Clever 23P props
 

Has anyone had experience using Mercury Clever 23 pitch RH and LH props on a Cigarette 28SS with Bravo 1 drives. Please feel free to comment here. Some guys have had great success using 3 bladed props on these boats.

CigProject....I have a 28ss w21p 3 blademerc cleavers, although they are the only props I have ever had on this boat. I have been told that cleavers are not a wise choice for a boat that heavy, a cleaver is designed to run on the surface and will not provide much bow lift on a heavy V hull. This is just my .02 from what I have been told by others. What year is your 28, what kind of speed are you getting and w/what engines?

Oh wait I forgot you said bravos, without all the tranny and drive weight of a TRS package cleavers might not be so bad:confused:

THRILLSEEKER,
I only wish the project was complete. Far from it ! It is a 1974 28SS hull that was purchased bare about 2 years ago. I have been focused on the power and it is costing a lot of cash. They are Chevy 383 strokers that will output a little more than 400HP each. What is your power and the speed you get from the combination you have ? Im sure there is many different setups and it would be good to see them posted here.

John:)

C.P. I have 300hp sbc's w/ a TRS package(for now:p )
I honestly do not know the speed, I do not have a speedo, but I should have a gps by next weekend. I will keep ya posted on what I find out. I am guessing somewhere around 60 to 65:confused:

CigProject,

Sounds like a great project! I actually did the same thing two years ago and built a 28SS with 350Mag MPIs and Bravo I performance drives. THey were 300hp ea and we raised the X dimension nearly 2 inches from stock. The drives were the Performance drives with the low water pickup.

We tested MANY props and found the best prop for this boat was a 24" Bravo I because it offered the best all-around performance. My cruisings speed at 35-3800rpms was 50mph! Top speed was 67mph on radar although we were only turning 46-4800 rpms. We planned on labbing the props to get the extra 200 rpms, but I ended up selling the boat to buy a bigger one. (the current owner has it for sale in the classifieds here) Your 400hp motors should be able to spin these props faster.

We tested the 23" cleaver and found that the holeshot was horrible---the prop broke loose and it was a bit of work to get it on plane. RPMS were around 5000 and Top speed was the same as the 24" Bravo I props.

We also tested a set of 25" Mirage props which were better than the cleavers but my cruise fell off substantially and top end was about the same as the 24" Bravos.

Bottom line---4 blades are better than 3 on a heavy boat.

Good luck with your project...now you owe us some pics:D