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View Full Version : PROP CHOICES !!!!!!!



jskvi
06-02-2003, 08:34 AM
HELLO FROM THE ISLANDS,
I HAVE A 22 CLASSIC 2001, 454 MPI 385 HP.I AM USING A MIRAGE 3 BLADE # 48-13704 23P. I FINALLY GOT TO OPEN HER UP AND RAN 4300 RPMS AT 60 MPH ACCORDING TO THE SPEEDO, NOT THE SHORTS !!!!!! THE :cool: ENGINE SAYS 4600 TO 5000 RPMS, AND I WAS NOT TO IMPRESSED WITH MY TOP END. I REALLY WANT TO GET HER TO RUN AS BEST POSSIBLE. I NEED SOME DIRECTION ON THE BEST PROP FOR SPEED ON MY BOAT. I READ ABOUT THE 5 BLADE PROPS FROM MERCRUISER, LOOKS GOOD.CAN ANYONE HELP ME IN THIS AREA. WHAT HAVE YOU ALL TRIED ON YOU BOATS. I HAVE TO SEND AWAY FOR MY NEW PROP, SO PLEASE I NEED TO HAVE INFO, THAT I CAN TAKE TO THE BANK. THANX FOR ANY HELP ,
JIM CLASSIC 22

Forrest
06-02-2003, 10:51 AM
YOu should be in the upper end of your RPM range. Everyone seems to likes the Turbo for the 22 Classic. Forget the five-blade prop. It would be great for hole shots and water-sking but no good for top end. Three blade props will ususally be your fastest prop. A four blade prop will be smoother and make the boat easier to drive than a three-blade prop, but you may loose a couple of MPHs with a four blade prop over a three. Try to borrow a few props to get a better idea of what works for you before plunking down a ton of cash for a new prop. I'm sure that there are a a few 22 Classic owners here who make specific prop recomendations.

Fish boy
06-02-2003, 11:00 AM
jskvi,
can't argue with anything Forrest said. I think there was a rep from Turbo at AOTH last weekend with some props. Perhaps someone with a similar setup that was there will chime in as to what they found. Is your's a mirage or mirage+ ?

Also might want to get a gps. It will be a little more consistent/acurate as you try different setups.

jskvi
06-02-2003, 06:32 PM
THANX GUYS FOR YOUR RESPONSE AND HELP. IT COULD BE TOUGH TO FIND A DEALER WHERE I CAN TRY OUT DIFFERENT PROPS, I AM IN THE ISLANDS, AS IN VIRGIN ISLANDS, THATS WHY I NEED MY EXTENDED BOAT FAMILY TO HELP ME WITH THIS ONE.I HOPE THEIR ARE SOME 22 CLASSIC OWNERS OUT THERE WITH SIMILAR SET UPS FOR SOME ALREADY TESTED ADVICE. AGAIN , THANX SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP.
BE SAFE AND HAPPY MOTORING,
JIM

BUIZILLA
06-02-2003, 07:25 PM
I don't think you can go wrong with a 22 Turbo on that boat, and keep the 23 Mirage as a spare.

Just my 2 tenths..

J

boldts
06-02-2003, 10:18 PM
Jim,

I own a 1998 22 Classic with the 454 Carbed engine and Bravo 1 outdrive. Mine has a 1.36:1 gear in the drive which by your description you may also have since your 23" Mirage is only turning 4300 RPM's.

My boat came with a 23" Mirage and only turned 4400. Another issue that I totally disliked was the fact that the boat porposed from 2500 all the way up to 4200. There was no comfortable cruise speed with-out the boat porposing.

I was told by another 22 owner to try a Turbo 1 prop. I ordered a 23 to start because the Turbo has a smaller diameter than the Mirage. I thought that I would gain some RPM's because of the smaller diameter. When I tested the boat with the Turbo, what a difference! The boat no longer porposes in the cruising speeds and instead of running the drive trim fully down, I could actually trim the boat out and make her comfortable to drive. Speed went from 65 to 67 MPH, but the RPM's were still a bit low at 4400.

