Which is the best Stern drive??? - Page 3

crazyhorse · 12 April 2003, 13:45

I can understand after reading some of this thread why some people buy crap,time after time.

You can bust engines and legs and still say its the fault of the boat weight? you can believe that there is a Sea water cooling problem in the leg and then find out that it exits through the transom. You can believe that sternpower build for the military so it must be good on a 315 hp diesel?.You can believe that one engine HP is more powerfull cos it produces a higher HP at the crank ?and it seems insignificant what it produces at the prop?

Some can quote what they believe otheres will say,when the reality is compleatly different.

Why dont you just all admit you havnt got a clue what is the best stern drive combination and your guessing/hopeing even though you may or may not own one.

There is nothing wrong in advising somebody to get specilist advice on this techinical subject.

jwalker · 12 April 2003, 22:01

CH. Part of the problem is that the specialists don't know either.

And, there is one sentence that was told to me years ago by a pal who had been ribbing for some time. It rang true with me also.

"They'll tell you anything."

When I was investigating my diesel engine choice, I spoke, at length, to those who are purported to know. You have to read between the lines. I was fortunate because there was a series of boat shows over a weekend on the west coast and both the Barrus reps and the Volvo agent were there. Also, just by chance, I met a friend there who had a KAD 44 rig which he had just sold and he was going for a Yanmar and 3x. We spoke to the Barrus guys at length but we had to make sure we asked exactly the right questions to dig out the truth. Watching their body language and there glances to each other told as much of the story as their words. This was so much the case, the pal was about to cancel the Yanmar. He is completely non technical and, from his recounting his experience, it seemed obvious that his Volvo problems/disappointment stemmed from poor maintenance by the local agent rather that a weakness of the Volvo. We got the truth from the Barrus guys eventually but very reluctantly. This was the deciding factor and we've discussed it before on this forum.
Finally, for me, the choice lay between twin Mercruisers or a single Volvo. Now, that took a lot of deliberation. There were so many reasons to go with each. One reason for the consideration of the twins, which is relevant to this thread, is the use of the Alfa drive. Very capable of accepting the 120hp, relatively cheap, available in various ratios, contra rotating at no extra cost, a huge range of props, some very cheap, £100 or less. Remember, our Volvo duoprops are costing about £1000 a set. Silly money really. Quite why I finally opted for the Volvo I'm still not entirely sure! I think the persuading factor was the extra speed I would achieve. I have very much enjoyed my present boat and it will cruise all day at 45mph. I wanted to continue to do the same.
However, back to the thread. I've other friends who have used the 3x extensively. Lots of them!(3x's, that is). Yanmar cracked blocks too. They made a comment to me that I've not forgotten. They said they would really like to be rid of the feeling that, one day, they may have to call for a tow. It always prayed on them while they were out on the water. And, if they were buying again, they would be willing to consider reduced power to gain reliability. For me, the choice of the DPX was partly to do with predicted speed but two other factors were also important. One was the wide gearcase which is a proper aerofoil in section. This will give very good low speed steering. The other was the hydraulic steering using external rams. There is one thing I learned early on. On a fast boat (and on any boat to some extent) tight, responsive steering is worth its weight in gold.

There's lots more to say but I'm blethering so I'll stop here (for now

)
However, when buying any marine equipment, remember, 'They'll tell you anything.'

JW.

Jonny Fuller · 14 April 2003, 11:28

bloody computers, I'll try again,

Jonny Fuller · 14 April 2003, 11:33

Quote:

Originally posted by jwalker
There is one thing I learned early on. On a fast boat (and on any boat to some extent) tight, responsive steering is worth its weight in gold.JW.

Couldn't agree more JW:

TIM · 14 April 2003, 14:57

with a stern that good looking, its ashame to put it in the water!!!

Jelly · 14 April 2003, 15:10

At the risk of sounding like an anorak,
Them's some serious lifting eyes!

TIM · 14 April 2003, 15:18

Children could get stuck in those exhaust pipes.....

DM · 14 April 2003, 15:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Jelly
Them's some serious lifting eyes!

They make it easier for Seastart to recover the boat every time its manifolds melt

crazyhorse · 14 April 2003, 16:55

I can confirm that I had a quick look at the Fuller Puller last night and she was mint.The whole boat was spotless,even replaced the engine bolts with stainless ones.

5 inch exhausts,Trim Tabs and what a set of 316 lifting eyes.

As far as I could see she was as new.

Inside she was fitted out as a profesional jobee although Mr Fuller said he had done it himself?.Double bed up front where the action takes place,and a double three man piped setee on both sides,the atention to detail was exellent,eg Zips for the covers ect.

She also had suncken lights in the deck head and Diesel heating all swithched from a handy central position.There was even a light switch at the end of the double berth so you dont have to get out of bed to turn the lights off.

