OK Mr.Trueser my report as promised

[MOP]

Mike very graciously FedXed me his 23 cleaver, the results were mixed but as follows.

21 Mirage @ Idle in canal 5.4 - 23 cleaver 4.7

@ 3500 21 41.2 - 23 cleaver 44.6

@ WOT 21 5600 63 23 cleaver 5100 65.1

If Ted is correct and I believ he is, that the Bravo suck 2 miles an hour off over an Alpha I think the beast is running very well indeed.

Behind the wheel the Mirage was very steady at all speeds with a good hole shot, a nice comfy prop.
The cleaver on the other hand airs out in high speed turns take a little to catch its self once flat has a fair hole shot, the unsettling thing is how twitchy it makes the boat feel at all but high speed 4000 and above, at low planing speeds it did a couple of roll the boat on its ear things that was spooky, it would also roll the boat side to side pretty quickly on any fast throttle changes up or down. None of the above pleased Bonnie very much, she asked a few times what was wrong but did have a $#(T eating grin at 65 she does like to go fast.
After diner and a few drinks thoughts!
Do I like the speed increase yes and the handling no, would I let someone not familiar run the boat No Way, I will fool with it another couple of times and decide if a cleaver is for me. Overall it was great at WOT but spooky the rest of the time exception with 4 aboard it turned 61 and was not spooky. On the way home it was pitch black and through Flanders Bay and a bunch of wicked buoys had to for go any more tests, testing will continue soon with a clear head!

Phil

[Trueser]

Ok Mr MOP,

I had the same feeling with the Cleaver. TAke your time and have fun with it. I'm in no hurry. I removed the windshield off my 22 and this may take a few days to get her back together, Anyway I have a prop on the 22 that works great.

Im glad you hit 65......................weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee e

Mike'

[MOP]

Thanks Mike! I have always considered seat time as a high speed issue, it kind of threw me that the cleaver spooks you at low to very moderate speeds. This thing did two George Carters on me last night, almost no reason roll ups. One I think was caused by me shifting in my seat just before getting onto full plane and the other just snuck up on me while running fairly slow. I will try to get out again and see what goes! I am going to see if I can bum a 23 Mirage locally see what that does for my cruise speed, that is more important then top for my usage.

Phil

[Rodger]

I have a 25 Cleaver that I used temporarily on my 22 until I obtained the correct prop. It did some of what you experienced with the rolling the boat on it's side for no apparent reason. This 25 Cleaver was actually the prop for my 16, which at the time had a SB 400 in it. The 16 though, did not have the tendency to roll on it's side. I would have expected the 16 to be worse than the 22. A possible reason may be the difference in depth the outdrive is in the water. The 16 has an Alpha that is mounted relatively high compared to the TRS on the 22, which is at the original 'X' dimention used in 1978 (very low). I use a Mirage on the 22 now and the boat is still very sensitive to positive and negative torque but doesn't just roll for the heck of it.

[MOP]

I can learn to get used to the torque issue but the sneak up roll has me wondering, glad it in not just me. Spoke to MP he said a good cleaver will do the job right. Will try it again hopefully later today or tomorrow.

Phil