mcurcio1989
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- May 30, 2011
- Messages
- 40
Boat in the picture ? I built this boat a few years ago It has 4 pontoons 2-25? toons on the outside and two 20? toons on the inside. I first threw an old 40hp Johnson on it that ran awful. Then I bought a 1980 80hp mariner but there were carb issues and lower unit issues that prevented me from running it until now. I had put 20hp mariner on there that ran like a freaking champ until I could fix this one. It was way underpowered. I finally found time to rebuild the lower unit and I tuned the engine in the water, under loads, yesterday and she is running good.
It has a beat up old aluminum prop on there. I want to replace the prop but I am not sure what to get. With the existing prop it will do 18mph with just me on there. The boat drags like a ton of bricks in the water ? soon as you remove power it?s like you?re pressing the brakes. Typical usage for this boat is me and 13 friends going to the sandbar (main reason I got this motor was because it has power trim) for a while and then head 4 miles to the docks downtown to grab food or go to beach volleyball. So I think I really need something with low pitch ? only question is how low and would I be wise to get 4 blades?
I am leaning towards 4 as I need good responsive power when docking as usually I don?t have good assistance. I liked the fuel sipping nature of the 20hp mariner but when I had a boat full of people it topped out at about 5mph. So am I a good candidate for 4 blades and how low would you go as far as pitch? One calculator said 13-14? but the lowest most props come in looks to be 15?
Also I am thinking stainless, again to help it bite at low speeds but also because our bottom is very muddy and has lots of little sticks. It eats up aluminum props but stainless cut right through everything. Obviously, I don?t plan to touch bottom but I do find myself in shallow water often. Any other thoughts there
It has a beat up old aluminum prop on there. I want to replace the prop but I am not sure what to get. With the existing prop it will do 18mph with just me on there. The boat drags like a ton of bricks in the water ? soon as you remove power it?s like you?re pressing the brakes. Typical usage for this boat is me and 13 friends going to the sandbar (main reason I got this motor was because it has power trim) for a while and then head 4 miles to the docks downtown to grab food or go to beach volleyball. So I think I really need something with low pitch ? only question is how low and would I be wise to get 4 blades?
I am leaning towards 4 as I need good responsive power when docking as usually I don?t have good assistance. I liked the fuel sipping nature of the 20hp mariner but when I had a boat full of people it topped out at about 5mph. So am I a good candidate for 4 blades and how low would you go as far as pitch? One calculator said 13-14? but the lowest most props come in looks to be 15?
Also I am thinking stainless, again to help it bite at low speeds but also because our bottom is very muddy and has lots of little sticks. It eats up aluminum props but stainless cut right through everything. Obviously, I don?t plan to touch bottom but I do find myself in shallow water often. Any other thoughts there