testing new 5 blades
 

I just picked up a pair of the new hydromotive 5 blades for testing. They sure are pretty. Has any one else tested them out yet?

I'll post the results tomorrow.

Maximus,
Jay Pilini at Spectre has done some testing with them with great results:cool:

big #'s
 

Yeah, I heard Zipp got 113-114 with 500's I'll keep my fingers crossed I'm at 110-111 right now (running light) 106-108 (loaded).

would like to try 32 5 blades. Have 1high ass x. will pay to borrow and can be trusted with your hardware. I have bought and sold here, can give references

Maximus,

We've been running them on the F-275 FOUNTAIN GMC since mid season 2001. Have run from 29 pitch to 32, various leading edge changes. Tremendous stability and a very low slip factor. Also ran Herring 5 blades, both were quite similar in speed, handling etc. Price difference favored the Q-5s. Ours are NOT labbed. If you're in Fort Myers for the races stop by, we've got several sets in various stages of testing, eg: leading edge, different cup, etc.
I tested them on my pleasure boat and had good results. Subsequently bought a couple of sets thru Ben Robertson. Now using their 31" Q-5 with 1.35 ratios. The F-2 boat is a 35 canopied Fountain. The pleasure boat is 43 feet, app. 13,500 pounds. Slip factor is less than 6% on the F-2 boat and somewhere near 9% on the pleasure boat.

Take care, good luck.

Steve

Jeff,

Give Ben Robertson a call at the Fountain factory, or stop by in Fort Myers at the races with your boat and you can try a couple of different sets. No charge.

Steve

Thanks Steve, Ben and I know each other, I will. Sorry I missed your presentation in Sarasota. Dennis Philon (broker) asked me if I knew you. I Look forward to it in Ft. Myers in F-2. Mr. Technology F-2, Jeff Dean- Realtor

results!!
 

Here they are.

Baseline: 36 Spectre Poker Run (7200lbs dry)/ 500efi's /XR 1.35)/Merc lowers/hydro nosecones

Bravo one 15 1/4 x 34 -4 blade

Fuel: 50 gal
Salt water / med humidity/ 72 deg

Top speed -111 @ 5000 rpm (trimmed out- on the edge)
cruise -91.5 @ 4100rpm feels good
Acceleration- good
bow lift - high
Slow to plane
True running- 1-2.5 ft- boat is a little "flighty" but fast
finish- avg



Hydromotive 15 1/4 x 31 - 5 blade

Fuel 90 gal
Salt water/high humidity/ 85 deg

Top speed 108 @ 5250 ( liked med trim best)
cruise - 89 @ 4100 ( very stable)
Acceleration- good
bow lift - low
Plane- faster than B1's
True running- 1-3's- very stable (felt 15 feet wide), boat accelerated very well in chop. Should be a great all around race prop. Point and shoot!
finish- polished
Notes- man these props look cool on the boat!

Testing 5 blade Herring's tomorrow.

MAXIMUS


PS. Thanks for the offer and info STEVEDAVID I might take you up on that. I also found them to be very stable. lets see how the herrings do, then I try labe finished Brave ones.

ANYBODY OUT THERE TRY THESE NEW 5 BLADE DEALS ON A SINGLE ENGINE CAT...WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE RESULTS

Who do you know in order to get a set of Herring's to test......:rolleyes:
I talked to him at the Miami Boat Show and every other word had $dollar$ signs with them

The Hydro's didn't do what you thought they would ..... did they?

WEELLLLLLLL...
 

I wasn't sure what to expect. I had that little hope (everyone does) that my top end cruise and acceleration were all going up 5 points. I know thats not realistic and the prop game is a give and take battle.

So now my mind starts to think ...Was it the humidity ..weight...pitch. after all they were 31's maybe 32-33 is the trick...Lab?? All the questions.

Tommorow is Herring day. What if they give me every thing I'm asking for? Big problem .....I'll have to order a pair! cause I won't be able sleep knowing that (free) speed is there.

Incognito. I think they might work well (very stable). All you can do is try.

Maximus,

A very good friend of mine just got some from Fountain three weeks ago and they are great. He has a 2002 Fountain Lightning with 575 sc's. It came with 30 Pitch 4-blades from the factory. He was not happy with top end. It was running high 80's. They traded him some labbed 32 pitch 4-blades which got him into the low 90's, but one big problem, it was a real ***** to get on plane. With a full load of fuel and six people, all of us had to get in the front of the cuddy and the boat shook like a son-of-a-*****.

I was over at his place last weekend and he was grinning from ear to ear. They traded him with boot of course for the 5 blades and the boat has never run better. The speedo it reading 94 MPH and it hops up on plane easy. Fountain has worked him him very well to help get this boat dailed in.

The boat is named "Heat Lightning", on Lake Norman.

Good Luck

Hi Friends,

Troutly, the slip factor on the Bravos was almost double on the pleasure boat (+20%) (as compared to the Q-5s.) That's with a conservative X dimension and pusing over 13,500 pounds. The Bravos on the Fountain race boat are pushing less than 7,800 pounds and slip is closer to 10% with a fairly high X dimension. Weight increases slip in these particular tests.

