changed from 3 to 4 blade heres my review

[oceanbarrel]

I have a 19ft searay open bow with a 4.3 mercruiser. I bought the boat used and it had a 14.5" 19 pitch 3 blade aluminum prop. I bent that one so I switched to a 14.5 " 18 pitch 4 blade prop, also aluminum. I use my boat almost exclusively for wakeboarding. With my new prop the boat launches out of the water and planes right up. Im extremely pleased it was a very noticble difference. Now yesterday it was just me and my wife in the boat, so we hit the rpm range before WOT, but I dont care about top speed at all. The one drawback that i noticed is that with the 4 blade the prop torque is very noticble. I cant put the little fin anode on, I have to stick to the flat round one. I wonder what it would feel like if i had gone with a 17 pitch.

 

[wellsc1]

Re: changed from 3 to 4 blade heres my review

Welcome to the wierd world of props. Before I joined this forum, posted prop questions, and read many others, props were black magic. I didn't know much about props except I prefered stainless for its ruggedness and corrosion resistance ovar aluminum. Oh, ss doesn't flex like al, so the pitch may have to be played with.

It's not black magic anymore, but it's still trial and error because different props models of the same diameter and pitch have other characteristics. Then there are the 3-blade, 4-blade, and I think 5-blade varieties.

You're discovering how your prop change altered the operation of your boat. If you tried another prop, the operation may vary differently. And so on.

Welcome to the wierd world of props.

 

[trswenson]

Re: changed from 3 to 4 blade heres my review

What Wells said ... AMEN!
I currently own 4 props (started with 1) and am finally down to buying 1 more to meet my needs (SS). Unless you boat the same everytime out (weight carried, weight distribution, elevation, water conditions, wind, etc) there will always be just a little more or less of boat handling characteristic you want. If you are close to being overall satisfied (75% of the time) you've got the prop you need.
Now enjoy summer and the boating season !! ;-)>