Hi Jay,

There are many differences in Alpha and Bravo drives.

First of all, Bravo drives come in 3 flavors. Bravo I, Bravo II, Bravo
III.
Unless you are into racing we won't go into B I drives.

Bravo II are heavy duty outdrives. They weigh almost twice as much as an
Alpha. The upper gear case houses industrial strength gears and shafts.
Bravo II drives are often used on heavy PC Cruisers or Houseboats. They turn
a large deep biting prop. Standard is 21"x21" Aluminum "paddle blade" type.
(Stainless is optional)

Premium built boats use Bravo II or III as standard equipment.

The lower unit has a very thick, damage resistant casing, and can be set
clockwise or counter clockwise without any changes to gearing. There are a
variety of gear ratios for the unit depending on application. 2.0:1 is
common, though 1.8:1 is often found in "junkyards" as well.

The Bravo III uses the same upper housing as the BII. The difference is in
the lower unit. The Bravo III uses counter rotating , stainless steel, props
which provide 15% greater fuel efficiency, and reduce bow wobble at low
speeds. This makes it much easier to hold a course. Since the props are
already counter rotating, most B-III drives are set up for right hand
rotation. This is easily changed by installing a different shift cable. The
Bravo III costs more, but will hold up much longer then an Alpha.

Neither Alpha nor Bravo drives are "user service friendly." Should you
need major repairs, refer the job to a MERCRUISER CERTIFIED shop. There are
a lot of jackleg boat mechanics that don't know, or care, what they are
doing, and can cost you thousands of dollars a few hours down the river.

A word about stainless props. All outdrives need to have their anodes
replaced. This is particularly necessary if you use stainless props. The
dis-similar metals set up galvanic corrosion. The anodes abate this. Replace
salt water anodes at least every six months if you store your boat dockside.
This will prevent lower unit "pinholeing". Bravo II and III drives are very
susceptible to damage arising from this small, but necessary, bit of
maintenance.

Hope this helps.



--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Jay" wrote in message
...
Folks,

Looking for some feelings on the comparative difference. I'm looking at
a
21 ft. sundeck model, with a 5.0, 260 horse. The local dealer sells
them
with a Bravo.. Since I've learned a bravo is about 3000.00 more, is
there no
reason an Alpha can't do a comparable job?

The few MPH I might pick up, being able to back up or track straighter
doesn't really matter much to me.... are there other advantages I don't
know
about, or don't understand?

-j

thanks to everyone for the feedback..
sounds like the bravo is nice to have for the extra money, otherwise for
something 21ft. it's not yet a necessity..

-j

"Capt Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
link.net...

Hi Jay,

There are many differences in Alpha and Bravo drives.

First of all, Bravo drives come in 3 flavors. Bravo I, Bravo II, Bravo
III.
Unless you are into racing we won't go into B I drives.

Bravo II are heavy duty outdrives. They weigh almost twice as much as an
Alpha. The upper gear case houses industrial strength gears and shafts.
Bravo II drives are often used on heavy PC Cruisers or Houseboats. They
turn
a large deep biting prop. Standard is 21"x21" Aluminum "paddle blade"
type.
(Stainless is optional)

Premium built boats use Bravo II or III as standard equipment.

The lower unit has a very thick, damage resistant casing, and can be set
clockwise or counter clockwise without any changes to gearing. There are a
variety of gear ratios for the unit depending on application. 2.0:1 is
common, though 1.8:1 is often found in "junkyards" as well.

The Bravo III uses the same upper housing as the BII. The difference is
in
the lower unit. The Bravo III uses counter rotating , stainless steel,
props
which provide 15% greater fuel efficiency, and reduce bow wobble at low
speeds. This makes it much easier to hold a course. Since the props are
already counter rotating, most B-III drives are set up for right hand
rotation. This is easily changed by installing a different shift cable.
The
Bravo III costs more, but will hold up much longer then an Alpha.

Neither Alpha nor Bravo drives are "user service friendly." Should you
need major repairs, refer the job to a MERCRUISER CERTIFIED shop. There
are
a lot of jackleg boat mechanics that don't know, or care, what they are
doing, and can cost you thousands of dollars a few hours down the river.

