Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

[Zeusdafreak1]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

I tested my new prop today. I went from a 23p to a 21p of the exact same prop(14x21 4-blade SS Solas HR Titan). Here are the results:

4800 RPM WOT (4400-4800 recommended)
55-56 MPH top end
Hole shot is excellent. Very quick planing 3-4 seconds to 24MPH
Roll on and manuvering are all excellent. Handles great in choppy/rough water
Rides very high on the water(excellent lift)
45 MPH @ 4000 RPM
33 MPH @ 3000 RPM

I could not be happier with this prop. This is the prop for this boat. There is no need to test anymore. I went from 4200 WOT with the 23p to 4800 WOT with the 21p. This thing handles like a jet ski now. I could not be happier. I hope others can learn from my trial and error without spending the money I did. I will now put the follow props on FleeBay( Black Max 14 1/2 x 19, Solas Titan HR 4 14x23 SS). I hope to get most of my money back but if I don't it was worth every penny!

 

[swtch7]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

I tested my new prop today. I went from a 23p to a 21p of the exact same prop(14x21 4-blade SS Solas HR Titan). Here are the results:

4800 RPM WOT (4400-4800 recommended)
55-56 MPH top end
Hole shot is excellent. Very quick planing 3-4 seconds to 24MPH
Roll on and manuvering are all excellent. Handles great in choppy/rough water
Rides very high on the water(excellent lift)
45 MPH @ 4000 RPM
33 MPH @ 3000 RPM

I could not be happier with this prop. This is the prop for this boat. There is no need to test anymore. I went from 4200 WOT with the 23p to 4800 WOT with the 21p. This thing handles like a jet ski now. I could not be happier. I hope others can learn from my trial and error without spending the money I did. I will now put the follow props on FleeBay( Black Max 14 1/2 x 19, Solas Titan HR 4 14x23 SS). I hope to get most of my money back but if I don't it was worth every penny!

I really do appreciate you posting the results of your quest for the perfect prop. Based on those results I will try out the solas 4 blade aswell. Again, thanks

 

[Zeusdafreak1]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Update to new 21 pitch prop. We were on the lake all day today. We had our whole family of five and 2 other kids. Thats seven people, full tank of gas, full cooler, etc. and WOT was 4600RPM at 53 MPH. Not too shabby considering the packed boat and the inprovement in handling. We got caught in a summer storm and it started raining. We were 3-4 mile up the river and 3-4 miles up the lake from the landing when it started raining. All the boats took off but we had a grill set up. I broke it down and took off last. We passed all of the boats in the river and through the lake. We were taking the choppy water with ease and as I peaked from behind my windshield from which I was dodging the stinging rain I could see the other boats with bows-a-slapping. I never had to check up. I had our boat on the trailer and up the landing before most of the others even made it back.

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Thanks for all the detailed info on your experience. It's great to see this kind of real world experience.

 

[Maps]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Very interesting thread !

My bowrider is a 3000lbs with a volvo 5.0 Gxi 270hp Sx drive

My WOT range should be 4600-5000
It comes with a 3 blade 14 1/2 x 19' and does 48mph at 4800

I want to try a 4 blade 14 1/2 18' to get better results all around and not for top speed gain. Now my 3 blade prop does the jobe very well but im certain that with a 4 blade the handling will improve.

I dont want to go SS just yet cause Im still exploring my Lake

Keep posting your results !

 

[athiker]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Zeusdafreak1...that's great, it sounds like you are dialed in.

Thanks for posting back with the results.

 

[Zeusdafreak1]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

No problem. I hope that others can benefit from real world applications. I have tried to document as much as possible.

Sunday we had 4 adults and 5 children with a full cooler and full tank of gas.

4600 WOT
52 MPH Top speed.
With 3 of the adults on the bow and 5 children in the stern the boat did seem to have trouble keeping the heavy bow up. I tried several trim positions and while it wasn't unmanageable by any means it wasn't quite as smooth with 3 adults up front. Very minor porpoising. I moved one of them back and all was perfect again. I am guessing that the narrow arses in the stern didn't balance well with the wide arses in the front. Wasn't a problem just thought I would mention it.

Added 2 more teenagers to the load from the sandbar(2-3 were on the Big Bertha tube at all times.) Thats 8-9 in the boat and 2-3 on the tube at any given time. Hole shot was acceptable with the tube. Plenty of roll-on at 20-27MPH as I slung them around behind the boat. Sorry but I didn't take any readings other than WE HAD A BLAST!

