Prop test Brisbane area

[Marchy001]

Hi all,
Still not 100% happy with my prop choices on the seafarer/f225 setup and am almost out of options with Solas, so far the best performing prop I have tried is a 19" Merc Enertia but it's a touch high on pitch.
Solas 4 blade 19" and 17" were ok but a little too much stern lift, also tried a 17" Solas 3 blade and that slipped quite badly. Might grab a 16" 4 blade and call that my watersports prop but that leaves me a little over pitched when fishing running the Enertia.

The last 2 props I would love to try are an 18" Enertia (80% sure this prop will be where I end up) and a 17" Rev 4. Just don't have the spare $$$ to buy another prop if it works out to be wrong yet again.

Does anyone in the greater Brisbane area have either prop that would be open to letting me spin/come with for a fishing trip with me to test? Happy to offer compensation by way of whatever is deemed reasonable and will obviously replace/repair the prop if any damage was to occur to it.

Cheers

Marchy

[Oceanic Dave]

What Seafarer do you have? And what motor?

I have the Victory 6.0 with an Evinrude 225 E-tec. At the moment I am running an alloy prop, no idea what it is. Came with the boat. But I will then start looking at the Viper or Rebel as I have been advised.

[Chimo]

Have you looked at Rakers for the rude? Probably fit a Yam too I guess.

[Marchy001]

It's a 2002 5.9 Vermont with an F225 yammy.

Are the rude props removable hub style like Mercs or are they pressed in hubs?

[Chimo]

I have a feeling that if you really want know how to prop a Vermont you could do a lot worse than ask Jabba_ http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php/125475-Seafarer-Appreciation-thread?highlight=vermont

Cheers
Chimo

[scottar]

The comment that the solas 4 blades are generating too much stern lift is an interesting one. The Vermont will obviously be a bit bow heavier than the Victory but with the weight of that Yammy hanging off the stern I would have thought it wouldn't be an issue. On the Victory I still ended up adding tabs and a foil. What are you hoping to achieve with your propping - best midrange economy, max top end ? Jabba has certainly done more work than most with the Vermont - it may be worth checking some of his posts on the Etec Owners Website as well to get a better look at his set up. I think the new versions of the BRP props do have a removable hub system but I am unsure on the availability of hubs for other motors.

[Marchy001]

It's a hard one for me as I use the boat for so many different things. One day I'm dragging kids around lake moggerah, then fishing solo in moreton bay, cruising brisbane river sight seeing, and then taking 2 or 3 mates out for an overnighter to barwon banks.
The 19" enertia is great solo or 2up however once load jumps a bit I feel I'm a touch high on pitch. I'm possibly just being too fussy but it still feels like it could be propped better.

I've countered the heavy arse by relocating the batteries under the floor in the cab and that has made the boat feel a lot more balanced. Yes it's still got a heavy donk but moving 50kg has helped greatly. Also have a permatrim fitted however it doesn't make much difference if it's fitted or not when running the 4blades, bow steer is the way at 25knots and up.

I might ring Solas and pick their brains again and see if they have any other ideas.

[scottar]

So if you are loaded up, what is your WOT RPM with the 19" enertia? It does sound like moving the batteries has had a pretty large effect on the dynamics of the hull - how much work would be involved with a trial with them back in the original spots - better to have to use the permatrim and motor trim to generate lift at low speed than have bow steer at high speed.

[Marchy001]

I did trials with all props pre battery move and have run the 17"3 blade and 19" enertia post battery move. Pre battery move the enertia was easy to get porpising if trim was not spot on however post battery move it's far more forgiving. Fairly confident the bow steer would be worse with the 4 blade now with more weight forward.

RPM's are pretty close to where they should be with the 19" enertia getting 6000 light and 56-5800 heavy. On paper it looks like I'm damn close but seat of the pants tells me I want to be spinning another 150-200rpm especially when heavy. The 17" 4blade runs about 150rpm higher for any given speed but tops out around 5800 rpm lightly loaded, probably due to so much boat in the water and the extra blade. If the 4 blade solas lifted the bow a bit I would be the pick of the lot.

I'm thinking and hoping that an 18" enertia is on the money as the only other thing I can think is get a 16" solas 4 blade and cup the tips to get a touch more rake and hopefully bow lift however don't really want to modify a brand new prop just to test. The Rev 4 apparently would offer a little more bow lift than the solas so that would be nice to spin also. Powertech OFX 4 also but that's a buy it and hope situation as I don't know of any dealers in AUS.