A word about stainless props. All outdrives need to have their anodes
replaced. This is particularly necessary if you use stainless props. The
dis-similar metals set up galvanic corrosion. The anodes abate this.
Replace
salt water anodes at least every six months if you store your boat
dockside.
This will prevent lower unit "pinholeing". Bravo II and III drives are
very
susceptible to damage arising from this small, but necessary, bit of
maintenance.

Hope this helps.



--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Jay" wrote in message
...
Folks,

Looking for some feelings on the comparative difference. I'm looking
at
a
21 ft. sundeck model, with a 5.0, 260 horse. The local dealer sells
them
with a Bravo.. Since I've learned a bravo is about 3000.00 more, is
there no
reason an Alpha can't do a comparable job?

The few MPH I might pick up, being able to back up or track straighter
doesn't really matter much to me.... are there other advantages I
don't
know
about, or don't understand?

-j

On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 16:01:05 GMT, "Capt Frank Hopkins"
wrote:


Hi Jay,

There are many differences in Alpha and Bravo drives.

First of all, Bravo drives come in 3 flavors. Bravo I, Bravo II, Bravo
III.
Unless you are into racing we won't go into B I drives.

Why? The Bravo 1 is not really a racing drive. The Bravo 1 is the
standard single prop drive designed to handle engine power in excess
of 300 HP. In other words, it's the standard drive for the big block
engines. It doesn't matter if the boat is a deck boat, a large
runabout or a performance boat.

True "racing" drives are similar to the TRS and the Speedmaster
series, which can take HP in excess of 750, and have very skinny
gearcases and low water pickups, and are typically designed to be run
with an elevated "X" dimension, to facilitate propeller surfacing, and
an even greater reduction in drag.

The Bravo 2 drive is a special application drive, where thrust is
important to move a heavy boat, such as a cabin cruiser. They are
geared low, in order to swing a larger prop. Since the drag of this
drive is much more than the B1, it's not recommended for boats that
are designed to exceed 50 MPH.

The Bravo 3 is simply a Bravo 1 with an extra prop stuck on the back.
In fact the early release of this drive used the Bravo 1 gearcase with
a ventilation plate extension. The Bravo 3 develops more thrust due to
more prop area in the water. This can have the effect of reducing prop
slip, which can therefore translate to improved midrange efficiency.
They can also reduce or eliminate prop blowout on turns. But, like the
Bravo 2, it presents a larger amount of drag, when compared to a Bravo
1, and is not the ideal choice if top speed is your primary
consideration.

Dave

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:10:24 -0500, Dave Hall
wrote:

On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 16:01:05 GMT, "Capt Frank Hopkins"
wrote:


Hi Jay,

There are many differences in Alpha and Bravo drives.

First of all, Bravo drives come in 3 flavors. Bravo I, Bravo II, Bravo
III.
Unless you are into racing we won't go into B I drives.

Why? The Bravo 1 is not really a racing drive. The Bravo 1 is the
standard single prop drive designed to handle engine power in excess
of 300 HP. In other words, it's the standard drive for the big block
engines. It doesn't matter if the boat is a deck boat, a large
runabout or a performance boat.

True "racing" drives are similar to the TRS and the Speedmaster
series, which can take HP in excess of 750, and have very skinny
gearcases and low water pickups, and are typically designed to be run
with an elevated "X" dimension, to facilitate propeller surfacing, and
an even greater reduction in drag.

The Bravo 2 drive is a special application drive, where thrust is
important to move a heavy boat, such as a cabin cruiser. They are
geared low, in order to swing a larger prop. Since the drag of this
drive is much more than the B1, it's not recommended for boats that
are designed to exceed 50 MPH.

The Bravo 3 is simply a Bravo 1 with an extra prop stuck on the back.
In fact the early release of this drive used the Bravo 1 gearcase with
a ventilation plate extension. The Bravo 3 develops more thrust due to
more prop area in the water. This can have the effect of reducing prop
slip, which can therefore translate to improved midrange efficiency.
They can also reduce or eliminate prop blowout on turns. But, like the
Bravo 2, it presents a larger amount of drag, when compared to a Bravo
1, and is not the ideal choice if top speed is your primary
consideration.

Sometimes, things just fall in your lap.

I was looking around the web the other day for just this type of
explanation concerning the Bravo drives and presto - it magically
appears!! Amazing!!

Ain't technology grand? :)

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------

Basic Fishing Program:

10 - Fish
20 - Eat
30 - Sleep
40 - Goto 10