Michegan Ballistic 3 blade opinions

[QBhoy]

Anyone have any experience with this prop on a 18ft open bowrider ? Can get a great deal on one and dealer is promising great improvements over the tried and trusted laser 2.....not so sure !
Looks the part though haha.

 

[walleyehed]

Laser II is a great prop on a light boat. Ballistic can be hit or miss. Seems to work good on 1 rig and pull like hell on others. Hard to say how it will do without knowing a bit about your set up. I/O or OB?

 

[jimmbo]

My Opinion, but others may feel different, is that there are much better props than the Ballistic. It has very thin blades and chopped off blade ears with the chopped tip cupped. My experience was it offered no performance gains, and had a tendency to loose its grip on the water in turns easier than my other SS.
Out of Curiosity, what is your engine. I have an 18 1/2 footer I/O bowrider with a 5.7, and my favorite prop is the Mercury Enertia. It is on the boat in my Avatar

 

[walleyehed]

I like the Enertia.. Great prop and works well in many areas. wish they weren't so expensive..)

 

[jimmbo]

I like the Enertia.. Great prop and works well in many areas. wish they weren't so expensive..)

Sometimes you do get what you pay for. Allowing for inflation, the Enertia is cheaper now than it was in 2005

 

[QBhoy]

Hi guys
Thanks for the opinions.
Jimbo, we have discussed my boat a few times.
Similar bowrider and horse power to your own.
18ft and Merc mpi inboard.
Laser 2 is great. Always chasing the marginal gain.
I think the enertia with its bigger diameter than the laser might drop my revs a bit (they are currently spot on for the engine)
The ballistic also has a larger diameter but thought it might not drop the rpm, because of its cut ?
Reading mixed reports about the ballistic all the time. I think i would need to try it first. Only thing is the vendor isn't local.
It's also unlikely I will hear from someone with the same boat, there are only a few of them in existence. Mmm. A conundrum, haha.

 

[walleyehed]

I don't see the Laser widely used on that type of rig.. It's purpose was targeting lightweight, Pad type hulls with outboard power running 50+
I would think there would be a better choice. I'm not sure the "Bullistic" as we used to call it, would be an improvement.

 

[QBhoy]

Thanks Walleye

Yeah, you would think that about the laser. But it seems to work well. When trimmed up the boat runs really high on the flat pad at the rear of the hull. Only really this and the drive are in the water.
Haven't tried anything else except two different pitched laser 2 and a standard black max.
I wouldn't say the boat is particularly lightweight, but it seems to run well with the laser and will comfortably achieve 60mph with just about any load I've had in the boat and slightly more when running light and feeling brace. Haha.

 

[QBhoy]

Brave*

 

[walleyehed]

Well if it works that well, I'd stay with it. What pitch are you running now?

 

[Texasmark]

I ran Ballistic SS on my last boat and when I got the right pitch, was very pleased. I bought the boat used and it came with one; had never seen nor heard of one before. Pitch was way too shallow for that rig so in 2 steps I upped the pitch, didn't go high enough on the first guess and made it on the second. Got the right combo and was happy with it.

 

[jimmbo]

Props are bit like Voodoo. A 20 inch Laser II will perform differently than a 20 inch Enertia, or a 20 inch Vengence, or a 20 Ballistic, etc etc. How much different?There is only one way to know. Otherwise you have to listen to what others with a boat like yours say. Even then you have to hope they know what they are talking about. Boating was so much simpler when the choice was limited to Quicksilver AL or Bronze and maybe Michigan Al or Bronze. But you did have to choose between 2 or 3 blades

 

[Texasmark]

Boating was so much simpler when the choice was limited to Quicksilver AL or Bronze and maybe Michigan Al or Bronze. But you did have to choose between 2 or 3 blades

That's the way it was. I was an OMC guy back then and you didn't have a tach, 25 was really going fast. A 25 hp was the biggest you could get and if you were really in tall cotton, you had twins. You didn't have much of a choice anyway, you didn't know doodle-d-squat about prop technology, no internet to learn, no address to write and ask, on and on. You ran what came with the engine. If you dinged it up so bad you couldn't recognize it as a prop, you bought a new one.

 

[QBhoy]

Here, here Jimbo !

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

How many ponies inside and what size prop. I run a 14.5x21. 20 foot boat 4.3HO Mercruiser. This prop is perfect for my boat. Top speed is 54 MPH good power with 1500 pounds of people and gear. With a 14.5x19 or a 14.5x20 top speed is mid 40s so tops speed is greatly improved. Power on take off is still very good. Ive ran a variety of props ruined my first Ballistic prop and after a few years trying other props I ordered a brand new one from Blackbear it was the best price new anywhere at the time. Will probably never run anything on this boat but the ballistic.

 

[b.gagnon]

I used one on an 18' Sea Ray with a 150 EFI merc and it was not capable of lifting the bow.... Went back to a Mirage and all was good!

 

[QBhoy]

Hi lowlysubaruguy

It's 260hp+ (probably more) and a 19" pitch.