correct prop selection

[Centsless]

hey gents i am new here with a new boat to me as well, she is a 2005 26 ft new era
i am wondering what the correct prop selection for a 496 ho with headers would be
i prefer 4 blades over 3 the boat currently has a 22 pitch 4blade but i feel this is a little under where i should be and i am adding the headers over the winter months
regards M

[Uncle Dave]

Originally Posted by Centsless

hey gents i am new here with a new boat to me as well, she is a 2005 26 ft new era
i am wondering what the correct prop selection for a 496 ho with headers would be
i prefer 4 blades over 3 the boat currently has a 22 pitch 4blade but i feel this is a little under where i should be and i am adding the headers over the winter months
regards M

Welcome!

This isnt an exact science to say the least. The "right size and pitch" depends on how and where you boat and how you boat as much as the power you have.

In other words if you always have a 6 person family in it and you boat at 3000ft then you are going to need a smaller pitch prop.

If you boat at sea level and its you and the GF and you "tour" long lakes vs water ski where out of the hole performance is badly needed- then you can consistently run a steeper pitch.

The headers will set the stage for any more performance mods to come and "buy you" a few hundred rpm more and a bit more midrange.

Explain what you mean by "under"- are you hitting the rev limiter while it's still pulling hard?


I think you'll find you'll end up with at least 2 if not three or more props.

Uncle Dave

[lavey jr]

First off, congrats on the boat

The current 22 pitch prop you have is definatly to small.
There are two different setups you can do depending on your boating style....
If the type of boating you do is mainly family boating with a full boat and tubing and such, I would recomend a stock 24 pitch bravo1 4 blade.
But, if you're boating style is more of the light load with only a couple people then you could go with a labed 26 pitch bravo1 4 blade.

[Centsless]

hey uncle dave and lavey junior thanks for your replies..... light load full of fuel and running around with my hair on fire and last but not least just slightly above sea level i live just north of the border in bc canada one thing i find strange though........ i havent hit the rev limiter but she get a new set of sparks in the spring along with the rest of the tune up.
also i am going to cut out the noise restrictor in the tips ,let this puppy breath a bit more anyways if its to loud after the headers i will fabricate by own silencers and ty for the input will keep the 22 i have for wakeboarding with the juniors
regards M

[huge]

Good to see you on here Marc
I have a 24" labbed Bravo we can try, and we can also try Sciotti's 26" Bravo.
And for a real fun test, we can try my labbed 30" Bravo and a 100 shot of NOS!!!!

[Centsless]

hey huge .nice to see you you get around some dont you doesnt surprise me though cya soon mate

[Centsless]

well i tired the 24p bravo 1 over the last 2 days great water lake was almost completely flat even though it was somewhat cool out
sat with 3 bodies aboard and a full tank of fuel i hit 66 mph at 4900 rpm
sun i went out alone 1/2 tank of fuel just myself hit 68 mph at 5000 rpm or slightly higher rpm shut it down.. other than the fact that i dont like running at that high an rpm for long distances the back end of the boat was coming unglued somewhat mostly chinewalk tried lots of different trim angles tabs were zeroed and she still seemed a bit loose in the back end
an other thing i noticed was that as long as the motor was pulling hard and there was lots of thrust the boat is amazingly stable
but after about 64 mph and the hard pulling and big power curve is done with she still climbs in speed although very slowly and this is when the back end seems to get a bit loose
i am thinking that this is normal and i have to keep driving or could it be something else that im not doing properly even trimming didnt seem to correct you gents know these machines far better than i do just wanting to know if this is normal or corrections are needed
looking forward to getting the labbed 26 p wet next weekend weather and freshet pending of course

[Centsless]

well ...... i tested the labbed 26 last week end and im a bit disapointed....... topped out at 67
tach is hooped so i dont know what rpm im at reading 6400 rpm new tack on order...
it lies it lies!!!!!!!! damm moist air here abouts we dont age here on the wet coast of canada we just slowly rust away........
anyways had my boy and a friend of his aboard and made several passes with the boys and alone , the speed was the same
will be contacting greg at CEP this week to talk about tuning the
prop to see if i cant do better
after that im kind of at a loss maybe a 27 pitch labbed 3 blade ?
i defer to you gents with more experience and knowledge than i have
by the time im done i will have a prop selection leading back to where the boat came from

[lavey jr]

Hello,

Well I've been following your thread and in all honesty, the Lavey 26 NuEra is not the "speed racer" of the NuEra family.
From the factory the 26 NuEra w/ 496 HO is sent down the road with a 24" bravo1 4 blade. And for the most part, that is what everybody runs. With this set up 65 is about the average top speed the boat will see.
You are definatly on the right track with the 26 lab, 68mph at 5000rpm (light load). Therefore when you add a bit of load the rpm will still be around peak.
68 mph with an HO is actually one of the faster 26's built.

Well how fast were you expecting from the boat........?

I hope you find what you're looking for.
Stay safe

[Uncle Dave]

I think youll find that for your power and size you are running pretty well.

Take a look at whos running what and then look at power.

UD