my 06 tahoe q6 sf cant trim up

[hondariderar]

Hi, fairly new to boat owning. I have a 06 tahoe q6 sf 21ft with the 4.3. Currently has an aluminum 3 blade 14.25x21 prop on it. My problem is I cant trim up at all without it washing out. It doesnt matter if its 2 people in it or fully loaded. Good calm water I can get roughly 44mph out of it trimmed all the way dow but as soon as I try to trim up it washes out. A friend said he put a stainless steel prop on his and it fixed it but I have no clue what prop to get or if thats just a bandaid for the problem. Eventually I may pull tubes but I mostly use the boat for cruising. What should I do?

 

[dan02gt]

Re: my 06 tahoe q6 sf cant trim up

Sounds like your prop isn't gripping very well so it's cavitating soon as you trim up. A SS prop has cupping to greatly improve grip and should alow you to trim up a lot more. A basic and economical SS prop would be the Mercury Vengeance and a more expensive but better performing option would be the Mercury Enertia. These are both 3 blades. You probably want to stay with the 21 pitch.

 

[hondariderar]

Re: my 06 tahoe q6 sf cant trim up

So just stay with the same pitch just go SS? Where do 4 blade props come into play? Also do I need to order anything else with a new prop? Are all the nuts and washers the same or are there one time use items in there?

 

[dan02gt]

Re: my 06 tahoe q6 sf cant trim up

Normally you stay with the same pitch or drop down one pitch depending on where your WOT RMS are. The problem you have is since you can't trim up you can't get a good idea where you're setting.

A four blade prop will give you better grip and hole shot over a 3 blade at the cost of top speed and in some cases they are slightly less efficient at cruise due to having to drag another blade through the water. You will want to drop 1 pitch for a 4 blade. I would recommend the Powertech SFS4 for a four blade.

Most props come with hub kits that include everything you need, but check to be sure when you order.

Also a few prop vendors have prop exchange programs so if you get to wrong pitch or don't like the prop you can exchange it for a small fee. I know propgods.com does this and a few others due too.