Drives

When I was looking at this 89 42' grand banks I'm looking to buy the listing says it has a V drive for the 3208TA but I don't remember seeing 2 shafts connected. Isn't that what V drive means?

What type of drives did they normally install to the Cat 3208TA?

Greetings,
All About Marine Transmission V-Drives - Seaboard Marine

I don't think GB used vee drives, if so that might be a unicorn.

Vee drives typically have engines in back of the boat, with transmissions ahead of engines. Common on faster cruisers, not real common on trawlers.

I agree with Ski. I have been on several GB 42s and they were Lehman engines with conventional prop shafts, maybe Cat 3208TAs in later years. I think that is probably a mis-statement in the listing. With two heavy Cats way in the back, it would be seriously out of trim.

David

Maybe it was short for BW Velvet Drives

A few years ago I inspected a GB 42 In Seattle with a single Cat 3208. The engine was mounted really high, and it looked kinda odd. I don't remember the transmission, but possibly it had a V drive and that was why it was mounted so high.

Obx said:

When I was looking at this 89 42' grand banks I'm looking to buy the listing says it has a V drive for the 3208TA but I don't remember seeing 2 shafts connected. Isn't that what V drive means?

What type of drives did they normally install to the Cat 3208TA?

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Was the engine facing backwards? Meaning the belts and alt pulleys towards the stern? If so, yes has a V-Drive.

The majority of 42 GBs I've seen listed are twins with conventional drive trains.

Insequent said:

A few years ago I inspected a GB 42 In Seattle with a single Cat 3208. The engine was mounted really high, and it looked kinda odd. I don't remember the transmission, but possibly it had a V drive and that was why it was mounted so high.

Click to expand...

The original gear was probably a BW VD. That's a planetary reduction drive and most modern gears aren't planetary. They have two gearbox shafts. The input and output shafts. They are vertically one above the other so the input shaft (in the gearbox) is above the output shaft. So the engine crankshaft (and thus the engine) needs to be raised the distance between the two shafts .. usually two or three inches.

That's my guess. However if it actually had/has a V drive the orientation of all the components of a V drive generally necessates a high mounted engine. Even then acessability to the shaft seal is poor. A V drive boat will almost always have a far aft mounted engine.
Since the GB boats typically have a rather far fwd mounted engine and a hull designed for that mounting a far aft engine would probably not be a good choice. A very unballanced boat will result. Possibly drier though.