Try any mercury prop you want for $100.00 an hour.

[syclone01]

Friend of mine in Sarasota has every prop that merc makes. He can meet you at the boat ramp and you can try anything you like for 100.00 an hr, then if you find one you really like he will sell it to you at a real good price. He can also special order a lot of props at good prices. Check out his website. www.propgods.com (http://www.propgods.com) his name is ken and real easy to work with. He bought my Four Winns U17 with the 302 efi 220hp. He runs 65gps. We tried many, many props on it.

[Donziweasel]

No offense, but that ain't that great a deal. Is it per prop per hour or try as many props as you want for an hour?
Personally, I think if you buy a prop, testing should be included.

[chappy]

That's a lot of props to bring to a ramp.

[justleft]

Umm, I think he needs to stock more then just Merc.

Seems there are better options for Donzi's needing bow lift.

But prop tuning at the ramp may be worth $100 an hr.

[BUIZILLA]

I think from a business and customer standpoint that it's a very fair deal..

you spend 4 hours for $400 and learn something or you spend $400 on a prop from somewhere else that doesn't work and your stuck with it and haven't learned anything

great service, too bad they don't do it on the east coast of FLA

[zelatore]

too bad they don't do it on the east coast
I keep trying to tell you boys, ALL of FL is the east coast! The whole bloomin' state is what ... 200 miles across??

[BUIZILLA]

... 200 miles across?? depends.. :cool:

[syclone01]

try as many as you can in 1hr.....he's pretty flexible. Or order one for 500.00 from someone else and live with what you get. It's amazing how much one identical boat will react differently to the same prop as another identical boat. He tests props on anything from 25hp motors to the new 350hp yamaha outboards. He tests around the sarasota area, but will travel a bit. He had a Huge box van with about 70k dollars in props. My brother used to be business partners with him, they are good friends. He has like every bravo 1, mirage, tempest etc, if he doesn't have it he will get one for you to try. He's tested huge yellowfin boats with twins or trips and got some customers .2mpg better, and better holeshot and better top end. That will add up quickly when you put in 300 gallons of gas. He was out in a 115mph cat several weeks ago. He's also friends with the guy that owns Performance Propeller in bradenton/tampa area. Just trying to give some of you a chance to make your boat run better. He has traveled to jacksonville, and the east coast. I think he might even let you buy a prop to try, and if you don't like it return it for a small fee as long as it isn't damaged. Try that with most any other outfit. Meet him at the ramp, try 2-3 or 4 props. Pay 100.00 bucks. IF you like one, just leave on the boat.

[mike o]

65 MPH with 4.3 for the U 17 pretty fast.... Like 6-7 mph more than my 95 16 with a 4.3....:nilly: Whats the secret:kingme::garfield::kingme:

[BigGrizzly]

Or you can come to an event and try what I have for free. I will say that this guy is doing business a good way, and it seems fair to me. I just do the other two good brands Precision and Solas.

[DonziDan16]

65 MPH with 4.3 for the U 17 pretty fast.... Like 6-7 mph more than my 95 16 with a 4.3....:nilly: Whats the secret:kingme::garfield::kingme:

I'm guessing there's a weight difference?

[mattyboy]

the U boats also came with duoprop plus the u 17 had a rounded keel with full length inner lifting strakes. they were fast and loose and made the powerboat test driver fraidy scared

:rolleyes:

[Barry Eller]

I keep trying to tell you boys, ALL of FL is the east coast! The whole bloomin' state is what ... 200 miles across??


Pensacola to Jacksonville 353 miles

Pensacola to Key West 828 miles

Florida has the Atlantic Coast (East Coast), and the Gulf Coast(West Coast).

You are on the "Left Coast"...:biggrin:

We "Ain't" a little State, and yes we have a lot of "Northerners" and "Old" people here too.:cool!:

[Walt. H.]

Syclone,
I also fail to see the great deal @ $100.00 per hr.

The time it takes in most boating areas to idle out thru the No Wake Zone to open water from the boat ramp is 10 to 20 minutes each way on average then add the time to remove and replace your shaft with another prop about 3-5 minutes off & on, and don't forget mentioning the five minutes each time it takes to get your trailer from the parking area to the ramp and put it back after getting your boat in and out of the water.
Add that all up and you're using 40 to 50 minutes to test just one prop if you don't incounter any other people delays, and I haven't even added in any actual full throttle run time which you would need another 10 - 15 minutes to run in two different directions to calculate your comparisons to your previous prop and then make your return to the No Wake Zone.

I realize the mans time and inventory is valuable, but it would be a better deal for both parties if it was a daily flat morning to afternoon or 24 hr rental fee charge from his place of business with a refundable deposit on each prop to cover the cost of damage or loss if you didn't return it in the same condition, and your buddy wouldn't be wasting his time waiting at the boat ramp each day for every customer to return with his prop. :nilly:
Plus he would be able to rent more props at the same time and increase his income with sales thru those rentals, a win win situation for all.:yes:

[BigGrizzly]

I will tell you this you will be only able to try only one or two props in an hour, been there and done that. Ask osur866 and steve440 about how long it takes to swap props and test. But time is money and how much does this guy spend going to the location, or does he charge for that too. Just remember I do this to and ship props too and do pretty well helping people at events.

