Arneson drives in 56 Pershing, Worth it?

We own a pershing 54 2003 model with Arnesson SD15. From my experience Owners should follow the scheduled maintenance and carry out oil analysis every year to ensure the good condition of the bearings and seals. By doing this We have never faced nightmare conditions. Of course I know an Owner whose Phillipino deckhand carried out the maintenace for two years and then he had to pay a lot of money for repairs including the replacement of the shafts. Yes in this case Owner lived a nightmare

Hi,

I worked for a guy with one of the first Magnum 56 Boats.

She was fitted with a pair of 1350 Hp CAT 3412's, 2 Speed ZF Boxes and Arneson Drives.

The drives were far from reliable, one had the front bearing retaining clip come out on sea trials, Both had seal and bearing failures all the time.

I am no longer involved work for this guy but do still hear of some of the goings on, it seems that the yokes in the universals were not lined up correctly which caused a lot of these problems and it is a lot better now.

I have been running a yacht for 17 years with Arneson ASD12's, and I think they are great.
With proper maintenance they are not a nightmare in any way, shape, or form.
The maintenance is not that bad, really, and I think they are quite ingenious in their simplicity.
PM me and I can highly reccomend a mechanic in Florida who knows these drives inside and out.

drive stories

I have owned numerous boats most with straight shafts, but the last one was equiped with asd 12's and 1300 mann engines. once you get used to them arneson drives are very simple to operate. The only real drawback is limited thrust in reverse as the props have such a severe forward pitch. Most of the bad pr that arneson drives get is based on fear of the unknown, from people who have never run a boat with them. Maintainance is very limited and the drives are bullet proof. most manufaturers use a drive that can accept alot more power than they are rated for so they do not blow up. Pershing, Baia etc are very well versed with construction of arneson equiped boats, and will be happy to discuss pros and cons with you. hope this helps.

We were doing about 25 knots here, on a Armstrong 35'. I can only imagine a 45 knot rooster!

The engines are Cummins 6CT8.3 450 h0 each. Actuall 430 US hp @ 2600 rpm.
The transmissions are 5075A Twin Disk, one with trolling valve.
The drive systems are ASD 10 Arneson(now owned by Twin Disk).
There is about a 10.5 inch driveline between the Transmission and the Drive
shaft.

Have experience with a Pershing 52, 2xMAN1100hp + Arnesson.

no major problems at all on the arnessons... a bit difficult to get used to in the beginning... more difficult to maneuver, esp since the reverse is kinda silly as mentioned above (boat kinda goes a little off in reverse, but its a quesion of getting used to it)

arneson

I dont believe that arneson have problems... or the standar drive have problems... sometimes it depends from the manufacture company... i have a friend that bought a brand new yacht 50feet with 2 engines cat... both of the engines had problems since the day he started cruising. IF u take care the engines... always go by the rpm that the company says on the manual book... good quality of fuel and oil... i dont think you will have a problem.

While I haven't owned a Pershing, I have sea trialed them and came close to buying. The interesting thing about Arneson's on Pershings is fuel consumption actually goes down the faster you go. The fuel consumption curve of one particular Pershing increases dramatically through the speed range and it is almost flat between 35K and 45Kn.

The real implication of this is fuel consumption is very bad at slower speeds. This may be moot if you can run at high speeds for most of your trip. In bad weather though you may not have a choice. So consider range and how it fits into your use of the boat.

Magnums = great boats
Magnums + Arnesons = fabulous boats that are significantly faster than their conventional-drive bretheren AND have the better resale value down the road which further reinforces them (the drives) as the logical choice if you're buying a 'fast' & sexy boat.

2 x MTU 16V2000 M92 2000 hp engines with Arneson surface drive transmissions ASD 15B1 Lu


What does an recommissioning look like on these if say the engines and drive have been sitting for 3 years and need re commissioning?

i have had my pershing 80 for about two years now ...

no problems whatsoever ...

and the rooster tail IS a sight ...

The drives are good. Dock side maneuvering is a challenge. Here is your best example of what to consider. They are made to go fast forward (forward fast?) with drawbacks re anything else (operation, not maintance).
Take care of them like they deserve and they will deliver.

Ditto.

It all depends on what was done to the boat before it was put away.

don't know abt the smaller pershing's, but the 80 is equipped with thrusters ...

but i agree that it would be difficult without them ...

as a mute point, i rarely use the thrusters ...

Replace the ASD boots, these will deteriorate when sitting exposed to smog, UV etc.
Check the hydraulic trim and steering cylinder hoses, seals etc.
Do an oil analysis on the lube oil from the drive to check for water in the oil. If the drives sat with water in the oil, they may need to be inspected internally. No water, just change the oil and go.
Check the driveshaft u joints.
Replace the drive anodes.

Can't say about the engines.