Best round ear
 

Any knoledgable pep's know which stock prop has the best bow lifting effect out of the box to start with? Bravo 1 currently used.

Re: Best round ear
 

The Mirage Plus will carry the bow on your Superboat better than the B1. It will also loose some mid range cruise speed however.

Then there are mods that can increase bow lift even more. we have also done some interesting things with choppers for top end light load applications. Even with Bravo drives.

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People on this board will probably think I'm crazy (especially the prop pros) but here goes anyway. I have found the best bow lifting prop to be a Mach Sterndriver. I have used them for many years on different boats and still find myself choosing them over others. I run a 24 Outlaw and have compared the Mach to a Bravo1 and a Revolution. All of the props performed very similar but the Mach carried the bow higher. I have friends with boats that tend to plow the water and some of them will not even try one of my Machs when I offer. I guess its because of the elephant ear "non aggressive" look they sport.

I re-powered my boat last summer and I let a friend with a 25 Outlaw use my favorite Mach Sterndriver 24p that I was not going to need any longer. I finally got back on the water and he motioned me over to him and asked what I wanted for the prop. He gave me my asking price and said that he would have paid more because he had never used a prop that worked that well on his boat.


In my opinion, It is to bad that this company is not in business any longer.

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I thought I remember the Mirage Plus working well on my old boat. We need a published prop test. Know of any with current props on the market?

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I used a Mach Patriot for awhile on my cat, but the Bravo1 was a little better. I bet that Sterndriver would do what you say.

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I have run both a Mirage+ and Bravo1 on my Superboat.
Yes, the Mirage+ will carry the bow with less trim and is 1-2mph faster top end.
However, my boat handles far better in all water condition, especially the rough, with the 4 blade.
Are there other box stock 4 blade props that give better bow lift than a B1?
Or is it best to have a B1 "Labbed" for more bow lift?
Thanks,

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Is that a 4 blade prop?
I'd love to try one if so.
Anyone got a 27p RH for sale?

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Yes it's a 4blade, round ear. Try Teague Marine. I think he has some left over. Thinner blades, but will work good with your HP I'm sure. I cracked a blade with 700HP.

LINK http://teaguecustommarine.com/2002/catalog/128_pg.html

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For what it is worth , I have a few clients running the Hydro P5-X propellers. Many with big power.

Julie

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Yes Julie,
Jcap loves the P5-X on his 30' Superboat and OH-Zone is working with you to dial in his 30' Super.
I have also spoken with T-Mone about the P5-X on his 24' Pantera which is basically the same boat as mine.
I just can't get myself to spend the $$ for one...

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I checked with Teague and they do have some Machs left.
So what to try? ø14.5x28p or ø15x28p
My 502mag maxes out at 4800rpm with a 28p Bravo 1...

One other question:
Since these props are no longer manufactured, can they still be repaired properly? or Modified if necessary?

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No problem with repairing damage. If you crack a blade it may be to thin to repair successfully. When mine cracked it actually tweaked the blade due to stress relief.

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How much are the Mach's?

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$300...

Should I buy one? If so what diameter; ø14.5 or 15.0?

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Does Hydromotive still make the "Turbo"? It had a big yellow sticker on the hub...I have a set of 21 pitch with big cupped ears that pulled a great hole shot...and good top ender too...price was a couple hundred under the Merc Mirage too.


http://www.hydromotive.com/int_H6.html

Check out the site..they have offshore sound clips that sound nice.. :drink:

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Turbo propellers is still in business. They are made by Precision Propellers. Turbo's web site is

http://www.turbo-props.com/

Matt

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I talk to the local "prop experts" here in CT this afternoon, Hale Propeller.
Anyway, the fellow I talked to told me that the Mach props are of questionable quality. He has seen a few loose blades and the result is not pretty... :eek:
Hale Prop told me that there are other manufactures that have 4 blade round ear geometry props that may work well on my boat.
Turbo and PowerTech were the two that he mentioned.
I did have a set of 3 blade Turbo Vectors on my 28' Cig that did work well so I checked out Turbo first. The biggest 4 blade they make is 14.25x26, too small for me or Faster... :rolleyes:
Then I checked the PowerTech web-page. They do have a 15.25x27p 4 blade round ear that may work for me. Nothing bigger than that for Faster though...
Anyone have experience with PowerTech?

Re: Best round ear
 

I was Prez of Cougar (USA) in the day when a twin engined class 1 cat at 100 mph would not stay on plane when they blew an engine. They just slowly settled and dropped off plane. When Cougar went back to England (swings like a pendulum do), I went to work for Cigarette. They had some Radice (ruh-dee-chee) two-blade, "elephant-ear" props that get the same catamaran on plane from a standing start on one engine! Not as fast on top end, but their low end thrust was phenomenal.

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We work with Powertech quite a bit. They have a great selection of props for a wide variety of boats. Everything from a stainless 4 blade prop for a 25 hp Mercury and up.

They make a prop called the Offshore 4 which is a true 15 1/4" diameter 4 blade prop. It is available in pitches from about 15 up to 27 ( I think). What I like about Powertech is that they are one of the few after market prop manufacturers who own their own foundry, actually 2 of them.

