prop comparison
 

Without getting into all the details....just shoot from the hip and give me your opinion. Stock Bravo 1 four blade vs. stock Hydromotive four blade...which is faster ? :confused:

I have a friend who turns a 28 pitch bravo 1 with a single 502 mpi and runs 78 consistently in his Superboat.

Thanks...but I was looking for guys who have run both. :drink:

Each application can be different.
Hydro Q4 has more transom lift than the B1.

Multy stepped bottoms may see 1-2 mph more with the Q4. Straight V's and single steps or any hull needing more transom leverage or bow lift will be faster with the B1.

Labbing is more effective on the B1.

Brett

Thanks Brett. :drink:

Good Info
 

Thanks Tinman, good thread. I was thinking of going to a Bravo 1 26 pitch on my 271 Fastech single step. It currently has a 24 pitch Q4. With the Q4 and a 1/2 tank of gas I could run 73 non gps. This was before I blew a head gasket end of April. Bravo 1 looks to be a solid choice.

That's what I see in my 280 Velocity, but midrange and on plane is better with the B1.

What do run now on twins with your current setup...?

26P B1's

B1's tend to actually have a little less pitch than they are marked for. Many times a Hydro will not turn as many RPMS as a Bravo because they have more true pitch. But if you can turn your B1s up to rev limit then the Hydros might give you a little more speed.

I can turn the B1's to 5200.

IMO Hydros will be faster more often than not, have been on past boats for me. Bravos seem to be better on plane and slow/mid cruise. Once you move up the speed the Hydros hook up and begin to shine. Past experience on Fountain as well as Velocity hulls. High speed handling in my cases have always gone to the Hydros.

Ragged, Have to dis-agree.

Your experience noted, I have found the Labbed, Correctly to the boat, B1's, beat the Hydros across the board. Some times (occasionally) the top speed is the same after Labbing but, the rest of the performance puts the Merc castings over the edge.

I love Hydromotive and the box stock props can be faster than Bravos out of the box on some set ups but with tuning, Bravos surpass.
However, I do have some boats and clients running Hydro's, who we have done out of the box Lab work with. They run Hydros and win races.......often.
So again, blanket statements in boat set up is, well, not spot on.
Every identical boat is different.

Brett



B

My experience with Hydro's is that they have a lot of transom lift. I could not carry the bow. If trimmed up quite a bit it would carry the bow to a certain point and then just fall. It would get kind of scary actually how bad it would bow steer to the left then the right.

Bravo's felt much better and I had a better angle of attack at on coming waves. Kind of like my Mirage 3 blades, but better getting on plane and cruise speed. But slower top speed.

The best props that I have are a set of Spinelli 4 blades. These seem to lift the whole boat up out of the water and able to carry the bow. A real soft ride in heavier seas. They feel loose and are fast. Also they look really cool. :drink: I just wish they were 27 pitch :(

My experience is all in a flat bottom Scarab Panther. Tinman is you 33 an AVS?