im thinking of putting a 4 blade prop on & would like to hear about pro's & con's of 4 blades.also any forumla to pick the rite 1 ,50hp merc non big gear motor,thanks mike243
For a pontoon I don't see any drawbacks.Should improve your overall performance.
We need to know your present prop size,(usually on the barrel or under the prop nut) max rpm and speed to figure a good size prop.
The key information here is that this is NOT a Big Foot motor so it has the small gearcase and 1.83:1 gearset. That motor on a 16-17 foot V-hull will typically use a 10-1/2x13P prop so for pontoon service the prop should probably be in the 9-10P range. On a pontoon a Big Foot motor would typically use a 14x9P four blade "pontoon-specific" prop. The Big Foot motor has 2.33:1 gears so it can twist that prop. The small hub and small diameter of the non-Big Foot motor limits choices in four blade props. Without some numbers to work with it is impossible to tell you what you could possibly use. Make some wide open throttle runs with what you consider an average load and note the engine RPM and speed (preferably GPS but not critical).
