Stock prop on 27 Fever
 

Have two props for my 27 fever, one 26 Hydromotive and a sterndriver 24, never heard of it before. Motor is stock, test report says a 24, I would assume a Hydro, not sure how it ended up with the 26? Is a Hydromotive 24 what they would have run stock in those days? Thanks

A 97 stock 502 Mag with a 1.50 drive would have been a stock 24 Hydro from the factory. At least the one I used run around with did

In 95/96, many came stock with Mach Sterndriver props. Your's might have been early 97 or late 96 and they still had a bunch of Mach props at the factory. They switched to Hydromotive for a while (1997 - 2000/2001-ish), and then went to Bravo 1's partly (mostly??) when Brunswick (Mercury) held a majority of Fountain's ownership/debt and also because as Fountain raised the X higher and higher, the Hydromotive Q-IV props started losing their bite, especially when cornering. The Hydro Q-IV props are semi-cleaver props whereas the Mach and Bravo 1's are round ear props and hold their bite better with higher X. Hydro later came out with a more round ear prop to compete with the Bravo 1 props.

bob t, my boat is a early 97, Jan. 97, anyway is the Mach a good prop? Bought the boat end of last season and haven't had any real run time on it, figured that if i could pick up a 24 Hydro over the winter I would be better off, pretty sure I don't have the power to turn the 26, prior owner said it was slow out of the hole, and always ran the Mach, but I assume it is to much prop. Should the boat run faster with the 24 Hydro or the Mach?

From what I know, the Mach props are ok ... not great, but not bad, either. Our 96 27 Fever with HP500 left the factory with 26P LH Mach. Reggie report says 75.2 mph at factory. With a labbed 27P Hydro Q-IV that boat ran 76 -77 mph, but chine walked rather bad at WOT. My friend now owns that boat and with the Mach prop, it still runs 73-ish mph with 400 hours on the engine (valve springs done at ~270 hrs). He found some rocks with the Hydro and chunked a couple of the blades. Our 2000 29 Fever with 500 EFI left factory with 24P LH Hydro Q-IV and Reggie report showed 74.7 mph at factory. We tried a 25P Hydro on that boat and it ran almost same speed, but struggled to get on plane, so we put the 24P back on it. I think your 26P hydro will be too much for your boat if it is stock power. The Hydo Q-IV props lift the stern a lot more than the round ear props. We put a hydro on my friends straight hull 1991 27 Fever (running 509 with blower ~ 600 hp) and it lifted the stern too much - the boat porpoised at WOT, which is something it never did with any other prop, and we tried a lot of props on that boat.

Thanks, I think I'll be looking for a 24 Hydromotive, I am interested to try a couple different props

props
 

I have a Hydro for sale in mint condition and a labbed Bravo 1 also.. send a note to [email protected] and I will forward pics. Dont come here much as I sold my Fountain..

I'd say the B1 in a 24" or 26", depending on what rpms you are spinning now. The 27 and 29 like some round ear to them. The B1s are not "true" round ears like the Sterndriver, they do have more bowlift than a Q-IV but still a pretty flat lift. It's been a long time since Fountain stopped using the Hydros, the only thing now a days are the Herings for all out speed setup. Just because they ran those props back then, does not mean there are not better options today, just look at the porpoising and blow out in turns issues bob t is speaking of with the Hydro. The latter is nothing new on the Fountains with Hydros.

Good luck with it.

Thanks, did end up picking up a 24 Hydro pretty cheap, so I'll try it and see how it does. May be looking for a B1 to try when the season comes around

Do you still have that 26 Mach around? Mine came apart (never hit anything just came apart!) and I am in need of another one as it is part of a set. Is this one LH? Let me know if you are wanting to part with it and what you would like for it.

According to the prop experts who advertise here, the hydro is too much stern lift, and the 27 Fountians prefer a 3 blade prop due to this fact. It was recommended to me to use a 25p Mirage Plus for best top end. I am running a 23 QIV and have incredible holeshot and 70mph at 5,000rpm on stock 502 MAGMPI

In my experience, a Hyrdo provides the best performance on my boat. Hole shot is a bit slow but I'm not participating in a drag race. My boat comes on plane with no issues and once on top the Hydro is hands down the best prop for running. It will blow out on a hard, slow corner occasionally but I can deal with that. Bravo1 is probably the best all-around and everyone's taste and preference is unique.

If anyone needs one I have a 23P LH Hydro I would part with.

Stepped hull 27's and 29's up to about 2000, prior to when they changed them to the "new" style with the windshield/anchor locker/built in ladder, work very good with Hydro Q-IV props. Blowout can be minimized by having a diffuser ring added to the prop, if it really bothers you. As they increased the X dim, the Hydros' started to not work as good, until it got so high that there were problems just getting on plane with the Hydro Q-IV's. The Bravo 1 props solved that probem! Hydro started making a round ear prop to compete with the B1 props, too. Never really heard of anyone using a 3 blade on the mid/late 90's stepped hulls. My friend's 1991 came with a 3 blade, but after adding ~ 200 hp and a 1.36 drive, we found that a merc Rev 4 prop worked the best on his boat.