OutlawMan

I'm glad you guys have had great experience using bblades. This is the reason I decided to give them a call. The total phone conversation took 3minutes, most of which I was providing all vital information such as boat make and model, speed and rpm of the old motor and my new motor, my "x" dimension, calculated prop slip, and told him that I have trim to a ridiculous level and mph keeps climbing. After explaining all this he simply said, "sounds like your pretty dialed in, if you want you can send it in and we can rework it. It would take 2 weeks". No explanations, no options, no hope....

ps. it wasnt brett i talked to

bbladesprops

Hello Outlaw man.
Now you are talking to Brett.
Brad explained the conversation you guys had earlier this morning. I understand you have a Outlaw with 600 HP. You are running 5300 at 68 mph. You are over trimming the drive to the speed you can achieve. You desire more speed and 5500 rpm.
Brad calculated your slip % at 3.22 which is unusually low.
He also gave you the option of Labbing the propeller with a recipe designed for you to create more bow lift and to gain the rpm you are looking for and the speed that should come with the rpm rise. He tells me you then asked how long this would take and Brad reported 2 weeks. He then tells me you thanked him and hung up.
When Brad saw this posting he was confused as to the relativity. Frankly I am too. I guess I'm wondering what other questions we can answer for you or what else we can do minus reworking the propeller. We are certainly here to help and hope we can be of more assistance in the future.

Brett

OutlawMan

edit

OutlawMan

Brett,

Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Just heard from everyone on here about how they picked up mph that was hidden somewhere and got lengthy explanations about what could be done. I got the feelling as though I was bothering Brad and that is why I thanked him and hung up. My questions are:

Should I get a prop with more slip built in so I may be less apt to break my stock bravo?

With more slip but also slightly more pitch would this raise my cruise speed while still allowing a good wot rpm?(or does more slip acutally slow you down even if you pitch to correct for it?)

If I send the prop in for you guys to rework it so I dont have to trim as much what will the result be besides the obvious? Do you think I will pick up any speed by not having to trim as far or is my speed from pulling the drive out of the water more(smaller x dim=less drag)?

I told Brad the old motor was 400hp with 62mph at 4800 and the new motor is supposed to be around 600hp and runs 67-68 at 5300. I have to trim past the limits to blowout the prop for more slip to get the extra 100-200 rpms closer to my HP peak at 5500. So if you rework the prop, I won't have to trim as much meaning I won't blowout the prop and my slip numbers will be even lower than 3% right? If I dont blowout I will be more like 66 at 5150. Does this sound right to you? 200hp more for only 6mph?

Do you have a prop exchange where you can rework another mirage im sure you have lying around and I can send you mine after the fact so I dont miss 2 weeks of boating?

My apologies to brad if I hurt his feelings but as you can see I would have bullsh!tted for awhile(while trying not to keep him from his work for too long) about the best way to move forward and my options as far as cause and affect if I felt the love on the phone lol, but I was getting tired of the couple awkward silences where I had to say "what do you think?" and "what should we do?" where finally he said send it in to be labbed for more bow lift and 200rpms more. If that is the final answer to my problems then that is fine, I just wasnt left feeling assured.

Thank you

bbladesprops

OutLaw M,

First
More slip can obviously allow longer life expectancy to a standard B1 drive. Consider getting a better/stronger drive to handle your upgraded power. Don't try to compromise one side of the setup. However, I feel your standard B1 drive should be fine for 600 HP if driven correctly.

Second question, Yes. More pitch even with more slip can help cruise (some variables involved). More slip can slow you down as well. This is where we way the odds and help you to decide the best move for you.

Third, I believe Brad explained less wetted surface area can out way drive drag to you on the phone.

Lastly, there is a difference between slip and drag.
Also, "Supposed" to be a 200 HP increase is something we hear every day. Let's see the dyno sheets before and after.

As you stated, we have lots of props lying around but, we don't just Lab them to "your" specific recipe, not seeing what may be sent to us in return. Plus, we don't exchange new propellers for used props anyway.
Actually, stock propellers are notoriously inaccurate. Therefore, we need your propeller in shop plus your best report to determine the best recipe for your desires and goals. We need to see what the geometry of your prop is prior to determining the future blueprint.

Doing this type of custom upgrade may be considered during your off season if you can't see clear to missing 2 weeks of boating in August. Send the propeller to us once we know the basics. This being done on a setup we have done hundreds of times, is the best way to save you time. We will always contact you with any questions or issues prior to doing any work.

I don't think there is any misunderstanding in our perspective. On behalf of Brad I apologize if we didn't take more time to make you comfortable. I know Brad felt he had answered your questions and suggested we could improve your boats attitude with the information you provided.

We/BBLADES are able to do things the competition cannot. I have never said that before (publically) because it doesn't sound professional in my opinion, but maybe I have earned that right.
I believe that is why you called us to begin with.

You haven't hurt anyone’s feelings. I've had to deal with tons of ?stuff? before your post came along, LOL. If we were hurt from web site rhetoric, we would not expose ourselves on a daily basis as we do.
Who else answers these set up questions on a daily basis other than us and why don't they?

We value every relationship with our customers and look to make them all long term.

If I can personally help you with any other questions, I will do my best to do so.

Thank you,
Brett

Bob280Silencer

Tough business.These guys base the modification of props on reports they get from US.Water conditions,temp.,"about" 200 hp gain,"should " be faster.WOW,that's tough. Talking to customers and possibly future customers on the phone is expensive but also necessary. If Brett talks to five people for 15 min that's over an hour. Out of those 5 conversations,he may only get one job.Everytime I call,he talks to me. Everytime I write something in the prop section,even just general conversation not directed specifically to Brett,he answers.I think he sleeps at work ! Self employed,if it was easy,everybody would be doing it. Thanks Brett.

bbladesprops

Bob,

Thank you. Seriously, thank you.

We do live, think and breathe propellers. We are testing and developing per our experience daily. 50 years of prop work between Bob (my partner) and myself.

We have been answering questions on this forum since the founder Steve S. started this thread 7 years ago after calling me and asking if I would help. We/BBLADES will continue to do our best to help our fellow enthusiasts dial in and improve their passion, their performance boats.

We have a new BBLADES propeller we will be releasing very soon. In fact, the release has already leaked but I haven't put out the official release since we are trying to build inventory before we blow the doors off. Test results...creams the competition.



Sincerly,
Brett and BBLADES

Griff

No way you are even close to 600hp. My old 24 outlaw ran 61mph(5000rpms) with a stock 454mag/365hp and 65-66mph(5450rpms) with 420hp and mildly labbed 23 Mirage Plus prop. The next owner put a 525SC in it and with labbed race prop(not sure of exact specs) it ran 79mph in the LOTO Shootout.

You only gained 500rpms. That is about a 75hp gain.

Bob280Silencer

Brett,We talked on this forum about my old '87 Kevlar cig. props. I'm currently running 16.5 x 28 three blade on 3A (26 spline) and the cruise sucks. You were going to get a set of 17 x 28 in soon for your test program. Any luck with that yet? Good luck with the new prop program. Bob

AIR TIME

did you dyno your motor it sounds off. my motors for my 24 ol with stock propshaft height of 7 1/2'' were 502 390hp at prop =67, my 502 595 hp did 74 to 76, 25p mirage 5600rpm. my 509 650hp did 83.2 had more but prop was to small 26p b1 labbed at 6000rpm. plus that was with a 2'' shortie. and dry sm exhaust. sounds like your motor is off. whats your set up cam/intake/exhaust/ carb. heads?