labbed props....worth the money???
 

I have been chasing a very minor cavitation problem that comes and goes on my 90 pq 290 enticer. I have been working with Brett @ bblades about this issue. It sounds like having them labbed is a good choise for "all around" performance out of them. Here is my question. Is it worth the money having both of them labbed???About $800 worth. Keep in mind i am a weekend pleasure boater, I go out with the family, very rairly run w/o, im not out racing anyone and don't have anything to prove. From what he tells me, there are all pros with having this done, but for what i do is it worth the price? He also said it would help with the overall performance through the whole spectrum....balancing, smoothness, easier and quicker planing, maybe increase speed and slightly increase rpm..It all sounds good...Has anyone done this and what is the overall outcome. I am not trying to squeeze every mph out of this thing. It is stock everything...454 330hp, bravo 1 drive, stock gearing. The boat runs and handles great, but maybe having this done, it will make a big overall difference...from what is tells me??

I was just reading the post about the thrown blade from a prop that was labbed and everyone seems to agree that labbed props arn't as strong?? Now, Im not spinning the r's that you all are and not the hp either..might be something to concider. Im sure some will chime in and leave their 2cents.

Lab propellers work great for that little more performance when running high power and spinning them at higher RPM's for what you got going on save your cash for other things you might need. When are you have problems what rpm? is it planing out maybe your not triming down all the time and triming to fast on planning out.

little more performance,,,,lots of cuts and scars and several cracked blades,,,,I will never have another prop thinned again

I've seen many great props "ruined" by people letting guys talk them into having the props "labbed". BIG waste of prop and money.

The guys who are breaking props have high X dimensions. Means their prop ears are surfacing or coming out of the water while on plane. This loads and unloads the blades each time they break the surface and re-enter. Means alot of flexing, like bending a piece of metal back and forth. Sooner or later it's gonna break. I break em labbed or not.
Now if the prop stays submerged, it only loads, flexes one way and stays... for the most part.
Will yours break if you do? Nobody will want to answer that one. Guessin, the PQ drive is pretty deep, like the nose of your drive is 6 to 8 inches under the bottom of the boat when trimmed level, this would keep the prop submerged if so.
If you do it, do both. You will notice it and it'll feel good. I hear nothing but good about Bblades.
My .02

If you're not sufacing the prop, blades will live longer. When thinning the blades to half the original thickness, you are left with 10-15% of the original strenght, not 50% as some think.
Labbing is not necessarily about thinning blades. It is about customizing the prop to your needs. If you want to keep the original blade thickness, it is possible. Of course you won't get the speed increase from the thinner blades. Pitch, rake, cup, diameter, balance, ect can still be adjusted. You can also choose to thin the blades less ect. It's a custom process.

Wether or not it's worth the money, is a somewhat subjective opinion, every boat is different and some respond more to labbed props than others. I like it, but that's me.

"labbed" yes,,,,,thinned,,,,no !!!

also,,,,sharpen the trailing edge to help the water come off clean

ive had Brett @bblades do several for me , does exactly what he says its gonna do everytime , i think its worth it , but again every boat is different

No...on small horsepower boats I think it's a waste of money and time. I wasted tons of effort trying to make my old 496HO Nordic into something it was not. What a pain in the ass, the only thing it got me was a giant headache and lower performance. Three props later and money lost the best prop was a stock balanced 24p for that boat. Never again.