Re: Worth the Money
 

The original question was if Herings are worth the extra cost.

First...Herings are almost impossible to get. Backorders of 6-8 months are very common. The only Herings available are coming out of the racing circuit and most racers realize a set of Herings are good for a VERY limited number of races. So if you’re looking to buy a used set of Herings....buyer beware.

Second...Is (Hering) performance worth the costs? If your willing to take the chance of destroying your outdrives when you throw a blade and have a regular prop replacement program you can expect better performance than you will get from Mercury or Hydromotive propellers. Throttle-Up CNC propellers are equal...and in most cases...better in back to back comparisons with Hering.

Throttle-Up propellers are slightly thicker (I'm talking tens of thousandths’ of an inch) and more durable than the Herings.

Throttle-Up propellers are readily available...and they cut your props to your specifications. Want a staggered set of 6-blades...all you have to do is ask. Delivery time is usually within a few days of placing your order.

How would I know this? We have tested every brand and model propeller available on our 8000 lb boat w/525's and Bravo XR drives. Mercury Bravo I's last about 2-3 hours (thrown blades). Herings throw blades after 80-100 miles. Hydromotives need so much work that by the time you get them lab finished and tweaked, you've spent more than you would with the Throttle-Up props...and they don't perform as well.

Mercury Maximus are just plane 'ol dogs. The weight of the prop destroys acceleration and the quality control from Mercury is so poor you will need to get them worked (even Mercury's "lab finished" props) before you expect them to get to their peak performance....which is even worse than Hydromotive's

Bottom line...

Spend your money on something that works....Throttle-Up CNC Propellers

Re: Worth the Money
 

Yes, they definetely are!

Re: Worth the Money
 

:cool: Great thread now I know where to go for props.

Re: Worth the Money
 

I called Thruttle up late evening expecting to leave a message on their ansering machine and Julie picked up the phone in her car on the way home. Their customer service is the best i have dealt with in the boating world.

Re: Worth the Money
 

This is what I was looking for. I bought a new boat and I was able to come across a set of Herring 6 Blades. I've known that they are very good prop for the race course, and have learned over the last couple of years they are prone to blade
failure. In the past I've heard of blade failure's on Hydro's also. I will be using the boat a 42 Fountain with 525's and Sportmaster's for pleasure boating and Poker Run's. I will have to wait and see what happens, If they fail or give me trouble I will be calling Throttle-up.

Re: Worth the Money
 

Ken D,

You thow Bravo 1 blades in 2-3 hours??

Are you using Box Stock or Labbed propellers? If Labbed, who is doing the work? Something strange going on there. Have you had multiple failures? What kind of boat? Have you talked to Mercury?

We have been building and racing Bravo 1 propellers for years with much success. If everybody threw blades on those propellers in 2 hours, they wouldn't have become the best selling stern drive propeller in history. I have to disagree with your statements on the Maximus propellers also. I do agree Labbing them to your specific application can make a world of difference. But we have seen huge performance advances with these propellers at a sustantially lower cost than CNC'd Herings.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

Re: Worth the Money
 

Something 's Wrong, I have never thrown a blade on a Bravo Prop. I have a set of Bravo 1's Labbed at Mercury 9 years ago and have never had a problem. Everything from 500 horse power up to 800 horse power for 3 years.

I hope to get that type of use from these Herrings's that I have, but from the info that I'm recieving I don't think so.

Re: Worth the Money
 

The Hering props will work well for your application. You may find they last a long time for you.

You really never know how long a prop will last.

I remember the original Spiderman boat. It ran Bravo 1 props and they lost many a race due to throwing a blade. They finally went to the #6 drives and that fixed the problem.

Some boats are easier on props than others. It depends on many factors. Ken D's boat is tough on props, it will toss the blades on a stock Bravo 1 prop in no time. Other boats don't have a problem.

Racers are brutal on their boats. That's why we do so much testing on race boats. If we can build a prop to stand up to a twin engine race boat with 525's it will hold up to pleasure use with twin 750's. It's a great proving ground which puts you up against the best prop manufacturers.

Re: Worth the Money
 

Couldn't agree with you more on the some boats are harder than others on propellers part. You never know exactly how long a propeller will ultimately last.

But we have been racing custom Lad Finished Bravo 1 propellers for a decade in many different configurations. We Have many world and National championships with Mercury Racing to prove it.

You mention Spiderman. The first year Peter built that Skater V bottom, we worked very closely with Todd Welling to win almost every race that year including championships, and many more races to come. Guess which propellers? Yep, Bravo 1's! Todd liked the props real thin. Too thin. We didn't have rules on thicknesses then. We even made him a special guage for his own measuring usage. That is the the truth to that story.

Knowing the thicknesses you can use then tweaking them by hand in specific configurations can win races. However, all "castings" whether CNC'd or Labbed by hand are at the mercy of the casting itself. Internal flaws are hard to detect till they are found at the surface. Some casting processes are better than others. Mercury, Precision Propeller and other companies have been doing this process for a long time and offer the best castingings in the industry. If you want longer lasting, ulta thin propellers, the bottom line is.........billet material.

Re: Worth the Money
 

Actually there was a minimum thickness requirement for props in the APBA when the original Spiderman boat was running. Those thicknesses were checked by the APBA LLC staff at races. The minimum thickness standard was provided by Mercury. That same standard has been adopted by the OSS as well.

And yes Todd did prefer Bravo 1 props on that boat and he didn't finish a number of races due to prop failure of the Bravo 1 prop.

I wonder how many spec class boats were running Mercury props this past November? None, I believe. There must be a reason for that.