Prop Tuning
Fine-tuning a propeller to standard specifications doesn’t cut it anymore. Send your propeller to Brett Anderson at BBlades Propellers and he’ll customize it to the performance characteristic you want to improve on your boat.
“We don’t lab finish to standard templates anymore,” said Anderson. “We take each boat at its own merit.”
He continued, “You could have two Baja 24 Outlaws with the same engine and one could be running 100 rpm higher or lower and we would adjust the propeller to that.”
Because things are a little slow this time of year, BBlades is offering discounted labor rates on propeller tuning. Normally the company charges $98/hour with the hours broken down into 15-minute increments, but for January and February, the rate has been reduced to $80/hour. That’s a $36 savings on a two-hour repair.
With the scary economy, many boatowners have decided to keep their vessels longer, so tuning your prop to make your pride and joy perform better makes sense. Anderson can boost your boat engine’s rpm. He can modify the prop to provide increased bow lift to improve speed or add stern lift to keep a boat from porpoising. Basically, just let him know what you want and Anderson will do his best to re-work your boat’s wheel to achieve it. He’ll also ask about other factors such as the drive and/or prop depth. With an outboard, you might get the boost you want by raising the motor a couple of holes on the transom.
To communicate to BBlades what you want from your boat, you have a couple of options. Give the office a call and tell Anderson what your boat’s currently doing and what you want to change. There’s also a form on the company website that lets you fill out information about the boat, engine, propeller and current performance. Based on his long history with propellers (Anderson worked on propellers at Mercury Racing before starting BBlades), he’ll have quite a portfolio to call on. “If somebody says, ‘I have a 27’ Fountain or 17’ Four Winns,’ immediately a recipe pops into my head because we’ve done so many,” said Anderson.
In addition to the tuning, BBlades is also offering certified reconditioned propellers, which are repaired to original specifications and sold at reduced rates compared to new ones. So if you need a new prop or want to have your current wheel improved, winter is the time to save money at BBlades.
For more information go to Bblades.com
