Truant 37 V-Drive

[afthatch]

I am looking at buying a Truant 37, and when I was checking out the engine, I noticed it has a v-drive. Anybody have experience with this? (good/bad) It just seems wrong to bend a driveshaft to send it in a different direction.

[skipmac]

Lots of boats have v-drives, even mine. In general they are pretty simple, straightforward, reliable gear. I would rather not have one but it was not a deal breaker when I bought the boat. Main complaint I have, at least in my boat, it makes access to the stuffing box a bit tricky.

[onestepcsy37]

my walther v drive is now 33 years old and still going. i think it was rebuilt about ten years ago. i agree that it's just one more piece of gear to worry about but so far so good - just check the oil level and keep it up. (mine uses 30 weight non detergent motor oil, as per manufacturers specs).

it does make it a bit tougher, but not impossible, to repack the shaft bearing, but it also makes the engine install more compact and leaves space for other stuff.