Wild Card 09

AirTime - its an Imco 12" with 3" lift. Standard length XR drive. I have 4 1/2" from propshaft to pad and it runs really good. Fast hole shot with a labbed 28" Bravo and I am running out of prop with a current best of 78.9 mph GPS at 5300 rpm. The motor (2006 525) is only just run in now with about 11 hours so I am still only playing gently with WOT. There´s more in there. I´m convinced I will see a genuine 80 mph ( and Baja rates the 25 at 74 -75 mph with the 525 option). I´m going to try a 30". The handling is a revelation. The box has turned my 25 into a 30 footer. I can stay trimmed out at 70 + in the rough stuff without the boat starting to point to the sky. Up until now I haven´t found anything about the handling that makes it difficult or in any way dangerous (any more than a 25 footer IS at 70 - 80 mph) and I´ve just done 2 poker runs with the boat. I love it! Only problem so far has been a slight loss of cooling when trimmed out due to the dual water pickup. I´m converting to low water pickup. Its apparently slower - but I have no other option.
Good luck with your project and keep us up to date!

mpally

I'm getting ready to order a new prop. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I'm still a little confused with what to get. Thanks.

kennyo

Call throttle up and they'll tell you exactly what you need.

StillHaulin@63

I too think the Bravo/1 4-blade is a great prop for your engine/hull combo
and should provide the best overall ride & handling for your 25OL.

My son has a Baja 272 with a 502 spinning a labbed 24p B/1 and loves it.
Solid grip, excellent cruise efficiency, great throttle response and 66mph on the GPS.

Rocko C

I've just remedied the exact same problem in my 2000 25 Outlaw w/ a new 502 Mag. I put a 22p Bravo I prop on and it never blows out, the low end acceleration is silly, handling is incredible but my top end stayed the same. If I could do it all over again, I would've spent the extra $$$ and gone with a labbed 24p or 26p from Merc. Racing. WildCard had excellent success with a labbed 26p but he also had an HO (slightly more HP), not a 502. Where I boat, it is VERY crowded with idiots who do not know how to boat - they force you out of the channel because their friends told them to hug the channel marker, oncoming boats be damned and a lot of cruisers going for a leisurely stroll not to mention all of the fishermen sitting right in the middle of the channel. In other words, I need passing power here in NJ not top end. So, for me, the 22p is perfect for now. I'll play around next spring to see if I can add some top end without sacrificing hole-shot but, man, am I happy with the Bravo I. Good luck, Rock !

mpally

Well we had a 22 Bravo 1 overnighted to us. We see if that is the answer this weekend. Thanks for all your help.

speedboatr

Hi Mpally,

Hope the Brovo worked out, but if not you may want to try a Hydromotive. I had the same questions on my 03 25' outlaw. Found an article in Family Performance Boating (or something like that) where they tested the 25 outlaw with a hydromotive 4 blade. The results were great. So I called Hydormotive they had all the details of the test that was in the magazine. Hydromotive said to get the prop to match the boat they had to cut the prop down in diameter, remove the diffuser ring and lab the prop. Hydormotive was great to work with and the end result was only 2 mph faster (68 GPS) but the handing, hole shot and overall ride was greatly improved. It was worth every dime. Yea I did have to get the work done to the prop and it did cost a little, but like I said worth every dime.

Speed

Rocko C

How'd you make out with the new prop ?

mpally

The prop worked pretty well. LOTO was as rough as I have seen in this year over the weekend, so I would like to run it again. It did blowout a few times with 6 people on board in the rough, but it hooked back up after getting out of the throttle. The holeshot was much better and midrange throttle response is much improved. Overall, I am pretty happy with the setup. I guess the only way to totally eliminate the problem is get a bigger boat.