Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

JoLin

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Aug 18, 2007
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I have a 21' Pro-Line w/a Cuddy. Very stern heavy. Main motor is on a 30" setback bracket. I have a 4-stroke kicker, and both batteries are also situated near the stern.

The motor is a 1995 Johnson 175 hp, carbed. Motor has good compression and is in good tune. Mfr. recommended WOT rpm is 5500.

Old prop was a 17p, 3-blade aluminum in good condition. WOT performance was a top of 37.6 mph @ 5250 rpm.

Goals for the replacement prop were: improved hole-shot (the boat took forever to come out of the water), lower planing speed, maximum mid-range efficiency (we cruise at about 25 mph), and bringing WOT rpm closer to the 5500 mark.

I bought the Titan in a 15p at iboats for about $325. delivered. Dropped 1" of pitch to go from aluminum to stainloess, and another inch to try and raise WOT rpm. finally got to test it this morning. Water conditions and load were virtually identical to those when I recorded performance of the old prop- 2 aboard, approx 45 gals of fuel, usual load of gear. This is my normal cruising configuration. All speed recordings were by GPS. Here we go:

Old prop - WOT = 37.6 mph @ 5250 rpm
New prop - WOT = 39.2 mph @ 5475 rpm

Surprise! I did NOT expect to see a higher top end, but I did and the results were solid- 1.6mph difference, and the tach was just nudging the 5500 mark, right about where I wanted it to be.

Hole shot - MUCH improved. Unfortunately, I didn't have a means of recording it with either prop, but the seat of my pants tells me that I've knocked at least a third off the time it takes to get on plane. It felt pretty impressive.

Minimum planing speed- down from 19-20 mph with the old prop to 16-17 mph with the new. Solid improvement.

Other observations-

1. My speed at idle in forward gear dropped from a little over 3 mph to 2.5 due to the reduced pitch. That's a good thing. I dock in sorta tight quarters (I'm still kinda new at all this) and I was always coming in a little too "hot". If I cut throttle too early, the wind blows me off course. This morning I was able to maintain headway longer and had an easier time of it.

2. The boat tracks much better at no-wake speed. I was always wandering around with the old prop.

All in all, I'm very happy with it. No single improvement was earth-shattering, but every aspect of the boat's attitude and performance showed noticable improvement. Cool beans!

I wish I had the bucks to compare it to a Stiletto Bay Pro II, but the prop I bought does everything I need it to. Can't ask for much more than that.
 

JoLin

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Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

One more thing - Propeller Slip. I used this site:

http://heringpropellers.com/hering-propeller-slip.php

I measured slip with both old and new props.

Gear ratio of my motor is 1.86.

With the old prop (17p / 5250 rpm / 37.6 mph), I get 17% slip.

With the new prop (15p / 5475 rpm / 39.2 mph) the slip goes down to 6%.

I didn't think numbers that low were possible. Did I do something wrong?
 

Tail_Gunner

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Jan 13, 2006
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Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

One more thing - Propeller Slip. I used this site:

http://heringpropellers.com/hering-propeller-slip.php

I measured slip with both old and new props.

Gear ratio of my motor is 1.86.

With the old prop (17p / 5250 rpm / 37.6 mph), I get 17% slip.

With the new prop (15p / 5475 rpm / 39.2 mph) the slip goes down to 6%.

I didn't think numbers that low were possible. Did I do something wrong?


Add a pitch for the aggressive cupping.... congrat's and as you say..Cool bean's.
 
Last edited:

JoLin

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Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

Thanks, that looks more realistic. 12% slip.

As I understand it from this forum, anything under 15% is good, and 10% is about as good as it gets. The Titan seems to be a really good match for my boat.

