Speed Secrets

[Don Ferrette]

It's a wonder that no one has brought up prop indexing yet!

Has anyone tried tapering the drive dog for less friction against the strut?

Because prop indexing is a waste, you cannot index a prop on a flexible shaft! Now if you run solid shaft yes this is possible, but not a flex shaft. Grab the prop on a boat & turn it, see how far you can "wind it up" while keeping the motor from turning. This is constantly occuring while the boat is running as prop loads & unloads so the "index" is ever changing. Also the more "broken in" the flexshaft gets the more it will wind up & down. This "wind up" action is also why you leave a gap between the drive dog & the strut which negates question B. Now if you run square drive, which I don't & never will again, you will have thrust washers in place between strut & drive dog so look at all of it & try to keep the o.d. a small as the strut body o.d. if you can at all. B)

 

[Tom Foley]

Good point on indexing .

 

[Buckshot]

My best kept speed secret starts with area code 830.

-Buck-

 

[oldlugs]

...Now if you run square drive, which I don't & never will again, you will have thrust washers in place between strut & drive dog..

Please excuse what may seem like a stupid question to some, but Don, why don't you like square drive?

Duane

 

[Brad Christy]

Don,

I, on the other hand, think there is a little something to be gained by indexing a prop. The way I see it is yes, the shaft is twisting around a bit while under a load, but it is going to be fairly consistant, especially at top end, which is where we're really worried about with this post, anyway. The trick is to figure out where that indexing point is, and that takes testing at the pond with a radar gun. I know that Marty Davis found 2-3 MPH between the prop indexed at NS as opposed to EW (for conversation's sake), and a bit more when one blade is pitched up a bit over the other and indexed at an angle of entry during the power stroke. The prop may not be at the EXACT same point every revolution, but it will be somewhere close. It's one more thing to set while setting up the boat, but there are dozens of things the meticulous boater does every time they go to the pond that add into his/her final performance result, and it's alot easier than most I've seen. The only thing that would be a pain about this is the fact that every shaft is going to be a bit different, and would probably have to be "tuned" each time you installed a new shaft.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

 

[Joe Wiebelhaus]

Prop indexing (YES) very simple performance gain.

But my biggest performance gain is patience !!!!!!

seen way too many guys give up a heat (400 points) for trying to strut his stuff in the first 2 laps.

We all know when ya gotta and when you dont, practice it.

now please dont beat me up !!!

hehe

B)

 

[Ron Olson]

now please dont beat me up !!!

hehe

Like that's gonna happen! :lol: I heard that you've been puttin' a whoopin' on the Florida guys since you moved south!

We've got a local boater who thinks that prop indexing is the way to go but this guy thinks way outside the real world box, not considering flex cable wind-up in his mathematical equations.

Another one not yet mentioned but may be worthy is using your senses. Your sense of feel can come in handy when a breeze or wind starts kicking up letting you know when to back off to keep your boat from flying off the water then knowing when not to outdrive your boat or conditions.

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

now please dont beat me up !!!

hehe

Like that's gonna happen! :lol: I heard that you've been puttin' a whoopin' on the Florida guys since you moved south!

We've got a local boater who thinks that prop indexing is the way to go but this guy thinks way outside the real world box, not considering flex cable wind-up in his mathematical equations.

Another one not yet mentioned but may be worthy is using your senses. Your sense of feel can come in handy when a breeze or wind starts kicking up letting you know when to back off to keep your boat from flying off the water then knowing when not to outdrive your boat or conditions.

Ron, Yes Joe's a good boater and one we are glad to have but "puttin a whoopin on the the Florida guys" is a tough task. You seem to overlook the fact that Florida has some of the best there are and then again we have some bad ones too :blink:

 

[Don Ferrette]

Prop indexing (YES) very simple performance gain.

Hey Joe whatcha been up to lately?

Just for grins explain how you can set & hold an index on a non solid shaft. B)

 

[Don Templeton]

My take on heat racing,

Yes, light weight is fast and I strive for that to an extent but bullet proofing everything on your boat is more inportant to me for heat racing.

Don

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Prop indexing (YES) very simple performance gain.

Hey Joe whatcha been up to lately?

Just for grins explain how you can set & hold an index on a non solid shaft. B)

Its all in there mind :blink:

 

[Joe Wiebelhaus]

now please dont beat me up !!!

hehe

Like that's gonna happen! :lol: I heard that you've been puttin' a whoopin' on the Florida guys since you moved south!

We've got a local boater who thinks that prop indexing is the way to go but this guy thinks way outside the real world box, not considering flex cable wind-up in his mathematical equations.

Another one not yet mentioned but may be worthy is using your senses. Your sense of feel can come in handy when a breeze or wind starts kicking up letting you know when to back off to keep your boat from flying off the water then knowing when not to outdrive your boat or conditions.

