4-SPEED Propeller Push In Progress
 

Designed for sportboats and performance center consoles, an array of four-blade wheels will be coming on strong for BBLADES in the New Year, https://www.offshoreonly.com/article...sh-in-progress.

From the OSO home page.

OK, this prop interests me. Who on OSO has tried the 4 speed prop? What hull, engine and what we're your results?
Thanks,
Padraig

How do you shift these...button or lever ? :)

Maybe buttons on the dash like an old Dodge.

Padraig

I tried a set of 28's on my boat, they performed well and seemed to bite better than the Bravo's. My boat is 37' center console with twin Yanmar 6LP's and Bravo X drives. The performance was not significantly better overall to justify buying them. My boat is unique in that being turbo diesel, top speed and acceleration are nearly the same regardless of prop, the peak power is just made at different RPMs. I do get better MPG typically with lower pitch props though.

I own: all with diffuser ring removed.
23 Eco Enertias, pitched to 24.
24 Maximus, cup removed but full diameter.
26 Bravo, cup added.
28 Bravo FS
30 Bravo FS

The Eco's are best all around MPG but tend to blow out easily, 24 Maximus are great up to 40 on MPG but top end sucks, 30 Bravos are fastest.

I have tried 27 Mirage plus, 26 P5x, "labbed" 30 bravos, 29 P5's, and probably a few others I have forgotten about.

My boat seems to like Diameter, small diameter props don't work well. I am still tweaking a few things to try and get the Eco's to work all the time, if that doesn't work I may buy a set of 4-Speeds as the Bravo's work well and the larger blade and diameter of the 4-speed works well on my boat.

I will also say that these props seem very well executed, both motors were very close in fuel burn and EGT at similar RPM which is not that case with any Mercury props, the quality control at Mercury is terrible. I bought the 24 Maximus L&R about 6 months apart and they weren't even close to similar right out of the box from Mercury huge differences in finishing of the blades. Seems almost every set I buy from Mercury needs to go to Fj prop to get matched.

Also I may have a prop addiction problem! :)

We have tried them on almost every hull design imaginable while testing the prototypes for Brett.
Fire away, Ill dig my notes out.

You guys crack me up, never fail. I'm sure you know this, but just to be clear, "4-Speed" is play on "For Speed" and "Four Blade." Maybe Brett Anderson was too clever for his own good with the name. :)

Hope you had a joyful and peaceful Thanksgiving.

I bought one and tested it on my race boat. Out of the box it was almost as fast as my best 5 blade prop. I sent it back for some fine tuning and tested again. Even better but I didn't race it because I ran out of time to do more testing before the worlds. I couldn't afford to gamble on it yet. I do see promise with it. I will have more data in the spring.

Thanks, What hull and power?

Padraig

Would love to see any data you have on a Velocity. If not a VR 1 a 280 would be great.

Padraig

How about on a Donzi 22 Classic. Currently running BBlades 30p Bravo One. Boat could use a little more bowlift. (83-85 mph)

Drive guardian or pressure plate............:grinser010:

You'll lose the porpoise depending on the year of your boat (bottom thickness and drive height)
At least a 009 with a 565 did

I have a lot of seat time in a VR1 with around 830hp...LOVE that boat. Reminds me of my Kryptonite a lot.
We ran it on a 280, required less trim to get it on the pad. This boat is setup a little deep in my opinion but the customer is happy (all that matters). Has one of our 750s in it running low 90s. The nice part is a 30 4 speed got us the same speed as a 32 Bravo 1 with less trim and less rpm. Totally worth a try on your boat, i think the higher X of the VR1 will help it. My Kryptonite loves it...and they're both 28ish feet pad bottom light, fast vees.

Thanks, It sounds as if it carries the bow a little more then the Bravo 1 and has less slip. My VR 1 seems to like bow lift more then my old 280 , so I am thinking this may be good. I am running a stock 28 Bravo 1 now, about 78 MPH @ just under 5200 rpm. Would like a couple of hundred more rpm. Motor dynoed at 564 hp so it should be equivalent to a Mercruiser 525. Trying to decide to lab my 28 or go with the 4 speed.

Padraig

wonder what they would do on my bullet. 725s and deep TRS

I am running a set of 4 speeds 32 pitch on 2006 42 executioner with 525s. They defiantly hook up when on plane well. They run 2mph faster top speed and 2 to 4 mph more cruise speed compared to my 32 bravo ones. But I have a really hard time getting the boat on plain compared to bravo 1s. So bad that I may sell them. They also are running full 200 rpms difference to each other but Bblades said they could fix problems with lab finishing.

