Repitching a Fury4

[Jz71sports]

Is it possible to repitch a Fury4 prop?

[Mike Stephens]

+/- 1" of pitch is all that can be done

[lpugh]

pitching down does not work very well, Pitching up the prop guy has lot more options such as adding progression which can be of great benifit

[Esox Z518C]

Mark Croxton told me no.

[Mike Stephens]

Mark repitched my fury 4 25 down to 24 and made no comments about it. It worked just fine.

[Judson1]

pitching down does not work very well, Pitching up the prop guy has lot more options such as adding progression which can be of great benifit

Does that rule go for most props? Or just the Fury? Asking because my 25 tempest needs to be a 24.

[Mroziere]

Mark recommended against trying to take my 19 pitch tempest plus down…and I certainly appreciated his honesty. I assume every situation could be different.

[Pulsare2020]

Maybe it depends on which pitch you have? I think they only make the Fury 4 in 23, 24 25, & 26P. I never owned one so I don't know if each pitch has its own casting. Bravo castings are only made in even pitches like a 24P. If you order a 24.5, 25, 25.5 they just keep adding cup but the blade angle remains like a 24P. I own a Bravo FS and a ProMax. They only make the ProMax in even pitches as well. If you order a 26P ProMax you get the casting. If you order a 25.5, 25, or 24.5 you get a 26P casting with cup removed. Is the Fury 4 similar to that? Maybe Mark will add or remove cup to change the pitch but not bend the blades because there is no pitch block made for the intermediate pitches (again, if each has its own casting then they are all different) but I do not know the answer to that for a Fury 4.

[Mike Stephens]

those intermediate pitches are changes in cup only, making the prop "stand taller" if you will. Mark will add or reduce cup as well to change pitches, but he will also hammer them on pitch blocks to get it close. I have reworked props off and on for 40 years, and it is usually +/- 1" for SS props and +/- 2" for Aluminum. Sometimes there are known issues with certain props that do not like to be pitched without cracking, and I am sure Mark knows those. There is also only so much stretch available in the metals and there is not an unlimited number of pitch blocks these prop guys own, so some pitches they just wont do as they do not have the proper blocks. Always ask and discuss your performance goals, there may be more than one way to achieve those goals.

[Pulsare2020]

I used to know Mike, at Skip's Propeller in North Charleston and he made all the pitch blocks for mercury marine and their props. He made pitch blocks for each casting. That may have changed but if someone wants a 25P Bravo, there was never a pitch block made to hammer a 24P against, plus you couldn't change the pitch near the barrel but only further up the blade (progressive pitch). That was why I asked the question if the Fury 4 was made in 23, 24, 25, and 26P castings. If it was, there is likely a pitch block available for each pitch. If not then the person that works the prop has an option to add cup to make it act a bit more like a larger pitch (or remove it for less pitch), or they would have to bend progressive pitch into part of the blade free hand and keep measuring it which must be a time consuming art to get all the blades identical with no pitch block. I once asked another famous prop shop the same question and he replied that they only change the cup height and length if there is no pitch block available for that pitch. Perhaps I misunderstood him?

[Mike Stephens]

as far as I know, there is a pitch block for each of the Fury 4 pitches. After Mercury went to their current precipitation hardening SS metallurgy, cold working the blades seriously hardens the metal, and it should be re-heat treated to restore its mechanical properties. The shops may only be changing the cup and stretching the root of the blade, I would have to ask to find out. I know on my Fury 4 25, Mark took some cup out but did pitch it down, I could see that the root had been stretched, and could measure some differences from when I sent it to him. I think, based on conversations with Mercury Racing guys, that Fury 4 has the 4 castings available and should have pitch blocks for them. Just because a block is made, doesn't mean each shop would have one. My earlier comment is my understanding, if the shop has a block they use it, if not they use the hand/eye/cup method, or just tell you they cant do it if they are uncomfortable with the situation. Mercury racing uses cup only to change for the 1/2" pitch increments on Bravo props, I have specifically discussed this with them and Mark for my Bravo 1XS I wanted repitched from 25 to 24. In that case, I just sold the Bravo as was and bought what I wanted. The repitched Fury 4 did just fine from Croxton.

[Pulsare2020]

Thanks, good info. Like you said, there is no way, that every prop shop could afford to have a pitch block for every Mercury prop made. The good thing is, right now there are only 4 pitches of the Fury 4, and since it is a very common bass boat prop, perhaps some shops do have all 4 pitch blocks? Perhaps?

[bentzboatwhisperer]

Would highly recommend sell it and buy a new pitch, 9/10 times when someone tries to have a Fury worked it comes back running slower. Mark Croxton is a gift to the bass boat world so its nothing on him or any other prop shops as this is personal experience with many Fury's 3&4. The X7 alloy is not the most accepting to being worked and even more so a Fury4 that is prone to slinging blades but also runs great out of the box. A simple shaving of the blades on a Fury can produce better results. The X7 alloy is very strong until it A. Breaks through surface of the water and B. When stripped of its casting. There are only a select few that I know of who have had a Fury come back and run better so you may have good luck with it.