We have not worked with Powertech props on high performance boats. If you have any questions give us a call.

Matt

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Yes Matt, Powertech may be another good option for us...

I have e-mailed back and forth with Marcus at Powertech.
They have up to 28p on there ø15.25 4 blade props and 2 blade shapes that may give better bow lift than a B1.

Check this one out...

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They sent us one of those to test with. The test prop they sent us had the small hub. We didnt have any customers at the time with a small shaft to test it.

They make MANY different styles of props. They are great to work with.

Matt

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Prop looks nice but it also looks like less blade surface area than B'1's. Maybe more rake?

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Faster,
PowerTech does make a 4 blade prop with blade geometry similar to a Merc Mirage round ear. The one in the picture is a hybrid of that.
I told Marcus that we want bow lift and he explaind to me that 4 blade props give natural stern lift.
They have developed this blade that has been clipped to decrease stern lift and has more cup to make up for the less blade area.

Matt, you got anyone that want's to be the ginneypig?
I would, but it's snowing up here in the north land... :eek:

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Interesting to say the least. Demo program? I know three blades are faster in most cases. I wonder how a 95mph Superboat would handle with a three blade.

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Faster,
Marcus at Powertech told me they sell most of there props through dealers so I have no idea about a demo program.
28p is as big as they go; is that big enough for your boat?
Marcus did tell me that I should drop down to a 27p if I'm running a 28p Bravo 1.
Throttle up is a dealer; Matt, Julie can you get one to try???

As far as a three blade on your Y2K, I do remember Jcap saying that his boat was vary unstable at high speed with a 3 blade. Maybe, ask Fasteddie?
Zuperboat has run 3 blade props on his Speedmaster, but that is a different animal...

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28 may work. If not I could always bump up the rev limiter to 6200 instead of 6000. My engine is still building power past 6000 anyway. I wonder what rpm my motor will take...

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The turbo props I had for a heavy V-bottom got that thing up and out fast...better than Mirages.

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Hey Faster,
I was looking through some old pictures and I stumbled accross this picture.
This is a prop that Zuper had vary good results with on his boat. I know that he tried to buy it but it was one of a pair and the owner would not give them up. Last I new Zuper was looking to have someone duplicate it.
The PowerTech has a similar blade shape. Hmmmmm...

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Pat, that is a stern lifting design. I think Mike still has that one on his boat. When I was there last summer, he said it worked good but thought a Hydromotive would do better. Actually that cleaver may work good on a azz heavy twin engine boat better.

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Hey, check out the latest PowerBoat Mag! I just got it today and merc has a new prop comming out with thinner blades made from a new material. With stronger material they will have a increase in RAKE and thinner blades. Within six months all merc props will be made from this X7 material. Basically 2 mph increase due to the thinner blade capabillity. Bsically the same idea Mach had but the SS material would not withsatnd the thinner blade configuration.

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I can check with Powertech about a loaner. I speak with the owner regularly and I will see what can be worked out.

How about a trip down here to try the prop out? It's great boating weather now. In the 70's, great for a big top end speed number.

Matt

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That would be great if you could get a demo 28. The weather here today was 72! :drink:

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Pat I do remember that prop. It had the front edge chopped and cupped. They called it a texas cut. It was a 17 3/4 by 30. The best by far for me to date with the speedmaster. If the power remains the same im looking to duplicate it . As for stability the more blades the more stability at high speed. I think with the front cut straight you get less stern lift and still have the benifit and stability of a 4 blade. For me its doesnt make a difference the blades are so big and the skeg is the size of my leg.

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The Texas Cut.
Hmmmm....
Maybe we should have Krackmeup test it? :D

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Pat,
I have a beautiful P5X that i would sell you. It is a 25 pitch. Choice of hub and free shipping for $695. It has two hours of test time only.

Russ

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That is a real nice prop Russ. I have no $$ for boat stuff until after Christmas though... :(
But if you still have it come mid January???

Question about the 5blade vs 4blade:
If I'm running a 28p Bravo at 4800 where do you think my engine RPM would be with a 25p 5blade?

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I would guess 5200+ (IF your engine builds power past that)

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I would say you are about right Faster...
If the slip dropped from 11-12% to say 7-8%, the engine would have to spin 5100-5200rpm to push my boat the same speed.

My engine does not make power past 5000rpm so I guess a 25p would be too small.

Thanks for the offer Russ.

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I think the 25 should be just about right for you.

Consider a 28 Bravo 1 is really about 27" of pitch. Then consider that the P5X has and additional blade which is equal to another inch of pitch, so it's the equivalant of a 26 4 blade. So the P5X is effectivly only an inch smaller which is equal to about 200 rpm. That should put you at 5000.

Now in the real world will the prop work like that? You won't know until you try it but it would be close enough where the prop could easly be worked to run at 5000 rpm.

Matt

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OK Matt, I understand your analogy... :cool:
I would hope that the P5X on my boat would make my boat a more efficient machine as a whole. That being said, she should be able to turn a larger pitch than 25p at 5000rpm.
I bet the acceleration would be awesome though... :D