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Got my Sabre out yesterday, She was running like a champ. 2016 Sabre, 175 proxs, 67.4 mph, Moderate load, 24p tempest plus, Turning 6100rpm. I feel like I am real close to the rev limiter. My question would be for you guys. Should I buy a 25p prop, or should I send the 24p Prop off to Mark Croxton for some tweeking to get the speed up a little more and the rpms down a couple hundred revs.
We would borrow a Trophy and a Fury before we spent 1/3 to 1/2 that much on a modification that might not really be the answer.
Id try a 24 fury as I switched from a 24 tempest that was just kissing the limiter and picked up 1 mph as well as dropped ~100rpm since they tend to run one pitch taller or equal to a 25 tempest roughly.
Muddywaters, go to page 3 and there is a good bit on Sabre 175 and prop selections. Oldtimer57 has good words to say. We are all chasing the rabbet. I am runnig the 24 furry. John
My new favorite, much to Bass Cat Boats relief, the Fury has replaced the chopper-style props as my preferred prop. The thing that makes em work so well compared to similar thru-hub props 20+ years ago is the PVS idea. You can still get a feel for the old days if you slowly increase the throttle. The prop wont ventilate, the motor cant get into its RPM band, and the prop will hook up so well it will struggle to get out of the water. The PVS system lets the prop wind up a bit, the motor makes horsepower, and the boat jumps out of the water. Used to not be able to swing such a big prop that works on the top end because it was hard to get out of the hole. The Fury changes all of that. You can probably jump the boat into the back of the truck if you are not careful, and still get the top-end.It is not the right answer for every boat apparently, but it is hard to go wrong trying it as a first or second prop.The main problem with the 150/175 is displacement, which turns into torque. Horsepower is good on the top end, but you need low-rpm torque to spin the prop up so that you can get up to speed. The smaller displacement motors can struggle. At one point the main bass motor from merc as 2.0 liters. 150 hp. Then along came the larger 2.4/2.5 150s. Same top end horsepower, but much more low-end torque. In the 90s, a 150 XR6 was 6-7 mph faster than a 2.0 150 merc. If you tried to run the XR6 prop on the 2 liter motor, hole shot was terrible. Then along came the subtle shift to 200 (and now 250 as the primary bass motor). Merc had 2.5 and 3.0 liter 200s. Guess which was the most favored? The short-end of the torque stick reduces your options. Id bet that if BASS had maintained the 150hp limit, wed have 3.0 liter 150s today that would be able to pull stumps out of the river.One thing to watch. Prop diameter. All 24P props are not created equal. If you run a bigger diameter prop, it will run differently and will probably work best at a somewhat higher jack plate setting. If you try a smaller diameter prop, you will probably need to go down about 1/2 of the diameter change to keep the comparison apples-to-apples. Without taking my ruler out, I believe the Fury is just over 1/2″ smaller in diameter. But does it ever run…2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
Thanks for the responses, I am pretty sure I will be bolting a 25 fury up for a test run as this prop is readily available for testing, I will try and locate a trophy to test as well. I have already tested the 24 fury that came with the boat new and the 24 tempest was a better wheel for me. I am holding out hope for the 25 fury. I got a buddy running one on his sabre and his top end is blistering fast for a 175 proxs. And he claims he retained the better part of his hole shot. I guess I will soon find out. Thanks again for the responses.
Did you run the 24 fury at the same jack plate setting as the 24 tempest as oldtimer stated the fury should run about 1/2″ deeper than the tempest. My comparison of RPMs was at the same engine just to be clear though, as you can vary peak rpm raising or lowering the prop to allow more slippage or bite relatively speaking. For example your prop slip is 10% where as mine is 5.Hope that helps, ChrisLast edited by Wheelman on March 1st, 2017, 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Guys, muddywaters did a lot of extensive testing on his setup with another Sabre owner on here, jstew. It was very informative as well. I would agree like BassCat suggests and borrow some props in different size and style. You already know what yours can do. Not sure I would send it off to tweak as it may affect what success you had last summer. We pretty much turn a 25 Tempest to 71 mph on our 175 ProXS at 5900-6000 rpms on a 96 Eyra. We do have a 24 pitch that we drop down to for really heavy loads. Its just how far you want to go to chase Bugs Bunny….96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner
Wheelman wrote:Did you run the 24 fury at the same jack plate setting as the 24 tempest as oldtimer stated the fury should run about 1/2″ deeper than the tempest. My comparison of RPMs was at the same engine just to be clear though, as you can vary peak rpm raising or lowering the prop to allow more slippage or bite relatively speaking. For example your prop slip is 10% where as mine is 5.Hope that helps, ChrisI wanna Catch that wascally wabbit. I tried the 24 fury it was the prop the boat came with, I was not happy with the lift and how flat it ran, not to mention it took alot of distance to get it fully wound out, the Tempest flatout is faster from a dead dig to WOT than the fury was. now the fury may have been a little faster on the top end but took longer to get there than it does the tempest. I am gonna try a 25 fury and see if has the same characteristic as the 24 fury does.
Depending on how “Muddy” is loading his rig – theres a lot of slip going on. Ive run 67 light on my Sabre / 150efi combo with a 24 Tempest and my limiter is much closer to the 5750 mark – maybe 5800 and I was just ticking the limiter in that run. The Tempest carries the load better than the Fury for me – but the even pitches are often “off” right out of the box. My Tempest was a rare “right” one out of the box. Id tend to say it needs to have the pitch trued and heavier cupped to bring down the slip figures. Theres not a lot of cost involved until the full B&B comes in. BTW – on tourneys, I prefer a 24 pitch A40 Trophy. Can hardly wait to get it “tuned”. It carries the load best and is quicker to speed than the Tempest Plus. To me the Trophy is a great compromise between the Tempest & Fury.Before I get flamed on the Tempest vs. Fury debate – Ive run both on my Sabre / 150. Furys a little faster – but needs space to get there. Tempest gets to speed in a much shorter distance and lifts the boat much better. In the lakes / river where Muddy fishes – faster acceleration and load carrying is more important than ultimate GPS scores. Get the slip down into the 9% range “light” and hell be over 70 easily.
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