Originally posted by h2oski2fast
A new prop is the next step. From what I heard they are going away from using these drives in high performance applications. The drive is great for an SUB (sport utility boat), you know them damn Chapparel things.
SUb, thats a good one . I'lll need to remember that one.
Just for the record, we actually built 2 deckboats last year for 2 of
our owners with Volvo Penta 600HP dual prop setups. If you refer to Hot Boat magazine about July 2002 (the one with the Magic deckboat on the cover) you'll note that one of these 2 boats ran 78.4 mph. After a couple of months, one owner
chose to replace the dual prop with a Merc Bravo 1 and liked the
Merc better. The other owner stayed with the Volvo drive. These
600HP engines sound wicked! The camshaft is about as big as
your average crankshaft! The only negative on the Volvo is that
surprisingly--it planed slower than the Merc. You see with that
kind of HP, they detune the EFI system computer on the 540 inch
motor so that it won't grenade the outdrive. This made planing
a bit slower than normal. You see, the counter rotating props
have one hollow shaft and one solid one. There is the weak
point in the system. Other than that it drove great. As for the
rear prop problems, I have seen it in the aluminum props for the
small block Volvo Pentas but I haven't seen it in the SS versions.
Basically, it's cavitating at high speed and eating the props up
where the ear mounts on the hub. One day they get so thin,
that they simply break off but you'll see it coming.
Oh--of the 2 boats with the Volvo Penta 600HP-EFI-540's--the
dual prop Volvo drive would beat the Merc Bravo 1 in top speed.
Keith Sayre
Conquest Boats
Lake Havasu City
928-680-1400
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