Very good Mr Fuller,shame it didnt have tubes.

Jonny Fuller · 14 April 2003, 17:43

Quote:

Originally posted by crazyhorse
Very good Mr Fuller,shame it didnt have tubes.

CH, Now why would I want to spoil it? LOL

thewavehumper · 16 April 2003, 05:54

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by jwalker
There is one thing I learned early on. On a fast boat (and on any boat to some extent) tight, responsive steering is worth its weight in gold.JW.

Exactly the same applies to Fast women!

JF most impressed nicely put together, the last time I saw something that impressive was when "Still Deep One" was pulling away from me. I think that is a superb RIB

roohairy · 11 April 2004, 15:53

I've been looking at other types of sterndrive, anyone have any info or experience with these?

Konrad 520 & 540 www.konradmarine.com These look like they are very heavy duty units, and the duty ratings look like they're on the conservative side of realistic. I got prices from them a while ago but have lost them, they were very expensive though.

Sternpower BX www.jtmperformancemarine.com/ Can't find any info on the net other than this page.

It sounds to me as if the Yanmar 300 engine is just too powerful for the Bravo3 leg to be reliable.

Does anyone know of any websites with info on sternpower drives?

Seb · 11 April 2004, 18:17

You can find Sternpowr at:

www.lancingmarine.com

Scary Des · 13 April 2004, 09:23

What I cannot understand with regard to leg failures is that if you are using the leg within the manufactures specification, i.e. Hp, boat weight and speed why should it fail from over heating? I can understand it wearing out from old age or corrosion and I can understand it failing from hitting something, but to fail while using it as specified!! The manufactures are taking the p***. These legs cannot be fit for purpose.

roohairy · 13 April 2004, 12:02

Des have a look at Konrad's page, link above, they specify the duty use for their legs and the specifications make interesting reading.
The recreational rating for their 540 leg is 250 annual hours of 'highly intermittent operation' They also specifically exclude long distance pleasure cruising from the recreational duty rating. Even the commercial rating is only 500 hours annually,again 'highly intermittent', this is probably more than adequate for a leisure boat but not suitable for true commercial use as far as I'm concerned!
If all the other manufacturers use similar definitions of 'recreational' and 'commercial' use, then it's probably not surprising that these legs fail. Interesting that in the litiginous (spelling? word for that matter!) culture of the US Konrad make much more exact claims for their hardware than anyone else does!
Especially in a RIB it's always going to be a trade off weight against power, I think that you just have to accept that the Yanmar 300 is too powerful for the Bravo3 leg for continuous operation.
Having said all that, I do like the look of that Konrad drive, it looks like it could cope with the Yanmar 300 forever! But, £££££££££££!

Dave Clarkson · 13 April 2004, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scary Des

What I cannot understand with regard to leg failures is that if you are using the leg within the manufactures specification, i.e. Hp, boat weight and speed why should it fail from over heating? I can understand it wearing out from old age or corrosion and I can understand it failing from hitting something, but to fail while using it as specified!! The manufactures are taking the p***. These legs cannot be fit for purpose.

I absolutely agree. I've followed this and other threads on the same subject in the past and have to say that I'm staggered that in 2004, these "respected" global corporations are building drives that many users are scared stiff they'll fail each time they venture out of port. If this were the car industry, we would expect 3- 5 year warranties and ever increasing service intervals and reliability (OK, OK, not if you insist on driving a French car or a Discovery!). Why don't we get it with boat engines/drives? They are clearly poorly engineered.

Dave

Scary Des · 13 April 2004, 12:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by roohairy

.....The recreational rating for their 540 leg is 250 annual hours of 'highly intermittent operation' They also specifically exclude long distance pleasure cruising.....

This is like buying a sofa and being told you can only sit on it for a 15 min periods three times a week !! come on, if this isn't the biggest p*** take I've ever seen I don't know what is.

Andy Gee · 13 April 2004, 12:47

I am on my second boat now fitted with the Yamaha Hydrodrive and , touch wood, have never had any problems with them. However they are only running on 165hp each

and I have heard that for extended range stuff on the 240hp you are better firring a shower unit to keep the legs cool.
Out of interest I had a look at the Yamaha warranty book and it states it bases it's "Commercial" warranty on running a maximun of 1 hour in every 12 at full tilt (WoT) and exceeding this will invalidate your warranty........shit

Andy

DGR · 13 April 2004, 13:24

Just spoken to Ribcraft about my 7.8 - and they now seem to be supplying Bravo 2 legs rather than the 3.

From all that's being said on here and other 'leg' threads, that suits me!!

Dylan...

nik · 13 April 2004, 16:10

I think there is a certain irony in that something that is dunked in water needs extra cooling.
What about volvo legs? do they have the same restrictions? do volvo make them? can you buy them without the engine?
Answers on a postcard please.
Nick.