1994 Ranger 492VS - 4 Blade Prop Advice

[apenland01]

I have a new to me 1994 Ranger 492VS with a 2004 Mercury Optimax 225. It currently has a Mirage Plus 25P three blade prop that does fairly well in most areas, but at higher speeds, it feels very unstable. I can't trim the motor up much or it will start porpoising and if it is windy, it feels like it is semi-chine walking or sliding.

I can put the motor in the full down position and never trim it up at all and hit 5,000 rpm and roughly 50mph and feels stable at full throttle. If I bump the trim up a bit, it will do more rpm's and speed, but just feels unstable compared to other boats I have driven.

On a very calm day, I have had it trimmed up slightly and hit 5,400 rpm and 62mph. This is the best I have been able to do with this boat and prop. I could have trimmed it up more to gain rpm, but the stability wasn't there and was beyond what I was willing to do.

I'm going to be buying a new 4 blade prop in January or February before heavy fishing season and need advice on which one to get. I see the Bravo XS and Fury 4 would be good choices for my rig, but there could be others that would be better.

My priority is stable handling and making sure my motor is running at it's best rpm range when I'm at full throttle. The Mirage Plus will become my spare prop.

[crashxx]

What is your prop to pad setting? I had a 93’ 492VS and if I remember right my PtP was 2 3/4”. I was running a 3 blade on a 02’ 225 EFI. Could get around 65 - 68 MPH and felt stable. I’ve been told the Fury’s like to throw blades. That 492 is a great boat. Mark @ marks props is the man to consult with if you want it right.

[apenland01]

I don't have the prop to pad actual measurement, but the mechanic said he thought the jack plate was nearly all the way down. I will measure the prop to pad this weekend when I head to the lake.

And I love this boat! It's got plenty of space and is rock stable in the water when I'm fishing by myself.

[crashxx]

I loved mine. The only reason I sold it is I was offered 7500 more than I paid for it. Now I’m in a 521. After thinking about it, I think I was running a tempest 25p. Whatever you do, have Mark (http://marksprops.com/) work it and blueprint/balance it. Well worth the money. I doubt you will find anyone on here who has experience with him that will disagree.

[crashxx]

Forgot to ask if you have hydraulic steering?

[apenland01]

Yes, it has seastar hydraulic steering that was installed when they rigged the 04 Optimax.

[crashxx]

Yes, it has seastar hydraulic steering that was installed when they rigged the 04 Optimax.

Good deal. I’ve had 2 492’s and my first one didn’t have hydraulic steering. No fun and scary.

[utinator]

I believe the Bravo-1 was the most popular prop on that boat back in the day. The Bravo-1 needs to worked to get acceptable results, though.

I haven't had the privilege of running Mark's Razor-4XL. I hear it's just as good as a worked Bravo-1.

[apenland01]

Thanks for the link to Mark's site. I sent an email through his site, so hopefully I'll hear something back in the next week or so. It sounds like the guy is pretty busy....

[mdtritn21]

You want a 25" Tempest not a Mirage prop. If you don't have a jack plate on it you can't run it higher than 4.25" under pad.

[apenland01]

It has a manual 6" jackplate installed.

[mdtritn21]

I don't know how long you've had the boat but it sounds like chine walk to me and you may be set too low prop to pad. Start at 3.5" under and start raising it up 1/4" at a time until the chine gets better then learn to drive it to get the best top speed. A bravo xs 25.5" or 26" would be my choice for a four blade and you can run it higher than most props.

[joebone1]

I have a new to me 1994 Ranger 492VS with a 2004 Mercury Optimax 225. It currently has a Mirage Plus 25P three blade prop that does fairly well in most areas, but at higher speeds, it feels very unstable. I can't trim the motor up much or it will start porpoising and if it is windy, it feels like it is semi-chine walking or sliding.

I can put the motor in the full down position and never trim it up at all and hit 5,000 rpm and roughly 50mph and feels stable at full throttle. If I bump the trim up a bit, it will do more rpm's and speed, but just feels unstable compared to other boats I have driven.

On a very calm day, I have had it trimmed up slightly and hit 5,400 rpm and 62mph. This is the best I have been able to do with this boat and prop. I could have trimmed it up more to gain rpm, but the stability wasn't there and was beyond what I was willing to do.

I'm going to be buying a new 4 blade prop in January or February before heavy fishing season and need advice on which one to get. I see the Bravo XS and Fury 4 would be good choices for my rig, but there could be others that would be better.

My priority is stable handling and making sure my motor is running at it's best rpm range when I'm at full throttle. The Mirage Plus will become my spare prop.

try running the motor higher on the plate when it get's squirrely. i believe that hull runs better with motor high up.

[apenland01]

I'm looping back to update this thread. I finally got up to the lake and got the prop to pad measurement. It is exactly 4 inches. The jackplate is all the way up and the motor is mounted in the middle holes.

After speaking with a BBC member on the phone a month or so ago, we determined my motor is a long shaft, hence the model being "Optimax 225L".

At this point, it looks like my choices are to find a prop that will work well at 4" below pad, or pay to have the motor mounted higher on the jackplate, so I can make adjustments. I'm hesitant to start spending money moving the motor around, but as it sits, I can only down from 4" below pad, not up.

I've got an email in to Mark to see what his thoughts are. If the motor needs to be moved first, then I probably won't get a new prop until this summer at the earliest.

[apenland01]

Looping back on this thread again to give an update. I tried an old used 25p Tempest Plus that wasn't in great shape and I wasn't pleased after running it for a while, so I decided to buy a new 24p Fury 4 on Mark's advice. I didn't want to pay to move the motor up and this prop is said to like to run a little deeper.

I got it installed this past weekend and spent a couple of days fishing, using it as I normally would. The holeshot is excellent, going to 3900 rpms very quickly and getting on plane quickly as well. The only issue is that it sometimes the boat would "fall off" and the stern would kick over just after break over, so I'm going to need to add some PVS plugs to get that fixed.

I was actually able to trim this prop up quite a bit and keep control of the boat without it feeling weird, unlike both the Mirage Plus and Tempest Plus, which didn't like much trim at all.

The bowlift with the 24p Fury 4 is unbelievable. I actually understand what bowlift is now because I had never experienced it in this boat before. Multiple runs at WOT and about 3/4 trim was 5600 rpms and 64 mph before I got chine walk and backed out of the run. I probably could have gotten a few more rpms with more trim, but I'm not experienced enough in dealing with the chine walk to keep going.

It got a little windy and rough Saturday afternoon and the prop never lost bite, but I was also going slower.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this prop and plan to get some of the PVS plugs tuned up this coming weekend.....