Thanks for showing me that one, Tail Gunner :)
 

marada1

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
85
Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

Gotta agree with you. I recently tried out the Titan 4 myself on my 1990 OMC Cobra 4.3L. Previous prop was a Solas Aluminum 3 Blade 21" turning 4600 RPMs @ 51 MPH (GPS). Ordered the Titan 4 in a 21 hoping I could turn it. Result was 4400 RPMs @ 52 MPH. Hole shot was good. This calculates to a 5% slip. Since this test was done with only me aboard I new I wouldn't be happy with it with my normal load so I reordered the Titan in a 19". Haven't had a chance to run it yet but I expect good things. Assuming the same 5% slip I should see around 50 MPH at 4600-4700 RPMs. Hole shot should be awesome. The Titan 4 has great mid range acceleration and really lifts the boat out of the water. Handling charactoristics are excellent. Really bites the water and holds in the turns. I will be looking to sell the 14 X 21 soon. It's in new condition (I ran it twice) and I obviously highly recommend it.
 

mjhoward

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Jun 18, 2008
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Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

Gotta agree with you. I recently tried out the Titan 4 myself on my 1990 OMC Cobra 4.3L. Previous prop was a Solas Aluminum 3 Blade 21" turning 4600 RPMs @ 51 MPH (GPS). Ordered the Titan 4 in a 21 hoping I could turn it. Result was 4400 RPMs @ 52 MPH. Hole shot was good. This calculates to a 5% slip. Since this test was done with only me aboard I new I wouldn't be happy with it with my normal load so I reordered the Titan in a 19". Haven't had a chance to run it yet but I expect good things. Assuming the same 5% slip I should see around 50 MPH at 4600-4700 RPMs. Hole shot should be awesome. The Titan 4 has great mid range acceleration and really lifts the boat out of the water. Handling charactoristics are excellent. Really bites the water and holds in the turns. I will be looking to sell the 14 X 21 soon. It's in new condition (I ran it twice) and I obviously highly recommend it.

Agreed! I have a 1990 OMC Cobra 4.3 as well and I just put a 4 blade HR Titan 14x21 and I didn't have a chance to open it up but my cruise RPM at 30mph dropped from 3300 to 2900-3000 and will plane at half throttle. I highly recommend it.
 

marada1

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
85
Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

Agreed! I have a 1990 OMC Cobra 4.3 as well and I just put a 4 blade HR Titan 14x21 and I didn't have a chance to open it up but my cruise RPM at 30mph dropped from 3300 to 2900-3000 and will plane at half throttle. I highly recommend it.

Sounds like we are real close. I remember similar numbers through the range. What size boat do you have and how is your hole shot? Mine was pretty good with the 21" but it didn't "blow me away" like I was hoping. Also curious to know how you do at WOT. I have upgraded my engine with Vortec heads and Edelbrock 4bbl which added 50-60 HP to the original motor but I couldn't turn the 21" to the top of the RPM range with only me aboard. However I did pick up speed. Still haven't had a chance to try the 19". Hole shot should be wicked and I dont expect to lose too much speed. Let me know....
 

mjhoward

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Jun 18, 2008
Messages
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Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

Sounds like we are real close. I remember similar numbers through the range. What size boat do you have and how is your hole shot? Mine was pretty good with the 21" but it didn't "blow me away" like I was hoping. Also curious to know how you do at WOT. I have upgraded my engine with Vortec heads and Edelbrock 4bbl which added 50-60 HP to the original motor but I couldn't turn the 21" to the top of the RPM range with only me aboard. However I did pick up speed. Still haven't had a chance to try the 19". Hole shot should be wicked and I dont expect to lose too much speed. Let me know....

Hole shot is ok. Not neck snapping but quick to plane. Especially since I installed the Smart Tabs. It is 19' Sunbird runabout.
 

Tacklewasher

Lieutenant Commander
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Sep 18, 2002
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1,588
Re: Solas Titan HR (4-blade) Stainless - THUMBS UP!

You do realize that, because of your post, they are sold out of this prop.


:)

(at least for my application)
 
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