One more question, anybody have a preference as far as manufacturers? I know and have owned Michigan Wheel, but how does Solas or Hustler stack up?
First off I have a Turning Point Hustler (so I can talk about them) and several SS Ballistics. Hustler advertises all the amenities of SS props except for price and thicker blades due to aluminum vs SS strength variance. They are a good $100 contender and if in rocky water, or low budget, for my money they can't be beat. That means it is (most are) ported which acts like a shallower pitched prop when you need to get the rpms up under the hole shot load and disappears when at speed and you don't have the low rpm load. That translates to your being able to run a higher pitched prop for a higher top end while getting the hole shot associated with a lower pitch.
I am one of the guys that preach that the top end of the recommended range is where you run when in your normal running configuration at WOT. Per your data supplied, you are WAY overloaded (over pitched) when you consider 150-200 rpms per inch of pitch change is what folks use in calculations and if your recommended range top is 5500 that's 5" too much pitch. However for that size boat (not knowing anything else about it) a 14 P with that HP and a low gear ratio is way too much pitch and 5 may be what it takes.
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Once you get into a certain hub diameter to fit the lower unit housing diameter (10" prop diam. give or take in your case) of the engine upon which the selected prop will run, the diameter varies as a function of the pitch.....all part of prop engineering design. Think of the blades folding back as the pitch increases, especially on SS props that usually carry a goodly Rake (bending of the blades back from the root for bow lift which produces less drag and higher speed and rpms. So don't get hung up on diameter. Pitch is what you chase.
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www.go-fast.com has a prop slip calculator that is very useful in determining the answer to your question.
You need your gear ratio....like your 10" dia prop may be 1.65:1....put 1.65 in the gear ratio box.
The rpm box is your manufacturer's recommended WOT maximum rpm for your engine.....most engines fall in the range of 5000-6000max rpm rating and that is for your regular boating configuration, not your heaviest, nor lightest load. So if it's 6000 put that in the box. For a number a 1994 Mariner 3 cyl looped 60 hp has a gear ratio of 1.64:1 and a recommended max rpm operating range of 5000 to 5500. Assume you had that engine running at your 4500, you have 1000 rpms that you need to go and find somewhere......and the sweet thing is that you have to back out pitch to get there and in doing that the hole shot just gets better and better.
Next is prop pitch (forget the diameter). If it's 14, put that in the box.
Solve for the next box which is absolute max you could run if the prop were a screw turning in wood.....no slippage. Let's say the number comes out to 30 mph.
Now you have 2 ways to go. You can play the guessing game and guess your prop slip (difference between prop turning in wood and water which allows the prop move forward less per rev than it would in wood. On light fast boats, 10 is a good number. On tubs 25 or so would be the number. Put that in and solve for actual.
Or if you have a gps mph number (speedometers are notorious for errors...my last one read 2 mph high at 50 mph) leave the slip blank and put your actual speed in and check for your slip. If you are getting 25 for a light fast boat, you have something dreadfully wrong. Could be instrumentation, could be setup, could be boat design, something wrong like a hook in the hull, engine sitting too low causing too much drag etc, etc, etc.
If you want to play with numbers, forget the last 2 blocks, work backward from the screw in wood speed number....like from the 30 I used above for max speed. Erase your rpms, and decrease your pitch and solve for rpms. That will give you a pretty good idea as to where you need to be in terms of pitch......but it's not for free. This calculator assumes that nothing changes but what you change. If you change prop manufacturers, or different prop types from a give mfgr, or your boat performs differently as a result of the difference in the prop and rpm number, you just threw a monkey wrench in the works and the result will not be as accurate as you would like.
HTH,
Mark