my guess is the dealer would probably suggest a blackmax 13 pitch for this boat. CT motors have 2.38 lower end rather than the 2.07 which gives greater thrust which is good for moving heavier loads from dead stop although some top end is sacrificed.
My goal is good overall performance. Not looking to tweak it for top end speed at WOT or to pull tubers. I am guessing 60-80% of the time it will be my wife and I and we will have 6-8 people on weekends.
I have always carried an extra prop and fuel line. In this situation, it makes sense to see how the stock prop works with light and heavy loads. Once I gather up that info, I may purchase a 12 or 14 if it seems like the 13 is not quite right. 13 would end up being the spare. BTW - I have never mashed a prop. I carry a spare in case the unthinkable happens.
Learned a few lessons with my Lund Rebel 1450. I had originally powered it with a honda 30 and it was barely enough motor for that boat. worked pretty good with light load, but took a lot to plane with medium load. Two props was the short term solution that worked fairly well. ended up moving to a merc 40, and the 10 extra HP made a huge difference. Secondary lesson - EFI is the way to go. The honda was a good motor but had a few fuel issues that were a pain to deal with.
The other big mistake I made was on a lund Explorer 1750. At the time, 4 strokes were still new and boats were not build for extra weight in back. Boat ran great but fell off plane way to fast at slower speeds which was rather annoying.
Looking forward to getting out on the water soon. Ice should be out in 4 weeks or so.