Nope, all new courses, all new drivers, just goin' in circles right now.

Great bunch of guys, having fun.

B)

 

[Grimracer]

Dont just drive your boat... drive it around something...

Grim

 

[Richie R]

Dont just drive your boat... drive it around something...

Grim

Yes like go to your local lake and drive around the stumps sticking up, or a big snapping turtle right Mike.

Just ribbing you.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Richie R

 

[gene gager]

some quotes that have helped me. Gary Pruess, theres more to gain below the water line than above, Bruce Mooring, a happy running motor (lean side) will handle the water instead of the water handling the boat, Jerry Dunlap, a WOF (wood over foam) is easy to build and rebuild , modifiy and repair. i'll 2nd that one. Mike bontoff, you have to go outside the box, cheers, gene gager, every boat is different. give "YOUR" boat what "it" wants, not what others do to theirs. and that black gray gooo laying on your start table isn't exhast residue, its you engine inners comming out the pipe. 30 seconds to the start.

 

[BradV]

It's a wonder that no one has brought up prop indexing yet!

Has anyone tried tapering the drive dog for less friction against the strut?

Because prop indexing is a waste, you cannot index a prop on a flexible shaft! Now if you run solid shaft yes this is possible, but not a flex shaft. Grab the prop on a boat & turn it, see how far you can "wind it up" while keeping the motor from turning. This is constantly occuring while the boat is running as prop loads & unloads so the "index" is ever changing. Also the more "broken in" the flexshaft gets the more it will wind up & down. This "wind up" action is also why you leave a gap between the drive dog & the strut which negates question B. Now if you run square drive, which I don't & never will again, you will have thrust washers in place between strut & drive dog so look at all of it & try to keep the o.d. a small as the strut body o.d. if you can at all. B)

Why do you not like to run a square drive?

 

[Don Ferrette]

It's a wonder that no one has brought up prop indexing yet!

Has anyone tried tapering the drive dog for less friction against the strut?

Because prop indexing is a waste, you cannot index a prop on a flexible shaft! Now if you run solid shaft yes this is possible, but not a flex shaft. Grab the prop on a boat & turn it, see how far you can "wind it up" while keeping the motor from turning. This is constantly occuring while the boat is running as prop loads & unloads so the "index" is ever changing. Also the more "broken in" the flexshaft gets the more it will wind up & down. This "wind up" action is also why you leave a gap between the drive dog & the strut which negates question B. Now if you run square drive, which I don't & never will again, you will have thrust washers in place between strut & drive dog so look at all of it & try to keep the o.d. a small as the strut body o.d. if you can at all. B)

Why do you not like to run a square drive?

To be honest Brad for me it's too much hassle to mess with. Tried it once & what a pain in the a$$. I know some guys like it but I much prefer the "keep it simple" approach & there's nothing simpler & more reliable than a conventional collet. To this day nobody has shown me square drives are any better or any faster than a conventional collet set up. As a matter of fact I've seen way more problems with the guys running square drives so to each his own but not for me. B)

 

[BradV]

It's a wonder that no one has brought up prop indexing yet!

Has anyone tried tapering the drive dog for less friction against the strut?

Because prop indexing is a waste, you cannot index a prop on a flexible shaft! Now if you run solid shaft yes this is possible, but not a flex shaft. Grab the prop on a boat & turn it, see how far you can "wind it up" while keeping the motor from turning. This is constantly occuring while the boat is running as prop loads & unloads so the "index" is ever changing. Also the more "broken in" the flexshaft gets the more it will wind up & down. This "wind up" action is also why you leave a gap between the drive dog & the strut which negates question B. Now if you run square drive, which I don't & never will again, you will have thrust washers in place between strut & drive dog so look at all of it & try to keep the o.d. a small as the strut body o.d. if you can at all. B)

Why do you not like to run a square drive?

Cheers for that.

To be honest Brad for me it's too much hassle to mess with. Tried it once & what a pain in the a$$. I know some guys like it but I much prefer the "keep it simple" approach & there's nothing simpler & more reliable than a conventional collet. To this day nobody has shown me square drives are any better or any faster than a conventional collet set up. As a matter of fact I've seen way more problems with the guys running square drives so to each his own but not for me. B)

I've had no trouble with the current square drive set-up but used conventional collets previously. Went the square drive because of the regular front engine bearing replacements...

 

[Don Ferrette]

I've had no trouble with the current square drive set-up but used conventional collets previously. Went the square drive because of the regular front engine bearing replacements...

How much of a gap were you leaving between the strut & the drive dog when you ran a conventional collet?

 

[anthony_marquart]

Hey, will that Rain-X bother paint. I just read on the bottle not to let it contact your paint.

I've used in on gel-coat... I was just getting ready to put it on my rigger...

Any cautions?