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Any thoughts on buying rebuilt gears? I am looking for a pair of zf 220a's 1.5-1. someone recommend buy them rebuilt, but they are not done buy the factory, but by someone who does several hundred rebuilds a year(various gears). Does it matter? Thanks!

I would purchase "Rebuilt" if the work was done by a good mechanic and came with a warranty.

Just out of curosity whats the cost difference between new and rebuilt??

I priced the parts necessary to rebuild a ZF IRM 220A AND change gear ratios.........holy crap.....it was about twice the price of a new gear.

Where do you find used ZF gears?

Harry

Harry hit it on the nose. It depends on who rebuilts them.

A warrantee is important but not as important as as to who did the job. It's all well and great if the tranny goes sour and you can bring it back to the guy and let him fix it again under warantee, but who picks up the tab for the tow back to the dock and yanking the tranny out plus getting it to the guy? Then you have to put it back in...can you change out a tranny without pulling the motor? Can you pull the motor on land?

Sr had his motors rebuilt years ago, all top notch parts, engines ran fantastic, but they could not get the rear main seal right. It was warranted, all he had to do was pull the motor and bring it to the place and have it fixed. I think the third or forth time he decided to just put a diaper under the engines...

The price of the rebuilt ones $2400 with all the adaptors for my motors, new is $3700. They do have a warrantee, but i agree in most cases warrantees are b.s.. I found these rebuilds through a dealer in Wisc.. Most of my stuff I find on boat diesel though.

don`t even want to tell you what i sold a pair of irm-220 A in 1.53 ratio for. try $1500.perfect condition 1000 hours.
ok lets forget that, i have 2- S.A.E adapters in perfect condition for ZF-IRM- 220A to any 5.9 cummins block.painted awlgrip primer and white topcoat.make a nice donation to captain patrick for airfare to come to montauk and i will even pay the freight.

Bob
The adapters that you have???? What type of drive coupling was on the engines that used the adapters that you have???

I am using (I cannot remember the correct name) a drive coupling with rather large rubber shock pads instead of the spring loaded drive plate that came on the engines.

The new coupling is considerably thicker than the old one and I will have to find or make a modified adpater or do a little machine work on the flywheel to make it fit.

Harry

harry i will try to steer you in the right direction try to cope with the spelling.lets start out by saying there are two "drives" actually torsional dampers one is oem unit with springs and it uses a alluminum sae adapter the other is the optional vulcan drive which has a special high perfomance facing of vulcan,thus the name.there are no springs and it must be use in conjuntion with a alloy steel # 2 special adapter.this adapter will put the gears back about 5/8" toward the stern.the special adapter has a recess in it for the larger vucan drive.all parts for this conversion good for 500hp are available from zf distributors in rhode island.
ok now the good news and the bad news.NOBODY can be on the front deck or gunnels when menuvering.wow when it goes into gear it`s in.litterally it slams into gear no slipping and sliding whatsoever.a anology would be a drag race car with a full race tubo-400 or powerglide trans.my bertram 31 fbc jumps on plane in 5 seconds with cummins 330hp.if you go with 4 blade props be aware when backing into a dock space!

Bob
I will post a pic of the drive coupling that I intend to use later tonight.

I built the mounts to install a pair of 800 HP MAN's in a Hatteras. The MANS came equiped with the type of drive that I am using.....it was smooth as silk. I never imagined that the drive coupling would perform like you described.

I chose this coupling in efforts to reduce or eleminate the idle speed chatter and clatter on my 300's.

When I disassembled the engines for rebuild the drive plates were shot.....springs were loose and worn and on the port engine the splines were completely worn away. I am of the opinion that the old worn drive plates have lost their ability to absorb shock.....and all of the looseness was the source of idle chatter.

Harry

harry to continue my post on your input.yes there is no spring wear and no chatter whatsoever.the 800hp mans were in a much heavier boat thus you will not feel the lunge when engaging but in a 11,000 pound bertram be prepared.i am use to it and have the cummins idle set at 615rpm,of course i take it out of foward hold in nuetral a minute then reverse.i have single lever controls and can munipulate either engine in seconds as i turn around and lookbackward

There is nothing to rebuilding a gear and most shops have figured out that 2/3 the price of a new gear will sell them whether they have the parts and labor into it or not.

The trick is does the shop test the gears when their done. If they don't have a test rig in the shop, walk away.

Reputation is everything in this biz. Ask around. While there is always a few customers who never seem to get their heads out of their asses, if you get a majority of thumbs up, then your good to go.

Thanks Bruce, good info. I am in the proces of getting the name of teh rebuilder and will let you know when I found out.

Bruce here is the info from the seller, have you ever heard of these guys or has anyone else. Thanks

"The rebuilder of the gears is Simplicity Marine of Palmetto, Florida. Simplicity Marine has entered into a non-circumvention agreement with Marine Tracker for the possibly sale of these gears to your company."