 

[rndn]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

I had a simlar experience switching to a four blade SS prop. Handling, hole shot, fuel mileage, and top end all improved. I just could not believe the difference on the boat. The 1989 Baja Force 216 witha 5.7 mercruiser acted like a different boat. I would never boat again without a four blade SS prop. If you haven't tried it I strongly suggest trying one.

 

[athiker]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Do you recall what 4 blade you switched to on the Baja rndn?

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

That's the question I was waiting to hear...
In many of my tests, I've ran the solas props...some run better than others, and you'd be surprised at how many miss-applications there are out there with 4-blds.
On some hulls, the HR Titan will run neck-n-neck with a 4-bld Stiletto...on most hulls, it won't. When I install a Turbo and run numbers against the Titan series, the Solas doesn't look quite so good. All it proves is not every hull design will gain performance from 1 prop. Sometimes it takes a different blade design even on a simular boat to get the best numbers.
It sounds as though you have found a good match though, but I have to wonder what a Bay-Pro series Stiletto would do????

 

[Zeusdafreak1]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

That's the question I was waiting to hear...
In many of my tests, I've ran the solas props...some run better than others, and you'd be surprised at how many miss-applications there are out there with 4-blds.
On some hulls, the HR Titan will run neck-n-neck with a 4-bld Stiletto...on most hulls, it won't. When I install a Turbo and run numbers against the Titan series, the Solas doesn't look quite so good. All it proves is not every hull design will gain performance from 1 prop. Sometimes it takes a different blade design even on a simular boat to get the best numbers.
It sounds as though you have found a good match though, but I have to wonder what a Bay-Pro series Stiletto would do????

A Bay-Pro Series Stiletto? If I were to test one of these which one would you recommend for my application. The way I see it I have 4 choices:

The Bay Pro III 14 1/4 x 19
The Bay Pro II 14 1/4 x 20
The Bay Pro II 14 1/4 x 22
The Bay Pro III 14 1/4 x 21

IF and I said IF I did consider trying another prop which one would you try and why? Is there a difference in design of the Bay Pro II and III? What shall we expect the statistical differences be in the Titan vs. the Siletto? What I mean is how much either would we expect it to outperform/underperform if I were to stick with the same pitch in the stiletto?. You have me curious.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

The BayPro 11's are very strong lifting prop's, on a 19' 20degree v @ 3000lbs and 215 hp gi i can get 54-55 mph on a 20p like clock work good hole shot and very nice midrange. Yesterday i finally had the chance to do some prolonged leisure boating and found out she now porpise's like carzy at full trim and about 25 mph this cant be done with a 3 blade, it actully kinda of funny how easy it is to setup the oscillation if you will, trim here back in and it straighten's right out.

I do not believe the 111's are the same prop's.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

The BP III is a different prop and the BP II in 20P is what I would look at if trying the stiletto. The efficiency is "slightly" less than a Turbo but still near the top of the list in this design. It could "possibly" show another 100RPM but may have enough more cupping that it would be closer to your current RPM, only faster, mph-wise.
If you're happy with what you have now, your best bet would be to stick with it....I only mentioned it because I test these critters and seldom have I found a prop in this class that will out-perform the Stiletto.

 

[rndn]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

I used a Stletto four blade I think they call it a Bay II. They are available on this site and it worked great.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

Yes, the Bay Pro II...I sell both Turbo and Stiletto, but this is not my site so if you are interested, I can set you up with the iboats P/N, or I'm sure the reps that answer the phone can pin that down for ya right here

 

[tjumper54]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

I just bought a Tahoe Q4 with 4.3L inboard......is the 21P SS prop the right one for my boat?

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Thinking of changing to 4-Blade

STAY WITH A 3 BLADE 4 blades add more drag

I did the exact same thing on my BAYLINER 185. ( didnt ruin the stock prop ) I switch to the same exact size and pitch and went to a STILETTO Stainless prop.

OH MY God what a differance in speed. Your already getting the speed Im at with an aluminum so I can only imagine whats going to happen going to SS.

I was doing 50MPH with the aluminum that came on the boat. We are talking a BRAND NEW boat and prop from the factory. I swapped to the SS, not following the "rule" of dropping pitch and man what a differance. The boat is an animal. WOT RPM dropped just a little bit( still in speced range though ) but I gained about 5 MPH easily.

I have no problem telling you GET A STILETTO!

Vic

TJUMPER by the book it is the right prop....Drop pitch from a 23 aluminum to a 21 SS.......But I bet the 23 SS would rip ***** on that boat too.