Shortie vs Blackhawk

[Titan]

Was looking for a shortie for my '22 classic 496 mag but noticed another blackhawk has come up. Can anyone give an opinion of which would work better. Also I would not even know where to start with prop pitch if I went that route. I run a 26 Bravo one now. Was going to sell it for a bigger boat but might play with it for another year unless someone comes along that has to have it. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

[Lenny]

I wouldn't consider the Blackhawk a viable option on YOUR 22. No rocker, and the drive height will be up about 7" :eek: instead of 2" ...

BUT, that being said, Byrons boat (22) absolutely cooks but he has about 300 more HP than you.

Parts will (or soon will be) a nightmare. As are cases.

I know where there is a real Blackhawk boat for about $20k.

Go the IMCO route.

[mrfixxall]

Parts will (or soon will be) a nightmare.

same internal as a bravo 3 except for the main shaft:)

[SilverBack]

I wouldn't consider the Blackhawk a viable option on YOUR 22. No rocker, and the drive height will be up about 7" :eek: instead of 2" ...

BUT, that being said, Byrons boat (22) absolutely cooks but he has about 300 more HP than you.

Parts will (or soon will be) a nightmare. As are cases.

I know where there is a real Blackhawk boat for about $20k.

Go the IMCO route.


Are you saying that the blackhawk would raise the prop shaft 7 inches instead of raising it 2 inches with the IMCO shorty.

[MOP]

I have one of the high X older 22's and ran a BH for awhile, I absolutely loved the drive handling and mid range cruise. But without bow lift there was no top end, I swapped it for a Bravo and went up 6.6 miles an hour. Yes the drive is very short on my 22 the very bottom of the gear case was 5/16" was below the hull, having any portion of the gear case below the bottom causes stern lift. The shorties are only up a few inches from stock but more hydrodynamic, you either have to have hull rocker or real good HP to get good results from the BH.

Phil

[SilverBack]

Thanks Phil!!

[MDonziM]

With a stock motor I saw no performance gain with a blackhawk on a standard 22. So, as others have said, I would go shorty.

[Madcow]

Plus you can't get props for them.

[VetteLT193]

Dollar for dollar a shortie is a better deal. As said, props are hard to find... when you can find them, expensive. Reliability and parts, as fix said, no big deal. mostly B3 stuff.

But, in the end, you should be able to put a shortie on for less money, props included, and you can put the extra money into the engine and net a higher MPH.

[donzi2287]

shorty!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never heard that before bty!!!!:bonk:

[gero1]

this thread is so funny!

[Madcow]

I thought about puting one on mine. Spoke to Julie at Throttle Up about it. When she stoped laughing she told me to forget it. she said figure ten grand to have props made, becase there are just none left out there.

[MOP]

On some apps it is a great drive, the 20 Cigs do extremely well. The hull needs to be short or have rocker or lots of power, also the correct X is very important. Steve's 18 with a stock 300 Merc ran close to 80, Don ran super HP in his 18 at the stock X and did not come near the full potential of the drive. I am waiting for someone to slap one on a 16 at the correct X with a stock 300, the drive will make the 16 into a handle like a Farrari and more then likely run close to 90 with ultimate reliability. With the dual props there is no chine walk and equal roll up in the turns. I have spoken with the owner of Hustler Boats, he loved the drive said he wished they would bring it back with a stronger upper.

[roadtrip se]

Which one do you want? Both! As they both work great on our small performance boats.

I have been around both for several years now and have driven boats with both applications. I like them both and given the proper tuning, both can put up some pretty impressive numbers.

There are limitations to both drive systems, which has been elaborated upon here in great detail. Most have focused on the limtations to the Blackhawk which are legit. One thing I learned very early on from running a shortie is that they take a significant amount of prop tuning and change-outs depending on the water conditions of the day. You can see evidence of this, as I run a virtual prop auction on this site, preparing for the re-rig, and a whole new round of prop testing to optimize the performance of my shortie driven boat.

Handling is a whole other topic for discussion for another day. There are trade-offs on both drive systems in comparison to the standard Bravo legs. Some can tolerate the compromises and actually prefer them, some don't. I like the handling charactersitics of the shortie on the 22 and 18 hulls. I think the BHLE is a masterpiece in the hands of the right driver. The BH 20 Cigs are without compare. One thing is for sure.. If you put one of these things on your boat, it will no longer be a point and shoot driver, period.

So, given ideal circumstances in an ideal world, I would try to get my hands on both and let her "rip" as Shea says. Make your own decision.

Niether is easy. Both have their warts.