The official hotboat.com "We get letters" thread

[HB Vic]

We get letters, #9:

"What is the difference between a regular prop and a labbed prop?"

Very good question. I'll do my best to give you a little better understanding of the benefits of a lab finished prop. But first, you might want to check out this video, pretty cool as it shows you how props are made.



One of the things you'll notice in the video is the cookie cutter nature of how props are made. Now think of how boats are made. Even the variation from one hull to another from the same manufacturer can be a huge, not to mention the variations in power, purpose, and weight.

The very basic principle of "labbing" a prop is balance, important thing not shown in the video. Balancing usually isn't done on a standard box props. So there are casting and other variations in the prop. Most of the time these variations are acceptable for most boats and most boating purposes. But for those who are looking for performance and longevity of their equipment, having your props labbed is money well spent. The very basic element of labbing is balancing. Anything that rotates has balance points. If your prop is poorly balanced it can cause vibration issues. Vibration on a piece of rotating equipment will eventually lead to failure. Bearing failure, bearing journal issues, and all sorts of other issues. The greater the piece of rotating equipment is out of balance, and the faster that piece of rotating equipment spins, the faster anything connected to it will eventually fail. Almost everyone has the tires on their car rotated and balanced during normal services. Why would you not have that $500-5000 prop balanced as well??

Another important factor in labbing a prop is essentially tuning the prop for your specific boat and maybe even your specific boating purpose. Changing the characteristics of your prop can greatly affect the performance of your boat. Size, cupping, thinning, and pitch can all be modified. These modifications can greatly affect the performance, efficiency, longevity of your running gear, and handling of your boat.

The vast majority of all props on any performance boats are lab finished.

Here are a couple of resources, random really, you might want to check in to for more detailed information or questions about having your prop(s) labbed.

http://bblades.com/
http://www.mercurymarine.com/propell.../testimonials/


I hope that answers your question.

HB

[Menace Marine]

We get letters, #9:

"What is the difference between a regular prop and a labbed prop?"

Very good question. I'll do my best to give you a little better understanding of the benefits of a lab finished prop. But first, you might want to check out this video, pretty cool as it shows you how props are made.



One of the things you'll notice in the video is the cookie cutter nature of how props are made. Now think of how boats are made. Even the variation from one hull to another from the same manufacturer can be a huge, not to mention the variations in power, purpose, and weight.

The very basic principle of "labbing" a prop is balance, important thing not shown in the video. Balancing usually isn't done on a standard box props. So there are casting and other variations in the prop. Most of the time these variations are acceptable for most boats and most boating purposes. But for those who are looking for performance and longevity of their equipment, having your props labbed is money well spent. The very basic element of labbing is balancing. Anything that rotates has balance points. If your prop is poorly balanced it can cause vibration issues. Vibration on a piece of rotating equipment will eventually lead to failure. Bearing failure, bearing journal issues, and all sorts of other issues. The greater the piece of rotating equipment is out of balance, and the faster that piece of rotating equipment spins, the faster anything connected to it will eventually fail. Almost everyone has the tires on their car rotated and balanced during normal services. Why would you not have that $500-5000 prop balanced as well??

Another important factor in labbing a prop is essentially tuning the prop for your specific boat and maybe even your specific boating purpose. Changing the characteristics of your prop can greatly affect the performance of your boat. Size, cupping, thinning, and pitch can all be modified. These modifications can greatly affect the performance, efficiency, longevity of your running gear, and handling of your boat.

The vast majority of all props on any performance boats are lab finished.

Here are a couple of resources, random really, you might want to check in to for more detailed information or questions about having your prop(s) labbed.

http://bblades.com/
http://www.mercurymarine.com/propell.../testimonials/


I hope that answers your question.

HB

I would add to this and say do all your initial testing with stock props. Only then can you go to a prop shop with enough info to have your prop tuned. One guys bad ass lab'd prop may be horrible on your boat. I had a lab 32 on my boat when I first put it together. It handled like crap. It would lift the right sponson then the left then it would drop. Like a weird twisting porpoise. I tried trim, more throttle, less throttle didn't matter. Put a stock 32 on and the boat ran straight as an arrow. It isn't always this way but stock props are at least somewhat consistent. You can take your results to a prop guy and he can set you up with the perfect prop. Hope this made a little sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WESTERNAERO]

I've got a question..

The tags for this thread are: canned ham sucks, gn7 is rude, hotboat rules, rd sux, we get letters, whiny old people

What are these "tags"? What is their purpose?

[HB Vic]

I've got a question..

The tags for this thread are: canned ham sucks, gn7 is rude, hotboat rules, rd sux, we get letters, whiny old people

What are these "tags"? What is their purpose?

Yikes. I fixed it.

[WESTERNAERO]

Yikes. I fixed it.

What are they?

[HB Vic]

What are they?

Tags. Every thread can have them. They're used to search and other things. If they get out of control they can be turned off. I didn't even see those LOL

[WESTERNAERO]

Tags. Every thread can have them. They're used to search and other things. If they get out of control they can be turned off. I didn't even see those LOL

Are they for smart phones, Is it a tapatalk thing? Who puts them there?

[Stainless]

I would add to this and say do all your initial testing with stock props. Only then can you go to a prop shop with enough info to have your prop tuned. One guys bad ass lab'd prop may be horrible on your boat. I had a lab 32 on my boat when I first put it together. It handled like crap. It would lift the right sponson then the left then it would drop. Like a weird twisting porpoise. I tried trim, more throttle, less throttle didn't matter. Put a stock 32 on and the boat ran straight as an arrow. It isn't always this way but stock props are at least somewhat consistent. You can take your results to a prop guy and he can set you up with the perfect prop. Hope this made a little sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for explaining even deeper, my boat exhibits that "roping" effect too. It's not very much, but the left sponson picks up slightly and sets down on the right, I have to steer with a slight left "English". I always thought it was bc of old technology boat or bc of the way I spin the props. Admittedly, I need to record these differences from one set of props to another when testing.


CH3NO2