Wally
with the 4 blades you don't blow out on fast sharp turns.the boat comes out of the water
quick no matter how many people on the boat and you wont blow out on hard acceleration.
I worked with the tabs and the trim on the out drives but I couldn't get the boat to stop
chine walking I called PQ and spoke with Rick G and he also recommended 4 blades.
I went with 26 pitch 4 blades that brought the rpms down from 4600 to 4450 . I can also keep the boat on plane at much slower speeds .
If you're OK with loosing 1 mph at top end I think you will like the 4 blades better.

Thanks for the info, might have to give em a try...

I didn't experience that at all running labbed 28 P 4 blades. I actually picked up efficiency on cruise also. I'm cruising 40mph at 2700rpm, 50mph at 32-3300 and 61-62 at 4000. I didn't experience any downside at all, other than paying for them. Maybe it depends on the application.

I agree with you though, if you loose at the cruise speed it wouldn't be worth it.

On what do you get out of 4 blades - generally less prop slippage.

Macklin
I'm with you after hearing about 5 blades I aslo want to try them.
They say it lefts the bow and that is what I need.

Less slippage more stress on the lower unit - sooner or later I can just see you rebuilding those drives - right about the same time you are doing that upper end refresh

Ahh what the heck, we don't have anything to do in the winter anyway, and you have that nice heated storage.

MACKLIN

Tell me more about your set up. I have a 99 Viper with HP 500's and bravo's labed. I get great hole shot , good midrange but only 76/77 top end at 5100/5200 rpm. Lots of slip. (25%)
I am told the 5 blades will put out more speed but don't have any info from a real test.
What are you running .

Ya what she said

I would also like to know what performnce you are getting out of them

Mine is exactly the same as Vyper340's....just different color. HO's running new stock 28 Bravos. That is what the factory sent on the boat. I had the original ones labbed and lost the 5 mph mentioned above. I did a bunch of prop testing last spring before ordering my new Bravos. The other labbed props I ran, 29 Hydros (hydro labbed) and 30 Bravos (merc labbed), all ran close to 5 mph less at 3500 which is my favorite cruise speed. I am now back to 50 mph at 3500 and 60 at 4000. Sure they are not as fast as the labbed props, but like I said, I spend less than 1% of my seat time at WOT.

That said, I have learned much from Throttle Up during all my testing. The weight of the boat plays into this. The heavier the boat, the more a labbed (thinner) prop blade will flex under load. Thus increasing slippage at cruise.

I have the same results as MACKLIN. I drop 3-4 MPH in the 3-3500 range. I pick-up 2-3 after about 4600 - 5200 with the labs, net I only realize the gains in this range. I went back to my stockers. Remember, they typically remove a lot of cup when labbing, the cup is what is providing the lower-end cruise. My slip is about 12%

New pics for the central IL PQ guys.

Not a PQ though http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...=1#post1181336

Rich - that is going to be a nice sun pad over those staggered engines. Good place to put my Xmas present this year