The fall of the almighty trophy prop...

[yanny_haulinbass]

Damn it! It seems to be a trend lately. Just when I think I have things figured out, I try something and find out I was dead wrong. I was going to trade my chopper for a trophy prop after doing a lot of research and reading on the forum.

I got my hands on a 23 tempest, 23 trophy, 23 renegade, and my 26 chopper. I tried all of them at 9 different engine heights. The trophy was the poorest overall prop out of the bunch. The tempest was the best until the upper end of the engine heights tested (it carried the bow nice and high). It began to slip and top end was slower. This is the point where the chopper started to shine. The chopper had by far the best hole shot of any of the props and the higher I went the faster it got. I would have gone even higher but I ran out of daylight....

I am posting this to reinforce what I have read so many times; every prop has a sweet spot and every hull is different. Try as many props as you can and experiment with engine height for each one!

[SportJ-US-1]

Choppers like to be high for the go fast end and with a transom jack you can stuff them deep enough to get a decent holeshot. Back in the dark ages when I ran Sport J, I switch to choppers on Ron Anderson recommendation. He said it would be faster. After jacking the engine to the moon the boat was 11 mph faster than with the cleaver (sorry Ron Hill). And the holeshot, with the prop shaft 1 5/8" above the bottom of the shoes, would still beat the V-6 boys to the 100 yard mark. After that I lacked the horsepower to stay in front.

[yanny_haulinbass]

After reading some more posts, some guys sure love that trophy... I read an interesting article when researching bodger custom propellers (I think there is actually a link on this site) where they took 3 brand new trophy propellers. Not one of the damn things was a true 24 pitch. Some had blades that varied from 22 to 25 or something like that.


The moral of the story here is try some props, try some more, and try some more. Every prop is gonna be different. Some props vary a lot from pitch to pitch. Certain trophys are supposed to be better than others, research it here and see for yourself (difference between 26 and 27 trophy). The trophy I tried was brand new, right out of the box and it sucked in my application. Experiment and experiment. When you think you have it figured out, record your setup and keep experimenting with more props and setups.

Guys on this site can definately point you in the right direction but if they have never driven your boat and played with the setup themselves you might be better off asking that Miss Cleo or what ever her name is on television which prop is best for your boat.

[THE FAST ONE]

After reading some more posts, some guys sure love that trophy... I read an interesting article when researching bodger custom propellers (I think there is actually a link on this site) where they took 3 brand new trophy propellers. Not one of the damn things was a true 24 pitch. Some had blades that varied from 22 to 25 or something like that.


The moral of the story here is try some props, try some more, and try some more. Every prop is gonna be different. Some props vary a lot from pitch to pitch. Certain trophys are supposed to be better than others, research it here and see for yourself (difference between 26 and 27 trophy). The trophy I tried was brand new, right out of the box and it sucked in my application. Experiment and experiment. When you think you have it figured out, record your setup and keep experimenting with more props and setups.

Guys on this site can definately point you in the right direction but if they have never driven your boat and played with the setup themselves you might be better off asking that Miss Cleo or what ever her name is on television which prop is best for your boat. MY EXPERENCE HAS BEEN LATELY,NONE OF MERC. PROPS WORK GREAT ANY MORE ,WITH OUT HAVING THEM WORKED,BY A GOOD PROP SHOP! THEY WORKED GREAT SOME YEARS AGO,NEWER ONE'S ALL SEEM TO SUCK! --ED