splash today

[bob lico]

almost a perfect day but had problems with salt water washdown,it seam like the motor can`t pull water thru the 2"manifold.motor works fine but no water out hose bib!the boat is dial in perfect.i remove 4 blade of which i try at least 10 differant pair and went to these huge 3 blade 21" (has more surface area then 4 blade)props are raked 5 degrees with a wild cup way beyond a #5 the cup goes around the top of the ear!!! varible pitch.cruise 31knot in 2' chop and 30.8 into the wind.one engine ran 4.8knots at idle and both 5.2knots.

[nic]

like the motor can`t pull water thru the 2"manifold

Oh oh....sorry 'bout that Bob. You have gone to an unbelievable amount of effort to get the performance just how you want it...love reading your updates, more power to you.

Nic

[JP Dalik]

21xwhat????????????????

[bob lico]

jp it is not that easy.this is not a store bought prop.as you know i am foutunate enough to have access to all facillities of a major marina.i can change props like socks and have many options available.i have used 5blade,4 blade, and 3 blade.this winter while the boat was on the hard i took the bottom down to gel coat then used a lasor and straight edge to make the bottom nats ass perfect.this "blueprinting"in conjuction with the extented shaft log and faired structs will make this 31 bert as fast a bottom as possible.
you are in a marina and you see the high performace boats. look at a ron hill race prop most likely it will have a negative rake it keeps the boat slightly bow proud to level every boat requires differant degrees of rake like i keep telling the guys on this board trim tabs are not for a 31bert it means you are doing somthing wrong can`t drive a boat with a oar in the water.ok so i rake these props.the "ears" on these 21" nibral were as wide asthey were long almost a solid mass then bossler&sweezey eye`s lit up when he saw the ELLIS symbol on them.the best of the best."we can make that 31 fly with these so he work on them and "skew them a bit" back to you jp they started out as 25 pitch but that is misleading i just mention maximum water push with this # 8 cup if you want to call it that and these triangle ears.i will take the boat out to wash bottom in two months and take pictures.the boat increase 2.5 knots with the bottom work and props of course i cannot troll for stripe bass at 4.8 knots but i am working on that.incidently some huge bass were caught just out the inlet one 63lbs. and a bunch of 50+ all on live bunker or live shad no trolling.the boat has a half tank(116 gallons) and is stock with beer and tackle,4/0 genset and everything but ice and fly with complete safety bowproud probally up to 3and 4' rollars.

[DRIFTER31]

Bob.....Can we see pictures of those wild props.

[bob lico]

drifter 31 like i said;i will be taking the boat out for a bottom cleaning in two months then i will take pictures as well as place a standard michican 4 blade DXnext to these experimentals for comparison. i don`t want you to get the impression that i built the props actually i just gave the prop guy some ideas that were sucessfully used by offshore race boats and deep vee downeast inboard racing boats(popular in maine).if you are retired you can sit back and watch "i love lucy reruns" or put time and effort into proping for maximum efficiency as well as overall fuel economy.in closing let me say this:the 31 bertram cruising in the ocean at 30.8 knots is a beautiful thing.she is riding on the inner stakes and with the least amount of water drag and no tabs the bertram 31 is at it`s best fuel efficiency for the given speed.

[Raybo Marine NY]

how did your touch up go

[Harry Babb]

TWO MONTHS! ! !..........that's like an eternity, Bob..........especially for people (like me) with little or no patience......Ha........

What about if we all chip in for a haul out.........can we get pics tomorrow????? (trying to be funny....) Ha Ha

Your speed sound incredable to me........ain't no Stripers down here anyhow! ! ! I personally prefer bottom or drift fishing.....with both motors shut off and listening to a little Janice Joplin, George Jones and the Rolling Stones

Harry

[bob lico]

bob grace the yard glass man saw me with the preval sprayer and gave me my medicine right back."putting a sprayer in your hand is like giving a child a loaded 38 cal. to play with!!.he spay it and buff it out.i learn another one today.when touching up a spot on the boat you MUST fold the tape over no definite edge.hopefully i never have a scratch again.one thing to be said you have to love that emron.easy to repair or i should say paint blend.-----------------thanks robbie for the touch up paint

[thuddddddd]

........ain't no Strippers down here anyhow! ! !


Harry

Harry, how do you survive? come on up we got plenty of stippers here, but make sure you bring a pile of 1's and 5's...........

[JP Dalik]

I'll wait Bob.
Trying to figure out how to these 330's to be all they can be. At 30 kts she's still bow proud and steerable in the snot with late 70's rudders. I know I have the power just gotta get the manifold pressure and exhaust temperature gauges to figure out when to stop propping it.
If I can get 30kts at cruise and roughly 34.5 top end I will be happy.
Got the trolling valves to pull the spoons so I'm not to worried about that.
Saw a 30ft. Moppie with the same engines and reduction swinging 21x25's boat 10 years old with no engine problems. I think I'm gonna wheel till it smokes on take off and cut back. Haven't got there yet with 20x26 and #5cup 3 blades. Engines still no smoke up hill full of fuel.
With fuel at 5 I'm going for as much speed for rpm as possible.


