arneson surface drive
 

Does anyone have or have seen a Arnson surface drive on a Velocity, or will it not quite work well on a velocity ? Building a Blown 540 and hope to be over 1000 hp on race gas, just looking at all and any drive options....

http://www.arneson-industries.com/pa...ravoConversion


http://www.donzi.net/tech/DonziArneson.htm

I currently have the complete drive and gimbal assembly out to paint the boat and I've realized most of my setup which is stock merc will not work for the current engine Im building.. Open to all responses what kind of setups are being ran on high HP velocity's and are holding together ?

Didn't SS make a 39 with twin turbo diesels and surface drives last year, or the year before?

I was told if you take a #5 with 1.6 gears , built right it can hold 1000hp .Costs a little more for the 6's but they are the best.The rebuilt market seems flooded with options.I like conrad but ,it is only rated for 800hp and fairly pricey when bought new.Remember all of these need a transmission .Sorry don;t know much about that imco stuff.I got 3 seasons on 4's with 900hp by behaving most of the time.Currently looking at a #5 upgrade for myself .Good luck :cool-smiley-011:

Trippen i do remember seeing one for sale that had been dropped off a lift or something but never heard what it ran. but i'm sure it had diesel power and surface drives.

There was a VR-1 built 3 or 4 years ago with a Konrad that was successfully running at least 1,000 HP. My friend that owns the 39' Tsunami swears by them. The downside is that they are heavy and will slow the boat compared to Bravos. Unlike Arnesons and SM - you can run standard props which is a big plus with testing not to mention final cost. Yes new is pricey, for either Konrad or Arneson - your looking at ~ $25,000 just for drive, tranny and an extended steering system. Then there's the question of how cleanly it can be retro-fitted in your hull? That being said - most guys that have installed big power into single engine, Bravo factory-rigged hulls have gone Imco, Teague or XR drives and have a spare readily available.
The diesel/Arneson rigged 41' ran about 75 - they were hoping for low 80's.

The mechanic that works on my boat has rigged a bunch of conrads with no failures and really likes them.:cool-smiley-011:

Konrad offers the transmission to be put in an extension box off the transom .No need to move your engine when doing a bravo change over. Also available are replacements for TRS and now #3's as well, no changes are needed on those :cool-smiley-011:

I know that the TRS replacements are no brainers. The Konrad definitely requires a larger transom cut-out then Bravo. If memory serves me right, Tsunami's engines needed to be mounted higher to accomodate the longer Konrad Ace transom assembly template but the factory will know for sure since they've cut transoms for both Konrad Ace and Bravo's. Ditto - on the Konrad's excellent reliability plus if there's a problem, they're very quick to remedy it. Tsumani is used in most of Konrad's recent advertising and is a very satisfied customer. :D

I'll talk to Dave over at MDG ,and check about moving the engines on the ones he did and get back to you :cool-smiley-011:

I talked to Dave today.It was his opinion that if you use an ace drive with the extension box your x demension stays the same.The standard is longer and would require raising the engine to get the same x as before.He thought depending on where you start it's a good time to change if needed. :cool-smiley-011:

I guess my real question is after looking over as much info as i could on several drives, I still am not sure which is the right drive for me. I will be making 1150hp on race gas with raised boost and I want to be able to do over 110 mph. My Fear is going with a drive setup and not getting it to perform to atleast 110mph or holding together. I've seen a 260 with my almost same engine with a Xr drive and imco lower do 113mph on a radar run, but breaking at that speed, is not a option. I currently have the hull stripped, so If I'm going to modify the stern and have to glass anything up now is the time to do it. Whats a drive thats going to preform, hold together, and not cost me the family farm ? is Konrad, Bmax, #6, #3 or Arneson the way to go ? Anyone with experience please chime in.

At the speed you're targeting, set-up and balance is absolutely critical for your hull and the drive needs to be a part of that equation. Your best bet is to talk to the factory about your goals, listen carefully to what has been tried before and proceed from there.

With that kind of power , you might be better off with a speedmaster .Older style wet sump 6 might be the more reasonable way to go .Ask the factory if they have any information on any others rigged this way,and do they think you need a box.They should be able to give you a good starting point for the x factor.Note with a speedmasters you can add spacers to the drives to adjust the height .Good luck with your set up :cool-smiley-011:

Only problem is a #6 is a monster drive..... Thats alot of weight, you have to move the engine and drive location and use a tranny and stand off box. Its another trick getting the X factor set back up also..

I'm not sure that there are that many single engine boats that have been successfully converted from Bravo to Arneson? There was a lot of talk about converting a 30’ Superboat last year and the result was that the boat should be built from the start for the surface drive with no notch in the transom. The Arneson Bravo conversion kit was not going to have the prop low enough in the water.
Twins engine boats converted from Bravo to Arneson surface drive, Yes.
If you have the $$ then a Konrad Ace with the tranny in the extension box would be a good way to go. The only thing is that I don't thing they will warranty over 800ftlbs of torque.
For the $$ for the Konrad, you could have 2-3 spare Bravo type drives.