[scottar]

It does sound like you are close with the 19". All the rules say you should get an extra 200 rpm with the 18" so it does sound like the go if you want that little extra snap out of the hole. Might be worth a talk to a prop guy about tweaking the 19 you have.

[Darren Mc]

It does sound like you are close with the 19". All the rules say you should get an extra 200 rpm with the 18" so it does sound like the go if you want that little extra snap out of the hole. Might be worth a talk to a prop guy about tweaking the 19 you have.

I agree scottar, that sounds like a really good idea to tweak the 19p a bit.

[Marchy001]

Yes that would be ideal but I've been told it's not as easy to get extra rpm from a prop as it is to knock some rpm off a prop. I'll make some calls and see what I can find out.

[Ocean_Spirit]

Hi,

I had the last Vermont Lindsay built. Purchased 07, sold it in 2012. They are an awesome boat, built on the old 5.9 hull. I had a bit to do with Jabba and his Vermont too over the years.

The Vermont is lighter in the nose and has a different centre of balance. With yours, the Yam brings more weight onto the transom (we had a 200HO ETEC).

However, what hole is it mounted at? We ran a 19p" Viper 3 Blade prop and hit 6,000 RPM. In your cirxumstances, yes a 18" Rev 4 might work for extra stern lift.



Yes that would be ideal but I've been told it's not as easy to get extra rpm from a prop as it is to knock some rpm off a prop. I'll make some calls and see what I can find out.

[Marchy001]

It's mounted on a 3" manual jack plate as when I had the old DF140 on it I had it mounted as high as I could and the cav plate was still buried by an inch or more. With the jack plate I have it mounted so the cav plate is at the waterline at 25 knots or above. Obviously the jack plate pushes the weight 3" further back again but the ability to get the motor to the right height is great. Picked up around 3 knots with the old motor just by lifting the motor to a better height.

The more I think about it I'm starting to think I'm about as good as it will get however if a prop shop can work a little bit of magic with the current prop I'll be laughing.

[FisHard]

Out of curiosity, how did the boat go with the 140 Suzi?

[Marchy001]

Went well until we started watersports figures below from my prop testing database. Towing people around a dam was a bit much for it. With a 15" 4blade it was better but was doing a lot of RPM and the limiter was busy most of the time.

DF140 with Trophy plus 17" 2 pob normal gear full tank
4000 - 19kn 21.8mph 19%
4500 - 23kn 26.5mph 13%
5000 - 27kn 31mph 8%
6100 - 34kn 39mph 5.5%

With the F225
19" Enertia 2pob light load full fuel
3500 - 22kn 25mph 20%
4000 - 28kn 32mph 11%
4500 - 33kn 37mph 8.5%
5000 - 36kn 41mph 8.8%
5500 - 40kn 46mph 7%
6000 - 44.5kn 52mph 3.6%

[FisHard]

Those figures for the 140 are pretty good considering. Of course the F225 would be much more fun!

[Marchy001]

Yeah I was pretty happy with the 140 until we started watersports. In hind sight I don't think I would go for the 225 again as the weight penalty has had more of an impact than I expected. A 175-200 would do just as well without as much weight penalty. However Moving the batteries has all but returned it to a nice balance.

Next job - rebuilding the rear steps to make climbing back in when skiing a little easier with the added bonus of extra buoyancy at rest by making them a foam filled cavity.

That's after I install this
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07/10/b9f6800798f64fc78d2ca37b45e6f9ff.jpg

And then a new chirp transducer.

And probably other things that I figure out as time goes on ;)

[gofishin]

... In your cirxumstances, yes a 18" Rev 4 might work for extra stern lift. OS, Rev 4's don't come in even sizes (unless a very new edition to the size range).
Cheers
Brendon


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[scottar]

You might want to wait with the prop if you are making other changes to weight distribution and in case the steps end up working a bit like trim tabs.

Nice looking winch too.

[Marchy001]

The steps won't be touching water when underway maybe just as the boat comes up through transition onto plane but I doubt it.

Will be doing a battery box build and winch install thread once I get the winch in. Hopefully knock it over next week if all goes to plan.
I love time off. Supposed to be enjoying time with the new baby but there is only so much time I can sit around doing that.

[scottar]

LOL, You haven't had the boat that long have you. It should still qualify as "a new baby" so no harm, no foul. I fished 3 times in the week my wife was in hospital when our lad was born - They had designated visiting hours - what else was I supposed to do?????