Need better hole shot

[St1ngr4y]

To really help you there should be more information about your RPM at WOT and the specs of the current prop. If you want an aluminum prop I would focus on the Quicksilver Nemesis (also known as Mercury Spitfire). It is not the fastest prop but will give you good holeshot. Keep testing different pitch sizes until your WOT RPM without passengers, gear and low fuel hits 5.000 or slightly goes over. A better result will be with a stainless steel prop. And consider something like smart tabs for faster planing.

 

[Frostz28]

well after many prop changes and experimentation it turns out, I CAN get the boat to plane out quickly with the right prop. The Vortex 4 blade 15"X16 popped me right up on top the water.... and that was about it. lol It got me up and burned about a 1/4 tank per mile. lol but it DID get me planed out in a hurry. Obviously that was too much for everyday use, but it was a starting point. so I slowly started backing down from there as of now I am running a 4 blade 14.25 X 21 aluminum prop which seems to be about the best middle ground. I might back off the pitch just a touch next time I go out. What I came to discover is that several people were right, I just don't have enough ponies. With two adults and a couple tubes or skiier out back she does just fine, but any more weight than that in the boat and she just don't have the HP to get it up and going. So I guess I have my answer, I've got a prop that will pop me up if I need to use that for slalom skiiers and a mid range prop that works for the rest. It will work for now. However with the boat market finally returning to earth a little bit I will be keeping my eye out for a boat with a little bigger power plant! lol

 

[Scott06]

well after many prop changes and experimentation it turns out, I CAN get the boat to plane out quickly with the right prop. The Vortex 4 blade 15"X16 popped me right up on top the water.... and that was about it. lol It got me up and burned about a 1/4 tank per mile. lol but it DID get me planed out in a hurry. Obviously that was too much for everyday use, but it was a starting point. so I slowly started backing down from there as of now I am running a 4 blade 14.25 X 21 aluminum prop which seems to be about the best middle ground. I might back off the pitch just a touch next time I go out. What I came to discover is that several people were right, I just don't have enough ponies. With two adults and a couple tubes or skiier out back she does just fine, but any more weight than that in the boat and she just don't have the HP to get it up and going. So I guess I have my answer, I've got a prop that will pop me up if I need to use that for slalom skiiers and a mid range prop that works for the rest. It will work for now. However with the boat market finally returning to earth a little bit I will be keeping my eye out for a boat with a little bigger power plant! lol

Very similar to my old boat that had a 3.0 could make it work but need more azz...

my experience with the 16 was not quite as high revs but u there. Did you try a 18" or 19" 4 blade ?

In the end bigger boat and engine is probably in your future. We went from a 17 or 18ft 3.0 to 21 ft 5.0 , every thing is better but uses 2x the fuel.

 

[Frostz28]

Very similar to my old boat that had a 3.0 could make it work but need more azz...

my experience with the 16 was not quite as high revs but u there. Did you try a 18" or 19" 4 blade ?

In the end bigger boat and engine is probably in your future. We went from a 17 or 18ft 3.0 to 21 ft 5.0 , every thing is better but uses 2x the fuel.

I didn't try any props that large in diameter. 15" was the largest I went. the rest were in the low to mid 14" range. All of them were aluminum. It gets pretty pricey to start "experimenting" with stainless props! I would like to run one in the lake but I'm not sure if I would need to adjust the size or pitch. If I bought the exact same size and pitch prop that I'm running now in Stainless, what would the general result be? I know its obviously much heavier, but doesn't "flex" so would the weight bring the RPMs down and reduce over all performance or does the rigid non flexing make up for that? Should I expect to lose performance or gain performance from the stainless over aluminum, if everything else was the same? Oh and yes an larger boat is in the future. not immediate future but it's coming! lol

 

[Scott06]

I didn't try any props that large in diameter. 15" was the largest I went. the rest were in the low to mid 14" range. All of them were aluminum. It gets pretty pricey to start "experimenting" with stainless props! I would like to run one in the lake but I'm not sure if I would need to adjust the size or pitch. If I bought the exact same size and pitch prop that I'm running now in Stainless, what would the general result be? I know its obviously much heavier, but doesn't "flex" so would the weight bring the RPMs down and reduce over all performance or does the rigid non flexing make up for that? Should I expect to lose performance or gain performance from the stainless over aluminum, if everything else was the same? Oh and yes an larger boat is in the future. not immediate future but it's coming! lol

I meant 16" pitch I generally ignore the diameter. You mentioned 16" being too low, 21 " pitch being a little lazy. was wondering if you had tried a 18" or 19" pitch being in between. I had found the 18" vortex good for all around , would just swap it for the 16" when skiing.

 

[Frostz28]

I meant 16" pitch I generally ignore the diameter. You mentioned 16" being too low, 21 " pitch being a little lazy. was wondering if you had tried a 18" or 19" pitch being in between. I had found the 18" vortex good for all around , would just swap it for the 16" when skiing.

Oh, yeah I tried a 16 pitch. That one had me on top of the water RIGHT now. But I was wound out WAY too early. I found I had to keep her about 3/4 throttle just to cruise comfortably. It burned fuel like crazy and I just didn't like cruising at that high of RPM. It would be great for skiing but for general use it was impractical. The biggest problem I have with running two props (one for water sports and one for cruising) is my boat has a big extended swim platform that sits just inches above the water and makes it nearly impossible to swap props in the water without a snorkel and goggles. So for the most part I just have to find the best middle of the road option and run with it. I did try a 19 pitch but it was a 3 blade prop so Maybe a 4 blade 19 would be better. I did seem to get better results from the 4 blades.

 

[Scott06]

Oh, yeah I tried a 16 pitch. That one had me on top of the water RIGHT now. But I was wound out WAY too early. I found I had to keep her about 3/4 throttle just to cruise comfortably. It burned fuel like crazy and I just didn't like cruising at that high of RPM. It would be great for skiing but for general use it was impractical. The biggest problem I have with running two props (one for water sports and one for cruising) is my boat has a big extended swim platform that sits just inches above the water and makes it nearly impossible to swap props in the water without a snorkel and goggles. So for the most part I just have to find the best middle of the road option and run with it. I did try a 19 pitch but it was a 3 blade prop so Maybe a 4 blade 19 would be better. I did seem to get better results from the 4 blades.

yes thats what I was saying a 4 blade in between 16" pitch and 21" pitch.

 

[Frostz28]

yes thats what I was saying a 4 blade in between 16" pitch and 21" pitch.

I did not try a 4 blade between the two. I had two 4 blade props and two 3 blade. The 3 blades were 19 and 20 the 4 blades were 16 and 21. Now that you point it out, I did leave a pretty big gap in there as far as the 4 blade line up. I didn't even really think about that. I just had a bunch of props ranging from 16 through 21. Maybe I should trade in the two 3 blade props for a 4 blade 19 or and have a 19 and 21 on hand.

 

[alldodge]

The 3 blades were 19 and 20 the 4 blades were 16 and 21

Side by side if all were 3 blade you tried
18, 19, 20, 23

 

[cyclops222]

If you do NOT KNOW the Prop Slippage % of each prop ?
You have no chance of improving anything.

 

[Bikestdy]

I just skimmed through you thread. I use Turning Point props, maybe another one to try, I haven't used others brands, so tell how they compare to others (though I have always been curious). I have a '85 4Winns 170 Horizon (mercruiser 470, 170hp). I run a 4bl 17p prop and I have had no issue with 6 adults and 5 kids and pulling a skier or tube. 3bl were fine but when I switched to a 4bl it was a game changer, it was like a different boat. It felt like it had so much more power and ran so much smoother. Just wanted to through it out there.