The Q-5's get on plane instantly with little to no cavitation on the race boat, and no cavitation at all on the pleasure boat. The Q-5 can be 2 inches smaller in pitch and deliver the same top end at the same RPM as the larger Bravo (Hence the impact of reduced slip). Of interest, cruise speed is faster (in these tests) with the Q-5 at the same RPM when compared to the Bravo 4 blades.

As to price, I believe retail on the Q-5 is about $1,100 (please check with Ben Robertson to be sure) while the Herring is closer to $1,600 +/-. (Contact Jim or Bob Herring for verification) The Herring does arrive labbed and it displays beautiful workmanship. The Q-5 arrives polished and also exhibits fine workmanship, but is not labbed.

Both the Q-5 and the Herring give the boat greater lateral stability and tend to keep the bow level in bigger water as compared to the 4 blade Bravo. We find with the race boat that we can maintain forward speed better with the 5 blades than with 4 blades. Just drop the tabs a hint and although you'll still get air in the right conditions, it's level with a good recovery and very little loss in speed.
BTW, I believe the standard Q-5 is a 15.50 diameter while the Bravo is 15.25. That's only 1/8th. of an inch per blade, but that's equivalent to 1/8 inch further bite for the 5 blade. This in part would account for the lower slip of the 5 blade Q-5 and the lower bow lift.

To be fair to Merc, I understand they are developing a 5 blade (and reportedly 6 blades) and they may in fact turn out just as effective as the Hydromotive or Herring products. Time will tell.

MAXIMUS: I noticed that the temperature on your Q-5 test was about 13 degrees warmer than with the Bravo prop, or roughly a 20% increase in ambient temp. I'm assuming the water temp was also a bit warmer. That alone would make up the 3 MPH difference you saw between the props.

Either way, your boat is set up very well! Have a ball, and be safe.

Again, if any of you have your boats at the Fort Myers race and want to test the Q-5's, contact Ben Robertson at Fountain and he'll do his best to have what you need. As to testing Herring props, Jim was at the Miami race and very willing to help where possible. Call him in advance of whatever race you can make and possibly he'll have something for you to test.

Take care,

Steve

More Humid too!
 

Steve,

Enviromental aspects of this test were all around more demanding than when testing the b1's and you are correct the water temp was warmer. And I apoligize, I did not realize the Q5's were 15.5.

You are dead on with this description " we can mantain forward speed better" I also found the boat much less likely to break loose. It was almost as if I could have left the throttles jammed and put both hands on the wheel.

Have you ever thrown a blade with labbed props. I have a little fear of running labs because of the "horrer stories" of prop failure and ensuing damage,

I'll post my next results tonight.

note: check your private mail

Hi Maximus,

I share your fear of labbing. While on one hand you're pretty much assured of greater speed, you're also assured of shortening prop life. One small hit from debris and the prop is toast. Larger hit by debris and the blown prop could take out the inners of the drive thru the vibration.

The Q-5's and the Herring both come thinner than the std. Bravo. Thus labbing a Bravo is less risky than labbing a Q-5. The Herring is delivered with a lab finish and is a pretty stout prop. If you have a Bravo 4 blade and a Q-5 in front of you, measure the blade thickness at various points, start at the hub, and then each 1/4 inch. all the way to the tip. I think you'll find the Q-5 thinner throughout the measurement. (when compared to a non labbed Bravo) If in fact the Q-5 you're testing is as thick as the std. Bravoprop, then some thinning might not harm you. It's that "some" that gets you in trouble??

Have fun today testing your props. Whatever speed you get, just think how blessed you are to have the opportunity to be out in a spectacular boat having a ball :)

Steve

Maximus, Will you be testing 33" H5B props?

Your testing is interesting vs. the 34"B1 and 31"H5B.

WOT slip decreased from 7.78% to 5.54% but speed went down 3 mph.
4100rpm slip decreased from 6.64% to 0.02%!! but speed decreased 2.5 mph.

You need the 33"!

It's not much but all 4 Bravo 1 I have had are closer to 15.1" to 15.125"

just to be sure
 

I put the Bravo1 -4 blades back on today just to refresh my memory before running the Herrings. Wow. they are fast.. boat is loose but very quick I ran a hundred in two foot gulf chop and she felt great. Tommorow I'll post the Herring results.

Cobra Marty- I think the water temp/humidity/ air temp may have skewed my results. what do you think? After tommorrows test I'm going to do an OSO round table with you guys to decide what our next move is.

MikeHTM - interesting, more to think about

Later

I found them!!!
 

