes to the clever and I have lived with the positive and the negative for the past 20 years. I have just adapted a different propeller with different characteristics and hope for the same positive effects that this design brings to its other applications. I have many more conventional design propellers on larger commercial boats and they all get on plane fast, maneuver extremely well and perform on top end very good also.

Hoping for the same here.

My customers are looking for a less expensive, more readily available, more manufacturers to choose from and more positive handling characteristics for a smaller sized boats. I have not, but anything is possible, looked at this for a larger twin engine boats, but these would work in those applications as well.

RIK
Do you have any pictures of this drive mounted on a hull ?