dingy 4hp honda plane?

lucky7

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Nov 7, 2007
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262
i just spent a week with my brother on his sailboat,
he has a small dingy with a four stroke 4 hp honda on it. dont know the age. he said it will almost plane with one person in it. would a steeper prop move him a little faster? i would like to send him one to try...would 2 or 3 or four blades be better? not really sure of everything thats available....do you yhink 4hp wouldnt do it no matter what props on there?
 

jbcurt00

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Oct 25, 2011
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Without knowing what lrop he's running now, and what rpm he's running now, it'd be hard to guess what a different prop would do.

If at optimum/max rpm while running WOT now, a different prop may decrease performance.
 

robert graham

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Apr 16, 2009
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Probably the best way to maximize performance on that rig would be to either add some weight up front or install a tiller handle extension so the operator can slide his weight forward a bit to level it out.......
 

bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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We have a dingy that has a 4HP Honda on it. We can get it up on plane(barely) if the person gets all the way in the front. Problem is if you have just one other person in the boat, there is no chance of ever getting up on plane. A higher pitch prop is not going to help you.
 
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Sea Rider

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Sep 20, 2008
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Need to know inflatables's lenght, blade diam/pitch and OB wot rpm while lightly loaded, installing a lower pitch could make that combo plane or have better fast displacement speed..

Happy Boating
 

Sea Rider

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Sep 20, 2008
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Being a small dinghy no need to install a tiller extension, simply move yourself forward and sit inside middle deck, at least one les pitch prop and moving weight forward will make the difference. A small dinghy achieves greater hull drag when trying to plane with underpowered small OB's, that's why a prop max should be the way to go if wanting having fun with that inflatable which needs to be top air inflated to plane as expected. That small 4 HP at full throtttle should be lugging badly...

Happy Boating
 
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steelespike

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Apr 26, 2002
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I'm old school when I talk dingy I think of a small boat Not a small inflatable.
 

bruceb58

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A dinghy can be an inflatable or a hard hull. It's just a boat you use on a larger vessel that you use when anchored.
 

fishrdan

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Jan 25, 2008
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What type of boat is it, what type of hull?

I used to have a dingy for fishing small lakes, cathedral hull that was very stable, but it wasn't good at planing, pitiful in fact. Best it could do with a 5HP was with a 9-10MPH, same engine on a jon boat = 18-20MPH.
 

bruceb58

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I used to have a dingy for fishing small lakes, cathedral hull that was very stable, but it wasn't good at planing, pitiful in fact.
Livingston? We used to have one of those.

I have a Walker Bay up at my Tahoe house that I use the 4Hp Honda on.
 

Sea Rider

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Sep 20, 2008
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If it?s a hard hull small dinghy much worst, heavier than same size inflatable. As stated by Fishrdan a 4-5 HP OB will power at a better planing speed a larger dinghy than a shorter one which only achieves fast displacement speeds, more hull drag issues.

If wanting to have more fun with that small dinghy an induction tach is the way to go, check max wot rpm, install a less pitch prop to bump rpm towards max wot range, that's if wanting to get all the horses out of that small portable OB to perform much better..

Tohatsu 5 Hp.JPG


Happy Boating
 
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