Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

[Tjdunklee]

This is my first post on iboats.com so please bear with me. I searched and couldn't find too much info on this specific topic. This weekend I destroyed my prop on my 1987 SeaRay Seville 17' which has a 3.0 Merc with a Alpha One drive unit. I started researching props right away today and decided to go with a 17" pitch prop due to the fact that we only ski/wakeboard behind the boat and don't care about top speed at all. I found a good deal on a Quicksiler Black Diamond 14.5" X 17" prop at a local store and decided to bring it home with the Flo Torque II hub kit which is required. Much to my dismay, when I installed the prop it is very close to hitting the trim tab on the drive unit. The gap is hardly big enough to fit your finger in. Did I buy the wrong size prop? It looks significantly bigger than the old prop and sticks out further due to the hub kit. Should I be worried about the prop hitting the trim tab? I just scared because it seems like any slight bend in the prop could make for a not-so-fun disaster when metal contacts metal. It also just looks really big on the motor to me for some reason, the bottom blade is almost lower than the skeg! Any suggestions for my problem would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everybody, I love this site, it has been extremely helpful already.

P.S. Anybody know how to get all that scum off my drive unit?!?! I can't find anything that will even put a dent in that white build-up!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

That's Fine,.........

As long as there's Clearence it'll run,.......
Sometimes the Tab has to be changed out to a Smaller 1,...
Or,....
Some even need a Flat Plate, instead of a Tab.......
Alphas can run up to a 16" prop.........

As for the Scum,.......
When it's Fresh,+ still Wet,..... It comes Right Off.......
Dried On, like you have,.......
I'd just Leave it alone,+ Maybe try scrapping it off after the boats been In the water a few days.......

 

[Tjdunklee]

Re: Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

Thank you very much for your quick answer. I will give it a try tomorrow and see how it goes. I hope the lower pitch helps a bunch with the low-end power. Thanks for the tip about the scum too, I will try and scrape it after a long day on the boat.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

That looks exactly like mine. It is a 17" on a 2.5l with the same drive. I have never had any issues.

 

[Tjdunklee]

Re: Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

That looks exactly like mine. It is a 17" on a 2.5l with the same drive. I have never had any issues.

Thank you for giving me a little more confidence in it! I will try it tomorrow and hopefully all goes well.

 

[Tjdunklee]

Re: Will my prop hit? Clearance question...

I finally got a chance to get the boat on the water and the prop worked great! I have a ton more low-end power and it still will go about 38mph without going over maximum RPMs. Thanks for the help everybody.