Hi all, I swapped my original black max 7 year old, aluminum, three blade, 21 pitch prop for a Hustler, 21 pitch, three blade aluminum model from IBoats. The black max was just a little worn but in overall accetable shape but I needed a spare prior to our week long vacation to several new lakes.
A little back ground; My 2003 Chaparral is excessively heavy, 2900 lbs dry, plus has a 33 gallon fuel tank though it is only 18 feet and only has the a 190hp mercruiser. The 270hp v8 was offered as optional power the next year and certainly would have been nice. Previously it performed ok with the original prop able to hit 4900 rpm's with 4 people at 46mph, completely loaded and get to 5100+ rpms with two of us with 6 or so gallons of gas to 52mph. I rarely ever only had that light of a load so can't take advantage of the extra rpm's. I was really looking for more top end and if possible a little more out of the hole.
The results were mixed. The Hustler prop is cupped with a very different blade geometry and vent holes than the very basic Black Max. The Black Max seems to have more blade area though the diameter of both props was 21 1/4
With the full load on a familiar lake I quickly got an easy 50mph (all GPS speeds) lbut at only 4650 or so rpm's with our heaviest load we'd ever have on the boat something not ever possible before. Then on that same day I could only get 48mph then only 45. It consistently dropped throughout the day for some unknown reasons. The hole shot was just a bit better overall than the Black Max. The biggest difference is that with the Black Max to get top end speed I had to really work the trim to the point of the prop almost coming out of the water. Now with the Hustler, the trim has almost no effect on speed at all however, as I said above I now have lost several mph.
The second day of our vacation, we went to a very nice, unfamiliar, not so clear, large lake but quite a bit shallower. The prop was even slower topping out at 40 - 42mph at those same rpm's plus I drove through some sand which dinged up all the edges pretty good something I rarely do. I should have put the old prop back on I realize.
So from the beginning, the hustler prop looked a little offset when you spun it by hand, the barrel did not seem completely round. Now when you spin it by hand the barrel is even more offset. I have to imagine this has something to do with the continuous slowing down of the boat at WOT. It almost looked like the prop was remanufactured out of the box as the paint on two of the blades wasn't smooth and one blade wasn't completely smooth on the leading edge. In addition, the familiar lake I mentioned was loaded like never before with massive floating beds of invasive species. I drove through one, stopped in the middle, idled out, took off and spun the hub a little. I cleared the weeds and I thought no harm was caused but again I have never even come close to spinnin the hub ever so am not sure.
We took the boat to other lakes on the vacation and the max speed now tops out at abut 41mph. So now I am a bit confused. I had expected big things from the Hustler which it seemed to provide for about 10 minutes then it was all down hill.
The vacation had it's share of issues, including the prop issues I mentioned, a small scratch on a chine (the first on the boat) from the ramp and a trailer tire blow out.
A little back ground; My 2003 Chaparral is excessively heavy, 2900 lbs dry, plus has a 33 gallon fuel tank though it is only 18 feet and only has the a 190hp mercruiser. The 270hp v8 was offered as optional power the next year and certainly would have been nice. Previously it performed ok with the original prop able to hit 4900 rpm's with 4 people at 46mph, completely loaded and get to 5100+ rpms with two of us with 6 or so gallons of gas to 52mph. I rarely ever only had that light of a load so can't take advantage of the extra rpm's. I was really looking for more top end and if possible a little more out of the hole.
The results were mixed. The Hustler prop is cupped with a very different blade geometry and vent holes than the very basic Black Max. The Black Max seems to have more blade area though the diameter of both props was 21 1/4
With the full load on a familiar lake I quickly got an easy 50mph (all GPS speeds) lbut at only 4650 or so rpm's with our heaviest load we'd ever have on the boat something not ever possible before. Then on that same day I could only get 48mph then only 45. It consistently dropped throughout the day for some unknown reasons. The hole shot was just a bit better overall than the Black Max. The biggest difference is that with the Black Max to get top end speed I had to really work the trim to the point of the prop almost coming out of the water. Now with the Hustler, the trim has almost no effect on speed at all however, as I said above I now have lost several mph.
The second day of our vacation, we went to a very nice, unfamiliar, not so clear, large lake but quite a bit shallower. The prop was even slower topping out at 40 - 42mph at those same rpm's plus I drove through some sand which dinged up all the edges pretty good something I rarely do. I should have put the old prop back on I realize.
So from the beginning, the hustler prop looked a little offset when you spun it by hand, the barrel did not seem completely round. Now when you spin it by hand the barrel is even more offset. I have to imagine this has something to do with the continuous slowing down of the boat at WOT. It almost looked like the prop was remanufactured out of the box as the paint on two of the blades wasn't smooth and one blade wasn't completely smooth on the leading edge. In addition, the familiar lake I mentioned was loaded like never before with massive floating beds of invasive species. I drove through one, stopped in the middle, idled out, took off and spun the hub a little. I cleared the weeds and I thought no harm was caused but again I have never even come close to spinnin the hub ever so am not sure.
We took the boat to other lakes on the vacation and the max speed now tops out at abut 41mph. So now I am a bit confused. I had expected big things from the Hustler which it seemed to provide for about 10 minutes then it was all down hill.
The vacation had it's share of issues, including the prop issues I mentioned, a small scratch on a chine (the first on the boat) from the ramp and a trailer tire blow out.
