Anyone ever try a chopper prop on an I/O
#3
Platinum Member


Yep.
Tried it on a 19' smallblock speedboat that belonged to a friend. It was a Chaparral VillainII (I think it was a V.2, may have been a regular Villain). Had a 260horse 350 Chev and an Alpha drive.
He had gone to a nitrous setup and the biggest prop he owned was a 23. I had Choppers in 24,26,28, and 32. Obviously we looked at my stack of props and, on they went.
Here's the deal. From a blade configuration standpoint, a Chopper is pretty much a Mirage with no exhaust hub. My 24 was an early Chopper (later referred to as an inline Chopper or small blade Chopper) all the rest were "big" Choppers.
The boat had thru hull exhaust, and it came out of the hole just fine (sluggish cause they were overpitched for the motor when off the juice, but on the couple of holeshots on the ntrous they hooked up nice). Had great bow lift compared to the regular old Quicksilver stainless all-purpose props he had been running. Pulled like a demon with no wild ventilating in the midrange like he had experienced with the grocery prop when on the bottle.
Standard X-dimension, no lower unit mods, just a stock Alpha drive on a family performance type setup.
The Choppers worked well. Was sort of surprising, but I knew they ran great on my outboards.
Wouldn't choose one over a Mirage or LaserII if I were paying retail for a prop, but if you got some laying around and you have thru hull exhaust, give one a try!
I'll be glad to lend one out if somebody wants to try it.
24" small Chopper - hard life - 7.5 out of 10
26" thinned and double cupped - 8.5 out of 10
28" thinned, reshaped, sandblasted trailing edges - 9
32" thinned, satin - 8.5
Currently not using any of them. Not exactly for sale, but I'd lend them out with a deposit.
Tried it on a 19' smallblock speedboat that belonged to a friend. It was a Chaparral VillainII (I think it was a V.2, may have been a regular Villain). Had a 260horse 350 Chev and an Alpha drive.
He had gone to a nitrous setup and the biggest prop he owned was a 23. I had Choppers in 24,26,28, and 32. Obviously we looked at my stack of props and, on they went.
Here's the deal. From a blade configuration standpoint, a Chopper is pretty much a Mirage with no exhaust hub. My 24 was an early Chopper (later referred to as an inline Chopper or small blade Chopper) all the rest were "big" Choppers.
The boat had thru hull exhaust, and it came out of the hole just fine (sluggish cause they were overpitched for the motor when off the juice, but on the couple of holeshots on the ntrous they hooked up nice). Had great bow lift compared to the regular old Quicksilver stainless all-purpose props he had been running. Pulled like a demon with no wild ventilating in the midrange like he had experienced with the grocery prop when on the bottle.
Standard X-dimension, no lower unit mods, just a stock Alpha drive on a family performance type setup.
The Choppers worked well. Was sort of surprising, but I knew they ran great on my outboards.
Wouldn't choose one over a Mirage or LaserII if I were paying retail for a prop, but if you got some laying around and you have thru hull exhaust, give one a try!
I'll be glad to lend one out if somebody wants to try it.
24" small Chopper - hard life - 7.5 out of 10
26" thinned and double cupped - 8.5 out of 10
28" thinned, reshaped, sandblasted trailing edges - 9
32" thinned, satin - 8.5
Currently not using any of them. Not exactly for sale, but I'd lend them out with a deposit.
#4

Had one on an ALPHA SS years ago. Had a high X dimension. Prop shaft was 3" below the pad bottom.
GLASTRON CARLSON CVX - 18 - 500+ HP
The prop would slip on take off and in mid range cruise but that was probably caused by the high X.
But when you stomped on the gas once you were on plane you better have a hold of something because you were going somewhere.
early picture - only about 400 HP then
GLASTRON CARLSON CVX - 18 - 500+ HP
The prop would slip on take off and in mid range cruise but that was probably caused by the high X.
But when you stomped on the gas once you were on plane you better have a hold of something because you were going somewhere.
early picture - only about 400 HP then