'85 ski Nautique 2001 prop question

[WildH2Oskier]

I've been advised by fellow river rats to switch from my 13 X 13 3 blade to a 13 x 13 4 blade prop to give me more oooomph out of the hole. What would this do to the over all ride and would the difference out of the hole be enough to justify the expense?
The boats specs.
19 ft. 351 Ford V-8 roughly 260 hp with a borg warner velvet drive at 1.5-1 (I think).
Thanks.

 

[steelespike]

Re: '85 ski Nautique 2001 prop question

A 13 X 13 sure seems small for a 260 hp.,especially if its a 1.50.1.
My 105 hp 18ft 53 Chriscraft 1:1 had something like 12 1/2 X 13 and reached its max rpm 3,600 easily, pulled skiers like they weren't even there.

 

[Hansolo99]

Re: '85 ski Nautique 2001 prop question

I did the same thing and switched to a 4 blade when I had mine and there is a noticeable out of the hole pull. I did loose a little off the top but nothing worth really complaining about.

 

[WildH2Oskier]

Re: '85 ski Nautique 2001 prop question

Well its pulled up 6 on slalom at one time for a couple of shows but compared to most boats it is a tractor. The small size of the 13 inch prop could be attributed to the fact that this is a straight inboard and there isn't that much clearance between the prop and the hull. Also since it doesn't have all that foot and other stuff hanging down in the way it gets a cleaner bite of the water. I dunno though I'm thinking about saving now and buying it after Christmas for next year since we only have about 2 1/2 to 3 months left before we call it a year and winterize it. I wish I had a boathouse so I could just set it in the water and forget it. Winterizing a boat is just so wrong.