JimV

The modified bravo upper is holding up great on my 750hp 27 fountain. The lower gears tend to wear out quickly. I have to replace them twice a season. Same with the race boat.

Stillcrazy

B-Max and Nor-Tech Combo has not proven to be good.Multi failures and eats up horsepower.They may be OK for smaller lighter boats. Response is slow to problems.

Fountain38SC

Went thru the same dilemma last winter. XR's are not the answer, talked to Bob teague at the Lauderdale show, thought about Bmax but after my friend blew 3 on his new Sonic in as may outings, decided against them.

Went with imco's. No problem in 40 hrs. I have just over 800 hp high torque. I don't baby them. My imco's are standard length. Keep in mind that I have a heavy v hull.

If you need any info, PM me, I'd be glad to share the info from my quest.

Kent

salesmanship

Just so everyone has the facts and can offer proper advise.. He is talking about a 36 cat. We have never installed a B-max, Imco, Teague, Konrad on any of these production boats. There are Imco's on a SCL but we don't count that. There is only one boat that has XR's on it but it is w/525's and so far so good.
Basically what works or does not work on a V-bottom has no relevance when it comes to cats.
That said your input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
TS

Cattitude

weight of the boat/wetted surface area is a major variable too- I'd go with arnesons, on your application there is no reason not to.

Ron P

In your question, you used the word "reliable" which is never used in the same sentance with "outdrives".

Arnesons are reliable from what I've seen and heard.

My only other choice would be Weismans, unless of course you just want to go with #VI drives. Plus nothing beat the tail of an arneson.

Three Days Only

Im running Teague 800EFI's in a 36' Spectre with Merc XR's and sportmaster lowers. To date I have gernaded two upper units. Both have been replaced with the Teague Platinum XR's uppers using my sportmaster lowers. The Teague platinum XR is identical to the Merc XR in the upper housing down to all parts including gears. The only difference is there so called race prep which is just there way of saying that they shimmed and set up the upper unit to there specs. To date I have never had a problem with my lower units, it is always the gear set in the uppers. I guessing I will be replacing another upper in less then 20 hours as that has been the trend lately. My friend just took delivery of a 3600 supercat last week. Unbelivable boat, fit and finsh is next to none, you will be very happy with the boat and the power, but I would spend the money on the 6's to avoid worrying that you are going to lose a upper unit everytime you run hard. It sucks worrying if your going to make it back to the dock at the end of the day, and its always in the back of my mind. I baby my drives as much as possible, but I still have failures, the damage is done at higher speeds, but luckily they fail at around 55-60, wierd. Nor-Tech seems to have the placement of the drives and setup for the #6's perfect. I wouldnt change a thing. I would ask Terry, If you do run the bravo's or a similar drive, do they need to notch the transom, if so that will make it much more difficult later to put 6's on the boat after your tired of spending 5000.00 a pop on new upper units including labor and all. You need to think about resale also, must people that are going to purchase a 3600 Nor-Tech are going to want 6's no matter what. I wish I would have purchased my boat with 6's, just the peace of mind to know that more then likely I will be boating next weekend and not in the shop, is worth the extra money.

Just my .02

Jeff / 3DO

jeff bratton

b- max @#$$# in hustler cat - dont know the facts.

Raypanic

Max Machine Works! I have two behind my PQ with 700hp each Ran all season last year no trouble at all. They are said to handle over 1000 Hp

later

why wouldnt a # V drive be the way to go. you will get the strength and economy of the drive i priced a 42 fountain out a while back and the diffence between the V drive and bravo was not as big as you think and alot less than the VI drive just a thought. I have convinced myself that if my next boat has bigger power. it will not have a bravo direviative. why deal with it you only will break one drive before it changes the economics of the deal. and if you have to drive around waiting for the enivtable babying the thing then why go for the bigger power in the first place my .02 worth.

Ps
the imco 4x4 should be a concideration also.

when you taking me for a ride !

later
Dave