New top speed for our Legend!

Mike Cork · December 27, 2006, 07:03:10 PM

73.8 GPS fully loaded and just over 3/4 tank of gas. She really likes this cooler weather. Tried playing with some props today and that was a complete failure

our prop shaft is 1.25 inches and everything we had was only 1 inch. So no playing around there. We did play with motor height a bit and with the 27 tempest, she likes to be at 3.75 below pad 1/4 inch higher and she looses speed but gains 100 RPM 1/4 lower and the RPM's drop but the speed is only 72 ish..... Still could not maintain an RPM above about 5600 even in this cold air.

I think I am going to drop the money on a TR04, talked with them extensively today and I think they have sold me on it. Was hoping to run a 26 pitch Bravo today just to see how the boat handled with a 4 blade but again prop shaft size was wrong

Everything I have read says the 4 blade should be a good choice....... Any additional thoughts out there before I drop the doe

AB · December 27, 2006, 07:05:07 PM

Your rig has the fatshaft?!

hesjustbassin · December 27, 2006, 07:14:02 PM

Your back must be feeling better if you're running the boat again.

weekend warrior · December 27, 2006, 07:24:11 PM

Mike, I can tell you that you will love the 4-blade. I have run a 27 trophy on mine and it really settles the boat down alot. I have intentions of trying a 25 trophy on my 250 maybe this weekend. The 27 wouldn't let me turn enough rpms. I don't know if I will ever drop the doe for the Real deal prop judging from what they said in their test run. There's just to much difference in cost and not enough in speed for me. Whichever you choose the 4-blade is the right choice I believe.

Mike Cork · December 27, 2006, 10:12:29 PM

Quote from: hesjustbassin on December 27, 2006, 07:14:02 PM
Your back must be feeling better if you're running the boat again.

Only got to ride, I honestly don't think I have the ability to hold on to the boat at WOT right now, but it was good to get the wind in the face again

weekend warrior
I think the 4 blade is going to be the way to go with this set up, looking forward to trying it out. Just not sure if I should go with a 25 or take the chance that I can turn a 26 pitch fast enough.

weekend warrior · December 28, 2006, 06:21:59 AM

I think the 25 is going to be the ticket.

BassBUFF · December 28, 2006, 06:43:02 AM

Good to see you got on the water at least! Can't wait to see the #'s on the TR04!!

TiGer85SS · December 28, 2006, 09:42:49 AM

If you are only turning a 27 tempest to 5600 rpms you will need to step down by 2 in a 4 blade prop to gain some rpms. That is because of the extra blade as a rule of thumb if going from a 3 to a 4 blade you would step down 1 to maintain around the same rpms.

Mike Cork · December 28, 2006, 04:00:36 PM

I'm going to give the 25 TRO4 a shot and go from there. Should have it in about a week or so

shaftdilbert · December 29, 2006, 03:47:15 PM

Recently found this site and posted this in the "Prop shop" but it may be of more benefit here than there..

I can only state the results on my 199 with an 06 225 HO ETEC. In my case many of the things that seem to be generally stated have been opposite

. Example: 3 blades faster than 4, not in my case. Another: 4 blades turn less rpm's than 3, again not in my case. Have tried 9 props:
VMX 25 WOT 69 mph (had it balanced)
Raker II 26 WOT 69.5-69.8 (checked and matched on a hale machine)
Raker II 28 WOT 72.0
Tempest 27 WOT 71.6
TXP 26 WOT 71.8 (balanced)
TRO4 WOT 68.8 (expected this to be the ticket and it was by far the worst prop of any tried

)
Trophy plus 26 72.0 @5900 rpm (need cav ring)
Trophy plus 27 (TWO of them) 73.5@5750 and 72.5@5750 rpm (same day) (again need cav ring)
These are all GPS readings and for each the jackplate was adjusted up/down to find the best speed and maintain 15 psi@WOT. This was with 1 person well loaded, but lacking the 2nd person,their gear and full livewell to make it Tx loaded.
I think my limiting factor is the jackplate. The rear corner of my 10" jackplate is about an 1/8" below my cav plate on the motor at maximum height (maybe some interference??). Any higher with the motor and the psi is not quite "stable", I may get a jigsaw and cut a 1/4-3/8" off and see what happens. I understand that on the newer ones the bottom angle was cut 2 degrees higher so this should not apply to those.
I tend to think the best prop for this combo may well be the FnR but I have been unable to get one for many months now. Until then.. the Trophy rules..

Just my 2 cents.......
Oh.. All of these props are for sale except the Trophy's........all in perfect condition.

Mike Cork · December 29, 2006, 03:54:46 PM

Great info

The 199 is only a couple hundred pounds lighter than the LE-21. I have been unable to achieve the RPMs that you have , although we are running different motors as well. What kind of RPMs were you getting with the 27 Tempest?

AB · December 29, 2006, 03:59:03 PM

Remember Mike, he has a 1.86:1 gear ratio and yours is taller, 1.75:1 I believe....

shaftdilbert · December 29, 2006, 04:08:36 PM

My notes show the Tempest 27 WOT 71.6@5650 rpm. Also a full 1/2" lower than the Trophy. Ratio: 1.86

AB · December 29, 2006, 04:19:28 PM

11% slippage. Not too bad. Sounds like you have really done your homework. Let me ask ya, have you had any trouble running the Flo-Torque hub kits on your Etec? I've only run a Flo-Torque kit once and melted it down in less than 2 miles...

shaftdilbert · December 29, 2006, 04:32:08 PM

I purchased 6 Mercury "Flo- junks"

and only had 1 spline and one thrust washer combination that would work.

On the First Trophy I got, it came with a Michigan wheel XHS-100 which is interchangeable with the Merc unit. I now have three of these kits and all of them fit perfectly and I have had ZERO issues with them.

Mike Cork · December 29, 2006, 11:49:33 PM

Good point AB, I keep forgetting about that, even when I went to run a couple different props

My prop slip with the 27 is around 14 percent. The Boys at Power Tech say I should be able to get that down to 11 or 12