[Ken2]

I'm Ken with the company mentioned above.

Just to clarify, its $95 an hour, test anything you want.
I've had people test 6 sets in 1 hour, I've had people only run 2.
Where we normally test, (10th st Sarasota) its all of 1 minute of no wake zone to the bay. Some guys just test top speed, some go through all the rpm ranges. Your not forced to buy a prop, its just something we offer if you want to go try something without blowing $500 +
Its obviously more attractive for guys running twin, trip, and quad setups.
Not many places I know of, bring them out on any given day to run back to back.
I'm normally pretty "nice" with the time clock too.

Other brands? I'd love to, but when you think of every pitch and style of merc prop, and having standard and counter rotation enough for trip engines, it adds up. Maybe one day though.

As for the U-17. It has a Volvo/ford 5.0L 220 hp at the prop supposidly.
It runs 62mph anyday, 64mph with one guy, no cooler and 10 gal of fuel.
24 pitch Fury seemed to work well and is fairly easy to handle compared to some other ones. No clue on the weight of this boat.

What do you guys normally run on the 16 and 18 Donzi's.

We run a 23 Donzi ZF with twin 200 HPDI's 23 Mirage Plus's, 62.8mph
And I've ran some 30 ZF's with various power, but I've yet to run the smaller ones.

[Ken2]

Syclone,
I also fail to see the great deal @ $100.00 per hr.

The time it takes in most boating areas to idle out thru the No Wake Zone to open water from the boat ramp is 10 to 20 minutes each way on average then add the time to remove and replace your shaft with another prop about 3-5 minutes off & on, and don't forget mentioning the five minutes each time it takes to get your trailer from the parking area to the ramp and put it back after getting your boat in and out of the water.
Add that all up and you're using 40 to 50 minutes to test just one prop if you don't incounter any other people delays, and I haven't even added in any actual full throttle run time which you would need another 10 - 15 minutes to run in two different directions to calculate your comparisons to your previous prop and then make your return to the No Wake Zone.

I realize the mans time and inventory is valuable, but it would be a better deal for both parties if it was a daily flat morning to afternoon or 24 hr rental fee charge from his place of business with a refundable deposit on each prop to cover the cost of damage or loss if you didn't return it in the same condition, and your buddy wouldn't be wasting his time waiting at the boat ramp each day for every customer to return with his prop. :nilly:
Plus he would be able to rent more props at the same time and increase his income with sales thru those rentals, a win win situation for all.:yes:

I do send many props out to people that are far away. Its much easier.
However, the reason most shops dont lend out props (localy), is because they never get them back quickly.
Most Mercury Dealers are suppose to have a "demo" program. None of them do because they hardly ever get them back.
When I meet them at a ramp or house, they test props back to back. Same wind, same load, same temperature, same everything. So the numbers are as perfect of a comparison as you can get. If you send props back and forth and it takes a few days between runs and your comparing props that are 2mph difference, It may have been colder that day, wind might have helped, current, etc...

[BigGrizzly]

KenI do a similar thing with testing and sending out props. You can do the Mercs and Powertech and I will do the Precision and Solas.

[syclone01]

65 MPH with 4.3 for the U 17 pretty fast.... Like 6-7 mph more than my 95 16 with a 4.3....:nilly: Whats the secret:kingme::garfield::kingme:

reread the post

[syclone01]

Syclone,
I also fail to see the great deal @ $100.00 per hr.

The time it takes in most boating areas to idle out thru the No Wake Zone to open water from the boat ramp is 10 to 20 minutes each way on average then add the time to remove and replace your shaft with another prop about 3-5 minutes off & on, and don't forget mentioning the five minutes each time it takes to get your trailer from the parking area to the ramp and put it back after getting your boat in and out of the water.
Add that all up and you're using 40 to 50 minutes to test just one prop if you don't incounter any other people delays, and I haven't even added in any actual full throttle run time which you would need another 10 - 15 minutes to run in two different directions to calculate your comparisons to your previous prop and then make your return to the No Wake Zone.

I realize the mans time and inventory is valuable, but it would be a better deal for both parties if it was a daily flat morning to afternoon or 24 hr rental fee charge from his place of business with a refundable deposit on each prop to cover the cost of damage or loss if you didn't return it in the same condition, and your buddy wouldn't be wasting his time waiting at the boat ramp each day for every customer to return with his prop. :nilly:
Plus he would be able to rent more props at the same time and increase his income with sales thru those rentals, a win win situation for all.:yes:
I understand what your saying, but when the U17 was mine, ken and I probably tested 4-5 props within an hr. I just backed the boat in backwards, tilted drive up, ken waded in and we had prop off in like 1 or 2 minutes and new one on in about same time. He pushed me out, drive down and took off. Takes only about 1min to get through the no wake zone and WOT. Run the boat both ways, look at gps, head back to ramp. The differences are obvious in handling and top speed. It's not many times these days when you actually have someone that is runnning a business that really wants to see you get good results out of their service. He is "clock friendly". He doesn't charge to meet you at the ramp as long as it's one within descent driving distance.