5 blade props

[Robbie Racer]

It looks like Rocket Man had good results switching over to a 5 blade Hydromotive for the Parker shoot out. Does anyone know the status on the Mercury Racing 5 blade "Bravo" style prop availability?
R/R

[Robbie Racer]

Just an update on the above post. Since then I have found some info on Offshore Only and I have talked to a couple of prop guys and found out the following. It seems the Mercury 5 blade "Maximus" looked good in the prototype stage and was 15-1/4" diameter like the Bravo 1's and performed pretty well (better than their standard 4 blade Bravo 1's). But when they finally got them into production, they ended up being either 15-1/2" or 15-5/8" in diameter and were not as nicely finished as the earlier prototypes. The general census seems to be that these props will help a boat with a high X-dimension get on plane and also help pick up the mid range speed (compared to the same RPM as with a 4 blade) but not improve top end speed. Some say it can cost you a few mph on the top end depending on the boat and the X-dimension. They say the Herring 5 blade prop is the best out there (but also the most expensive), followed by the Hydromotive 5 blade. The general concensus seems to be that Mercury will continue to improve the Maximus but at this point, it may not be the best choice.
They suggested that for my application, that I stay with the Bravo 1 and have my 34 lab, modified slightly with a little cup so that I can get the boat on plane.
Does anyone have any direct experience with any 5 blade on a 24-26' single engine high horsepower cat?
R/R

[gmocnik]

i have a little experience with the herring 5 blade on my 25 daytona and will update as i gain more experience....
after making many winter mods (motor upgrade and drive changes) i tried the 5 blade 30p herring on a 2" shorty imco...boat hated it....could not roll over and blew out with the slightest throttle.....root cause was the drive height....2" shorty, too short...went back to standard length drive and boat runs strong with 32p bravo 4 blade....will try the herring this weekend and update...
gm

[hpron]

Robbie Racer..you might want to check with ThrottleUp Propeller in Largo Fl. on the 5 blade Hydro..they are doing some amazing stuff with some of the I/O and O/B for this upcoming season for the Offshore cats..not the Supers....they should be recieving in a bunch of different diameters end of the week or next ..there should be alot running in SBI..
Good to speak with Matt or Julie..

[Robbie Racer]

gm, thanks for the feedback. I will look forward to hearing how the 5 blade works for you with the standard drive height compared to the 32 Bravo. Good luck.
hp, I did send an email to Throttle Up asking them a lot of questions about the Hydromotive 5 blade but so far haven't heard back from them. If I don't get a response this week, I will try calling them.
Thank you,
R/R

[hpron]

Originally posted by Robbie Racer
gm, thanks for the feedback. I will look forward to hearing how the 5 blade works for you with the standard drive height compared to the 32 Bravo. Good luck.
hp, I did send an email to Throttle Up asking them a lot of questions about the Hydromotive 5 blade but so far haven't heard back from them. If I don't get a response this week, I will try calling them.
Thank you,
R/R
R/R..they are busy doing testing for the upcoming season opener for Miami SBI..in a couple weeks..racing season is here..I would try calling and leave message..I spoke to Julie earlier this week and she told me they were slammed....good luck..if ya need a number let me know..good people to work with..

[Robbie Racer]

Thanks hp. Julie replied to my email today and suggested that I call her about testing one of their 5 blade Hydromotives after I get the motor off the dyno. Right now, I'm getting 16% slip with my lab 32 Bravo 1, 4 blade (6,400 rpm) and if I get more power out of the motor, I will need more pitch or less slip to keep from winding the motor too high. I sent my lab 34 out this week to get a little cup put in it, to see if it will help me when getting on plane. Out of the box, it blows out so bad, I can't get the boat on plane with it.

[hpron]

Cool...keep us posted...the work/finish Throttle Up does is outstanding..did she say if they receieved in the castings yet for various diameters??I am about 99.9% sure they do most of the finishing for Hydro.....

[Robbie Racer]

Will do on keeping you posted as I learn more. Julie didn't mention anything about the castings for various diameters. R/R

[Rock-it man]

RR you may want to try the 5 blade I have at Shasta it gave me 5.8 mph more at the same RPM and the same speed at 300 less rpm with no bad habbits , there was no slip and it pulled through the entire power range IM sold on them ,I sent mine in for a lab job but no change in the pitch as the #'s I got showed it was verry close right out of the box.