Tried a 30 4-speed on my 25 outlaw this past summer. Slip was about 2% lower than my labbed bravo 1 with bblades “Baja recipe”, but still too high @ 21%. For reference a hydromotive p5x was over 19% slip and a full diameter Maximus @ 15% Trim reaction was noticeably better with the 4-speed compared to the bravo 1 and I liked the overall attitude of the boat, I think my boat liked the full length non flared tube, felt like it picked the whole boat up and rode higher. I believe the high slip is a product of the scx lower being too deep believe it or not, and the difference in diameter of the scx bullet and the bravo style props creating an air pocket in front on the blades. I might give this prop another try after I get the drive setup square away. This prop seems to me like a 4 blade equivalent to a Maximus in that they both bite really hard.

Anyone have experience with them and extension boxes? I'm ready to ditch my 5 blades, would be nice to not sacrifice the handling and gain some performance. While not being as harsh on my drives.

Check and make sure the vent plugs are in.

I verified this with the owner of the Donzi and am awaiting further impressions. Johnny Saris' notes seem to be spot on. There may be a flood of used Bravo Ones available this spring!

I tried a set of 28s one afternoon when johnny saris came to town to goof off. I was very impressed .

Padraig, Try the new 4 speed compared to your stock Bravo 28p thru Blades prop test program. Have the best of the two labbed. I'm tempted to try one this summer and compare it to my labbed Bravo 28/30p.

I don't think the VR1 and My Kryptonite are all that different setup wise (I know, different pad, I have a step, etc) but all in all they're light, purpose built, High X, fast vee bottoms. They certainly handle similar. I'm running a stock 30 4-Speed with an Imco lower. 5800 (1.5 gears) gets me 100mph on the dot. 785hp. I have a 32 B1 Brett made me I think all in all might be 1 or so MPH faster at WOT....BUT...with the drive height as aggressive as I have it, the boat didn't really work until 70 or so. It wandered around, sneezed a lot, and was slow in the midrange. The 4-Speed has none of that. The bow is up all the time with neutral trim, it accelerates like a bat out of hell, cruises 45-50mph at 3000 and leaps on plane with no issues.

We're Whippling a new 8.2 package in a 22 this winter, come spring you can bet on the first wheel we try!

I have a1997 29 Fountain single step with a 540 BBC that makes 700 HP @ 5800 675 TRQ.@ 4800. It has a Scx upper with a -2 1.5 SC lower with a Drive Guardian. My initial thoughts were to try a 27 P5X as a baseline. I wonder if this new 4-speed prop would work as well as a 5 blade prop. I want a prop that has a good midrange, gets out of the hole with a full tank of fuel, and has good stability at top speed.

I tried these props on my 353 Fastech. In fact, the exact props that are on the Saris Racing boat (thanks Jason). My boat is a bit bigger and heavier with more power, but I think also with a deeper X. I could not get on plane at all. I'm guessing it was because of the twin step design of my hull. Too much aeration. Johnny can certainly comment from here, but be aware. I'm sure they're great props for straight bottom or even single step hull as you can see from the above, but for me, they were a no go. FYI...

Funny story about that.


The vent plugs were out. Couldn't get my boat on plane a few days later either. Put them back in, bingo. They're worth another shot.

The single engine fountains usually prefer a left handed prop too, keep that in mind. Sounds like a nice rig!

I looked at this prop last spring but decided on a B1 labbed 26p.
Any idea on how it would do on my Adrenaline V24 ?

Have ran OB skaters for 20 years, always running Mercury 3 blade cleavers, without an issue. Recently tried the Blades and have had nothing but issues with them. They perform well, but the manufacturing process is off. Every set has cracked resulting in down time and expensive repairs.

How the hell did we miss that??

Let's try them again in the spring!

Rumor has it that the next prop series Brett plans to release will be named 4-Play

Apex, I'm running Bravo 30Ps on my 353 that Brett labbed and cut the rings on 2 years ago.
I was thinking about testing a pair of the 4-Speeds, do you think they will require the same treatment for a valid comparison?
Brett said we still have a little too much slip with the current wheels but they're the best running props on this boat I've had thus far.

Joe - Johnny Saris is far more qualified than I am to answer this question. He knows my boat well and is also a distributor for those 4-Speeds. Let's hear what he has to say on this, but if I remember correctly, the 4-Speeds did not have rings.

I will tell you that I went back and forth with Brett on 32 Bravos several times. While I liked how the boat carried itself, they had had too much slip and they were actually slower than my Maximus props. I sent the Maximus back to BBlades over the winter after a long talk with Brett at the Miami Boat Show and he did some work on them, which in effect allowed them to carry the bow more. Now the Maximus feel like the Bravos, but are more efficient. Im pretty happy right now.

I haven't tried the 4-Speeds again with the plugs in, but will probably do so in a few weeks.