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Belt or Gear Drive?

C

Converted

Active member
Power will likely be a mild build 383 stroker.
Boat will likely be Alum 13'6 high side

Prop ? who knows

Along those lines... best ratios? seems like 2.68 works well for turning a big prop slower which leads to less noise. How about fuel economy and power for jumping dikes?
 
2.68 is what I would go with if using gear drive. I think 2.38 is as high as you can go with belt drive.
 
Gear drive helps counteract torque roll by turning the propeller opposite of the rotation of the engine.

They're also a little lighter than a belt drive unit.

Both have most of the bugs worked out, but I am a little biased toward the gear drive
 
the thing about a gear drive is they weight less than a belt and can handle big power for longer periods of time with no problems. but with a belt of you put the power to it there could be problems. thats my 2 cents
 
Belt drives been around a bit longer than gear drives and probably a lot more of them out there running as well.

There IS a driving technique for belt drives but its simple and certainly no reason to not consider one.

I haven't seen a seismic fleet yet with gear drives on their work boats. Those guys run hard all day long every day all year long.

Scotty
 
Where I ride I see 15 gear drives to one belt drive if you want performance the gear drive is better. I have never seen a belt drive perform as good as a geardrive. Belt drives are ok for heavy boats where performance is not an issue!
 
Converted,
If your considering a beltdrive behind a 383/425hp motor, I can show you the Blue Lightning belt drive that WaterWalker Props is producing now. That is the setup on the carboat I am running. It is also turning a 3 blade Sirius series prop from WaterWalker. The hull is a 13x8 Diamondback but it would have been better with a 14 footer. I haven't had any problems with torque roll.

That's right everyone, the Blue lightning is being produced to be ready for sale the first of the year. The first 4 will be here 1/6/07.

Weight is 62 lbs.
Back of motor to back of prop hub is 7.5"
Crankshaft centerline to prop shaft centerline is 11.5" which lowers the motor more than a gearbox.
Made to bolt to a Chevy motor.
2.3 to 1 ratio
Quiet running



Bob
 
Aw geez, Swamp ...... just when Ann thought the piggy bank was gonna be safe for a while. Here we go again :? .

Is Mr. Wine looking at any bigger ratios, like maybe 2.5 or 2.6 ?

olf
 
Basket are you referring to the sound at idle that is the only time I hear mine. If so I will have a quite one you need to hear! Also Bob how much is this Blue Lightning and what HP is it rated for? I may want to test one on my new ride boat. I'm trying to build the smoothest running, highest fuel economy boat possible and make between 650 and 670HP on pump gas! I'm building a standard 14ft aluminum hull with polymer.
 
Ya, let's have a little more info on this new drive.
Maybe some pics would be nice.
It's hard to believe that it could be that light.
I think my belt drive weights about 120 lbs.
 
:D

Hmmm, I guess you folks have the same belt vs. gear "discussions" that the mud motor guys have... very interesting.

I saw a boat that had the motor mounted very low. I had assumed that someone made a longer belt drive for this type of setup. It seems that lowering the center of mass would be a good thing.

I'd like to see your setup Bob. I'm leaing toward building a 383. I'm not so sure I'll be shooting for 425HP but can I assume I can get good hunting boat performance/economy out of 350-375HP??? I like to take long rides along the St. Johns, Kissimmee, etc.
 
Here you go, I found a picture in my gallery of the WW "work boat" with the Blue Lightning on it at the Quiet Airboat Demo.
100_1518b.jpg

100_1518a.jpg


I knew I took way too many pictures for a reason, It seems like I have a pic posted for just about everybody
 
Great photos, 4 Fun. This is the carboat that finished second to Waterthunder at the Demo last May. It blew 81.9 db on plane and is a very strong running boat.

That's a 13'x8' Diamondback hull, and notice that it's running factory cast iron exhaust manifolds.
With an exhaust crossover and bigger mufflers that boat should break under 80 db on plane easy.

olf
 
No cross over's for me! I had the simplest and cheapest exhaust of all the car motor boats there along with the quietest. Heck ask CC I installed my exhaust the day before the sound testing!
 
Thanks for posting the pics. Nice looking boat except... well nothing a gallon of OD green can't fix. :wink:

Question on the manifolds, I've got a set of the truck "log" style. Do those put the outlet too far back to clear the prop/drive?

Also I'm missing the crossover, do you mean in the intake manifold or car H pipe style?

Edit:
I think I see it now. The pipes cross from one side of the boat to the other then connect to the mufflers. Got it.
 
When you go to an automotive style muffler having the inlet and outlet offset make the muffler quieter. So I ran the offset Summit racing stainless muffler PN#SUM-630530 They cost $79 each the are very quite and sound good plus their stainless and fully polished. I also used down turn tips aimed down and slightly towards the center of the boat to help bounce the sound waves off the water. It's simple physics sound energy is like anything else it looses energy every time it changes direction!
 
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