Baseline: 36 Spectre Poker Run (7200lbs dry)/ 500efi's /XR (1.35)/Merc lowers hydromotive nosecones

Herring 15 1/4 x 32 - 5 blade

Fuel 140 gal
Salt water/med humid/87 deg

Top speed -108 (more there) @5100
Cruise 89 @ 4100 (Solid as a rock)
Acceleration - Fantastic!!!!!
Bow lift - Med
plane- Very good (best of three)
True running - Wow!! these thing rock! Boat felt precise and fast.
finish- lab brush
Notes - sharp as a razor, High quality workmanship

Holy s#%t. My boat actually felt like a different machine. The acceleration was very positive. the boat flew straight and level. I guess in this instance you get what you pay for ...cause these puppies ain't cheap!!!! This is prop Heaven!



Maximus



Previous tests:

Bravo one 15 1/4 x 34 -4 blade

Fuel: 50 gal
Salt water / med humidity/ 72 deg

Top speed -111 @ 5000 rpm (trimmed out- on the edge)
cruise -91.5 @ 4100rpm feels good
Acceleration- good
bow lift - high
Slow to plane
True running- 1-2.5 ft- boat is a little "flighty" but fast
finish- avg

Hydromotive 15 1/2 x 31 - 5 blade

Fuel 90 gal
Salt water/high humidity/ 85 deg

Top speed 108 @ 5250 ( liked med trim best)
cruise - 89 @ 4100 ( very stable)
Acceleration- good
bow lift - low
Plane- faster than B1's
True running- 1-3's- very stable (felt 15 feet wide), boat accelerated very well in chop. Should be a great all around race prop. Point and shoot!
finish- polished
Notes- man these props look cool on the boat!


Maximus

Noticed you were carrying an extra 500lbs.+of fuel over the Bravo test, even more impressive!
Well!!!,.......which ones are stayin' on???

Hey maximus, great post, very informative, I've tested alot of props, and found the bravo 30P to work best for me on my 32, but this was before the 5 blades were out. Free speed without digging into the motors is always a good thing!! My Hull runs really flat, and for me, I've found the best results with a prop that gave maximum bow lift. The hydromotives\4 blades wouldn't get me on plane at all, and when I finally did get on plane the top end was not as good for me. But every boat needs it's own fine tuning and testing. I need to lab mine, but we have very low water here and that is keeping me from doing it. Thanks for the info on bow lift and feel on the new 5 blades from both companys, it give's me more to think about. The herring sounds like a great prop, and The bow lift is encouraging. Do you have the new Merc electronic fuel and engine management system that displays in gallons as opposed to a simple fuel guage? I would have liked to see all tests done at the same fuel levels, but even without the apples to apples testing, the results seem to speak for themselves. Thanks again for this post.;)

Baja Boss , what size fountain does he have ?

Maximus -- now you will have to take time and answer everyone's questions. My 1st question is still the same as before. How and where did aquire a set pf Herring's to try. 2nd: I noticed that you went faster with Bravo 34's but slower out of the hole, is this the reason you didn't talk them up as much. I myself have tried even Merc Cleavers for the outboards on my cat and went the fastest, but for ever than a day out of the hole


Advantage_Rob Now that the Herring's got your attention...wait until you hear the price
I also have tried the Hydro's...up and down the ptich line with the help pf Tom at Hydro Motive. No luck with any of them

I know, they are up there, more for one than my two bravo's cost!! I was refering to my v-hull with the bravos working best. On my cat I tried a few and 30 x 14.5 3 blade merc lab cleavers are the one, as long as you're not in a hurry to get on plane, and work the sticks from blowing out, but top end is best there, and we all know that's where cats are king!!!

testing
 

Enticer- The manufacturer was testing a set for themselves and since my boat is just off the line and still being dialed in they allowed me to run them for test data. (we took very very good care of them)

As for the Bravo 1's they performed very well. they were a little weak getting on plane but I have a very high x-factor ( no fault of the prop). In fact performance wise th B1's were on par with the others at half (or less than that) the price.

Bottom line is Mercury builds a great product thats very hard to beat both price and performance wise. And that's good for us...the average HP boaters

Clackster- Hi Honey... your going to love your new mothers day presents!!!!!! sliiiiice!

Adv Rob. We also have shallow water here and that is my fear when buying a pair of props that cost almost $4000 . I'm always careful but....anything can happen (manatee). I found a little hairline somthing or other on my B1's... Merc replaced it no questions.

Never tried cleavers so I can't comment

I want to thank everyone who gave me advice and thoughts through this short round of testing. I sincerely appreciate it.

Maximus

FROM ME....you are quite welcome...although I did not have much to offer
YOU ARE THE ONE I am thanking....you took the time to take numbers and readings WHILE trying props. I did that on 3 sets of props that Bob Leach sent to me from Eliminator to try on my boat. It sounds nice until you try to take some time out to do it........it's a real pain in the ass. Especially trying to do readings and speed and temperature and all.....in the frickin river. 90+ mph does not leave much room for error.....but that is the closest water with out going to Lake Erie.
I feel you pain with (now 4750.00 for 2 props) the price Herring props
Thanks Again

...........
 

.................gulp! $4750.

is it hot in here?

M