I sent the 23" back in trade for a 22" Turbo. This prop was terrific on my application. The boat ran 4600 and the speed increased to 68.7 on GPS. The best thing is the manors of the boat are outstanding. No porposing, chine walk, or sudden unknown characteristics. I later added a Hydromotive nose cone over the winter this past year and the boat speed increased again to 69.8 with the additional trim that I can now run turning 4800 RPM's with the same 22" Turbo.

I took the opportunity to test some other Turbo designs on my application this past weekend, but found the 22" Turbo 1 was the best prop for my application.

With this all said, your 4300 with a 23" seems off. My drive was changed to run a higher horse power engine in front of it which was removed before I bought the boat. Most all of the Donzi boats come with a 1.5:1 drive gear ratio. You might want to make sure the tach is reading correctly and that the engine is in top running condition. The 60 MPH also seems to be off has I said mine was doing 65 with a 23" Mirage and the high gear at 4400. I've always used a GPS in my testing and the same one for all tests.

If all checks out to be working correctly including the fuel injectors, here is the Turbo propellers contact information. I personally really like their prop on my boat. I've also heard that a Hydromotive 4 blade works well on the Donzi hull, but I have not yet tried one on my boat.

Turbo Propellers (http://www.turbo-props.com)
2427 North Ritter Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46218
Phone: 1-800-922-9955
Fax: 1-317-542-1176

Ranman
06-03-2003, 08:04 AM
J,

What is the position of the drive trim when you are running at WOT? If you're drive is still tucked all the way down in the water you will not get max RPM and thus speed. I see a 5-7MPH and 500RPM difference between having her trimmed out vs. tucked all the way in. Are you trimming her out at speed? If so, It sounds like there may be another issue. Figure out exactly what your drive ratio is. Most likely it is 1.5:1, but if it is not the 23 may be too much prop.

jskvi
06-03-2003, 08:57 AM
I WANT TO SAY THANX AGAIN FOR ALL THE RESPONSES I AM GETTING. THE DRIVE RATIO IS 1.5:1 AND THE PLANES ARE UP AND THE DRIVE IS FULLY DOWN. I FEEL I AM GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH ALL YOUR HELP. IF ANY OF YOU ALL ARE EVER IN THE ISLANDS, GIVE ME A YELL. WE WILL TAKE A CRUISE FIRST HAND.
THANX,
JIM

smoothie
06-03-2003, 09:36 AM
I took the opportunity to test some other Turbo designs on my application this past weekend, but found the 22" Turbo 1 was the best prop for my application.
Scott,did you try the turbo vector?

Ranman
06-03-2003, 12:44 PM
J,

If your drive is all the way down at Wide Open Throttle (WOT), you are not utilizing the boat's full performance potential. Tucking the drive all the way down will help you get on plane from an idle, but you need to trim it out for max speed. Basically, you want to raise the drive while traveling in a straight line at a good clip. As you trim up you will feel the whole boat loosen up, pick up speed, and gain RPM's. For max speed you want to continue to raise the drive at WOT until the travel results in a loss of speed. When you start to over trim, the RPM's will continue to rise as the prop loses it's bite (so watch the tach closely) and you will thus start to go slower and over-rev the motor. Lower the drive to just below the point where the RPM's increase with no corresponding speed increase. This will be your optimal speed setting. You should also note that you will most likely have to trim the drive back down for heavy cornering. Give this a shot and let us know how you make out. I think you will find a whole new boat is there waiting for you and no major changes are necessary. Like I said, trimming your drive should result in a 5-7 (or more) increase in speed and an add'l 500 or so RPM over having the drive tucked all the way down. MY guess is that you will see 4800 or so on the tach and 66-67 on the speedo when trimmed out properly. :D