Offshoreonly.com - Prop Lab Work

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ICDEDPPL (Post 4856929)

If you lab the prop (making blades thinner) but add cup (I didn`t know this was possible) The end result would be the same in my opinion.Would a car analogy work, if you go down in gear ration but get bigger tires you`ll still be at the same rpm so nothing changes at the end of the day ? Obviously you can run bigger tires so that the only change lol

There are always trade offs. In your car example, most likely the larger tires would have more traction, more surface area. Would most likely hurt top end, more friction, more weight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kornegle (Post 4856937)

Perhaps I am just unlucky. I have tried at least 3 labbed props on 3 different boats and not 1 of them was faster than the stock prop. Well one of them did run 1 mph faster but it had more slip, harder to come on the plane, didn't drive as well and certainly not worth the 1 mph at WOT. The other two ran the same speed as the unlabbed props but one of those drove as well and carried the bow higher but not increase in top speed. The last one was a Mercury labbed prop, the other two were done by "known prop experts". I tried these due to many good results that were posted by different individuals, but every boat is different and you never know until you try.

I had a couple of labbed props on my boat. For my usage, the stock otb bravo was so much better than any of them. I would not waste anymore of my money on labbing going forward. I have spoken to numerous boaters, quite a few on this site. Most of the results were disappointing. And that's with sending them back multiple times. Most won't post that on this site, because they feel they will be attacked. So they keep their mouth shut.

underpsi68, "Most won't post that on this site, because they feel they will be attacked. So they keep their mouth shut." Amen to that

Every boat is different and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying. But I used your same logic, bump up from a 28p to a labbed 30p.

Results were not good. Every aspect was worse, plaining, cruise, slip, top end. Reworked it, no difference. Sent that thing down the road. Can’t say I didn’t try. Stock B1 28p is back on.

For those saying labbing a prop didn't work for them and discouraging others, at least let them know who screwed up your prop so they don't go to them. Literally anyone can lab a prop. Only a handful are capable of getting it right.
My recommendation is to find someone that's highly recommended in your area or where your going to be vacationing. Then meet with them in person and have video of how YOUR boat currently handles, rides, attitude of the boat at different speeds, etc. with the prop you want modified. (Every boat is different, even with in the same model.) Then tell them what you'd like to be different. If they don't tell you what their basic approach will be and where they can meet your expectations and where they can't meet your expectations walk away. Don't expect an in-depth description, but just "we can add cup here" or "we can thin the blades, add cup on the tips, and correct the pitch" which will make "blah blah blah" happen. Otherwise it's like telling a guy to build you a motor for your car to go X mph in 1320' without telling them how heavy the car is, or what gears it has, etc.