BTW they weighed the first blue out of manasquan this week 440. Got a few pieces. All I can say is Yumm. Don't like to kill them but if they come up dead you better get a piece. Puts yellowfin to shame.

[bob lico]

when you prop a boat for maximum go there are areas of design that tend to be a grey areaas oposed to right and wrong for one i feel slippage cost fuel money and that is why i went with the radical cup.i want to "push" all the unairated water i possibly can per 21" thats the max. i can fit under the boat leaving 2" of clearance from tip of prop to bottom of boat.a normal store bought prop with a # 5 cup has the cupping stop about 3/4 up thr outside edge of the prop.these props have the cup all the way around the actual tip of each blade and down 1" on the inside.next the 3 blades actually "tilt"( if that the right word)back.the actual ear is 11/2 times the size of a 4 blade and is triangler shape but rounded in the middle.the pitch is actually variable to give more prop speed.it starts out at the hub at 23.5 then twist or skew as phil called it to 26 at the tip.very hard to describe looks weird.the boat takes slightly longer to get on plane possibly 7or 8 seconds (don`t forget i have vulcan drives) and when it exceeds 1900 rpm the boat lurches with incrediable power you really feel the torque and then the turbo`s give a differant whining sound and the boat rockets about 26knots on up man on man you hate to back off and i say with all due respect to this ridiculas idea of rldt fu-k you.
my boat has no weight forward other then a token fortress alluminum anchor with 50' of rode no chain use for double anchor at fire island.the v-berth is empty nothing in forward storage or clothing lockers.all weight is shifted aft of the bulkhead.engine are almost touching engine hatches.all construction under passageway,bottom of engine hatches, rear bulkhead,anf all other contruction except cockpit hatches are made from azek.cockpit hatches are coosa board and weight a pound.trust me she is built light.flybridge is divinicell and soft top is stamoid.i sit about 10" further back on bridge than normal.today i took her for a spin in the bay and met up with a 30' luhrs with 315hp yammars.he is from the marina and we stood side by side and drop the hammer.i back off 1 mile latter ------------blew his doors off!!!


capt bob lico ---out

[Harry Babb]

Timmy

You're one funny guy.............STRIPERS.......STRIPPERS.........like Daffy Duck once said "Pronoun Problems"

Do you use the same bait for Stripers that you use for Strippers???

Harry

[Tony Meola]

Harry

The bait he uses for strippers is much bigger than the bait he tries to use for stripers.

[JP Dalik]

Tony,
No it isn't I talked with Kathy

[Raybo Marine NY]

you mask FAR away, a little overspray around the repair wont hurt anything because you are going to buff it out anyhow.

In your case- mask the name, and the bootstripe, paper at least 1' away from the repair area

[Capt. DQ]

Bob,
The Michigan DJX 3-blade Nibral's is the wheel I found to be the best for my 31 with the 250 Cummins. I'm running 21x21 w/ 3-cup, could put more pitch in it for more speed but not wanting to load the engines to much because with growth on the under gear want let them turn up to where you need to be, plus easier on the engines to get longer life. These props will give 3-blade speed with the smoothness of a 4-blade. My gears are ZF220/1:53.1 ratio.

R,
DQ

[ZeroCavity]

Hi Bob !!

Enjoying what your doing, reminds me of my performance days.
Anyway I have to tell you that when I get waves higher that 3 feet coming toward me the boat do much better with my Volvo Trim Blades. More confortable ride and increase speed up to 1 knot.

I'm still learning and knowing my B31.
30.5 knots @ 4000 rpm top speed
24 knots @ 3200 rpm, My preferred cruising speed
Yanmar 6LP @ 310hp
Michigan DQX Nibral 20/21 with 4 cup port side, 20/20.25 starboard side

[bob lico]

capt dq the djx prop better known as dyna -jet has the same triangle ear as mine and if you look at the michigan chart you will see a listing for michigan performance ski boat propellers the 3 blade version is almost exact in general shape but if i was to go out and buy a prop for your spec.i would buy a dyna-jet 21" cupped nibral.they are proven performers in this day and age of fuel prices out of sight.2 years ago i would have argued the point for 4 blade.btw.the federal line of props. in equi-quad is much the same both are constant pitch, nibral,cupped and will do the job on a 31 bert with 250 to 330 hp cummins/volvo/.if you run yammars you can go both ways taking advantage of the high speed diesel in a LIGHT 31 or prop it for torque as a cummins by way of trans ratio.
zero cavity just want to say i love both of your berts and that 20' should be on display in a nautical museum.getting back to your props you can up the top speed by going to a dyna-jet but why bother in a pleasure use i would leave well enough alone.on the subject of volvo trim blades if you wanted to experiment with a raked prop you would not need tabs and try to avoid direct head seas -no i am not sujesting tacking like a sailboat but a 31 bert on pleasure should take a course to avoid head seas above 4'.

[JP Dalik]

I've got to say Bob, I love my trim tabs.
98 miles home in 5 foot makes you really happy that little 31 footer has trim tabs. Our typical rides out of Manasquan are southerly on the way out (starboard quarter) and SW, W or NW on the way home (port quarter or right on the nose)

Trim Tabs on a B31. Up here in the Northeast I'll keep them every day and never look back.