Force prop needed!

['85BaylinerCapri]

Greetings all, this is my first post. My girlfriend and I just purchased our first boat last month and so far most of our boat time has been spent on land trying to repair or replace things. One of our biggest problems is trying to find a prop for a 85 HP Force outboard. The one on the boat right now has large chunks missing out of two of the blades and the third blade is bent significantly. From the very little that I know about boats I can gather that this needs to be replaced post-haste. Written on the non-cupped prop is "FP 686 13x19". I don't know for sure if this is the correct prop, and I do not have a tachometer on the boat although a local marina happily offered to test it for us at $83.00 an hour for labor. I just want to know if anyone can tell us how to find a used prop that will work or where to order new ones from. Thanks, Scott

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Force prop needed!

Welcome to iboats.

Read our prop section for some insight that will save you money. Having chunks missing is not healthy.

 

[hwsiii]

Re: Force prop needed!

Scott, the first thing you need to do is buy a tach, it is one of the most important gauges on your boat. 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 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 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 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 across 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
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. If you do not have a tach you can buy a Tiny Tach for $ 50
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 forgoing 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

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

 

['85BaylinerCapri]

Re: Force prop needed!

Thank you both for your expedient replies. Bob, I have already read through a significant amount of the prop info in the forums and that was one of the reasons I came to the conclusion that I better get the prop fixed before I do any damage to the engine. For you hwsiii, I am going to need to do quite a bit more research (happily). I have no idea what the WOT is or Deep Vee, I am unsure as to anti-ventilation plates or hydrafoils, dolefin, or trim tops, and don't even know where to start to find out the recommended hp. I know that you said you only needed a portion of that info but I am sure that anything I can find out will help me in the long run. I will however spend a large portion of today trying to find these answers and will return later this evening to share my discoveries. Thank you very much for your help.

Scott

 

[hwsiii]

Re: Force prop needed!

You are very welcome Scott. A hydrafoil is attached to the outdrive and you can tell by looking at it it didn't come from the factory as it will have bolts attaching it to the anti ventilation plate. I hope this helps.


H