Best prop for skiing 3.7 mercruiser

Richard Muller

Recruit
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
1
Just bought used boat. Rinker V19 w/ 4 cylinder 3.7 Mercruiser. Engine gets to 4000rpm and about 40 MPH. The prop is a three blade that has the markings:
M1727
L2717
48 78 20 A40 19P
The main use of the boat will be for skiing & fishing. Tried to get single slalom skier up yesterday and had a hard time out of the hole.
Don't know what the prop is I have and what is the correct prop for this use.
Is a four blade better than three?
Maybe prop is fine and I should do something to motor to increase power? ( jet fuel? :D )
Don't really need the top end for skiing as the getting the person up fast is main concern - but then again I don't want row boats to pass me on my top end either!
Thanks for your help.
 

rs1lollie

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
194
Re: Best prop for skiing 3.7 mercruiser

The prop you have is a 48 78120 A40 19P mercury alpha 1 14 dia. x 19 pitch. what is the wot rpms for your engine? I'm guessing that it should be around 4300-4800 wot rpms. By the info given below I would say to go with a 14x17 4 blade prop. I copied this info from the prop finder in this form.

For safety, and efficient performance, it is critical that your engine operates within the RPM range recommended by the manufacturer.

A change in the prop pitch will increase or decrease the engine RPM's and can be used to bring them into the recommended range. A 2" pitch increase (for example, from 21" to 23") will result in approximately a 300-400 RPM decrease and vice versa.

The correct prop allows the engine's RPM to run within the top end of the manufacturers recommendation.

3 vs. 4 Blade Props

3-Blades
3-blade props are great on most boats as they offer good all around performance, better efficiency, and can achieve higher speeds. Switching from 4 to 3-blades generally requires a 1" pitch increase.

4-Blades
4-blade props work well with bass, pontoon & high performance boats as they provide better acceleration (hole shot), keep a boat on plane with fewer RPM's, and produce less vibration at high speeds. Switching from 3 to 4-blades generally requires a 1" pitch decrease.
 
Last edited:

hwsiii

Commander
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Messages
2,639
Re: Best prop for skiing 3.7 mercruiser

Rihard, welcome to Iboats prop forum and we will try to help you as much as we can but without more information no one can help you, and I will tell you I need more information than anyone else. But if you would like my help fill this form out and I will help you as much as I can, if you would prefer to not go to this much trouble there are other people who will gladly help you.

Iboats Boat and Motor Info

1. Year, make and model of boat
2. Length, width and base weight of boat, look for boat decal on back of boat
2a.What is the maximum recommended HP for your boat
3. Number of people and gallons of gas normally on boat
4. What do you use the boat for
5. Is it a Deep Vee and if so how many degrees of deadrise
6. Year, make. manufacturer and model of motor
7. HP and gear ratio of motor IMPORTANT
If you don?t know the ratio, you need to pull the plugs out and put a piece of tape a c ross the prop and the lower unit and then cut it between the prop and the housing and turn the motor until the tape lines up with each other, it is easier if two people do this, so one can watch the prop while the other counts the revolutions of the motor
8. Manufacturer?s recommended Wide Open Throttle (WOT) range
9. Anti-ventilation Plate height above keel of boat if it is an outboard in inches, use a board under the keel and stiking out to the anti ventilation plate for a referene
10. Is it a bass boat or does it have a pad bottom
11. Does it have a hydrafoil, dolefin or trim tabs
12. Make, model, diameter, pitch and whether SS or aluminum prop
13. WOT RPM and speed from your current prop and how much gas and how many people were in the boat for the test data and is the speed by GPS. Make sure you trim the prop up until it starts ventilating and then just trim in until it quits ventilating. If you do not have a tach you can buy a Tiny Tach for $ 50
RPM ___________ Speed ___________ No. of people ____________ Gas ________
14. Are you at sea level or a higher elevation, give us the elevation in feet
15. Has your motor been tuned up lately and have you checked that the carburetor butterfly is opening all the way, checked compression, and looked at the plugs and checked spark, all of the foregoing could be the reason your prop is not attaining full RPM
16. How long has this prop been on the boat and why, at this time, do you think it is the wrong prop
17. Does the prop show any damage that you can see
18. What problems are you trying to cure or what are you looking for the boat to do that it is not doing the way you think it should or to your expectations
19. If you are trying to attain a better cruising speed and fuel savings or trying to attain a faster speed I will want you to take your boat and run it with 1 or 2 people and give me the RPM and speed readings starting at 3,000 RPM in 500 RPM increments all the way to WOT.

REMEMBER, The numbers I give you will be NO better than the information you give me

The only thing I ask of you is to come back and give me a report of WOT RPM and speed for my database.


H
 
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