311's with 420's what props
 

I am wondering what props you guys are running. I currently have 23 mirages on there. They were reworked by some one that I feel is not that good at it but it is showing that I need more prop. and I think that the handling is a little off at speed. Biggus has a pair of 24 Hydromotives for me to try as well as a pair of 25 Mirages (may be plus) I would think that the Hydromotives would be the best bet? What is everyone running and what are your speeds.

Jon

Are the Hydros cleaver style (flat trailing edge) or round ear? You'll like the 24 pitch, but if they're cleaver style they're not the right prop. Bravo I or Hydro Q-IV-X, or even a Rev 4 24p would be best. The 311 has some rocker in the hull, you need to get the bow up. Curious to know if she'll pull the 25s.

I assume a TRS boat? my buddy had a 311 TRS with 550-600hp and 25 Mirage plus's labbed worked best, 78-80 mph at 5300-5400 top end with drives spinning in, boat was loose as it should be to get that out of a 311, I am betting a 4 blade is not the best bet for a 420 TRS boat, I have a 320 Baja Force with TRS and with the deep drives a round ear 3 blade is what it needs to get the bow up.

Jon ..... I am running 28's .... 78@ about 52-5300 ...that was with Labbed 28's ...Normally 75 with stock 28's .... I have some 26's B1's and Some 27 M+ if you want to try em ....Before I repowered I was running 23 Hydromotives about 68+ ..... I did like the Hydromotives .... Remember Outlaw? (rus) ....he was running 24 Hydromotives and claimed 71-73 ......m

There's no need to worry about lack of bow lift in a 311. The rocker in the hull actually lifts the bow too much with my bravos. A TRS boat will run a little flatter. I'm running 23 Hydros. Attempted to get the stern up with the cleaver style, she's still light in the front.

My Bravo boat didn't like the 24 Hydros (4-blade) I tried. Unresponsive to trim. I'm no naval engineer but I'm guessing the rocker was designed because the TRS boats need it to get the bow up. Why use a stern lifting prop that defeats the design?

I believe you're entirely correct about getting a TRS boat up and light with the rocker. My point was that my Bravo boat puts all the engine weight at the very stern. I don't need all that rocker. My bow is very light so I was looking for some stern lift out of the Hydros. Didn't really notice any stern lift but gained 4-5 mph at cruise (3000 rpm).

With a well tuned engine, I found 25 Mirage props run well. I like to keep the 420's rpm towards the lower side of the factory suggested WOT. 24 Bravo 1's work well too. Both sets of props you are looking at trying should be a good bet.

Thanks guys. Yes this is a TRS boat.

Jon

Hey Jon,

I spoke to Brett at BBLADES and he helped me a lot with some different ideas.

I was able to try different props without buying them until I found the right one.

As Thirdbird said our boats have Bravo drives so it is little harder to compare.

One of the 311s I cruise with has TRS drives with bigger power (approx) 590hp .... he is using 26 pitch Bravos. The boat is working great.

I have 330s with Bravos and I ended up with 24 pitch Revolution 4 by Mercury.

I am very impressed with the overall performance of them. I have picked up 5-6 mph (gps) at 3000 rpm but I lost 1-2 mph (gps) top end.

I couldn't careless about the top end for the simple reason my boat isn't fast with the power I currently have in it. I was more interested in mid range performance of which I gained in a big way .... both fuel and speed.

This happened from Brett's advice. The Revolution is a hybrid of a cleaver style (Hydromotive) and a round ear (Bravo) 4 blade prop.

Good Luck !!!

Jeff