need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

[05GlastronSX]

I have a 2005 glastron sx 17 footer fiberglass ski boat with a 2005 mercury 150 XR6(5000-5600 max RPM range) on it. My RPMS at WOT trimed up, light load are close to 5400-5600 and heavy load trimmed down 5000-5100. Anyways, To make a long story short, i was driving my boat to the boat landing to get it ready for winter and i hit a chain in the water and it dinged up my prop on 2 of the 3 blades. Its not too bad and runs excellent even with it, but it now give me an excuse to upgrade to an SS . The current propeller is a quick silver black max 21P and i think the diameter is 13 3/4. I am going to get this one fixed and save it for my back up prop. This prop gave me excellent hole shot, mid range, and top end (55-60 mph) and also i could pull 3 tubes w/ 4 people on them and 6 people in the boat with no problem. I do a lot of pulling especially both tubers and skiers but i also like to run WOT a lot. i want a prop that will do both of these. Any info or suggestions would be appreciated <br /><br />Props i was looking at in no specific order... By the way i would like to stay below 350-400 dollars. <br /><br />1) 3 blade Michigan wheel Ballistic 21 P<br />2) 4 blade 2+2 turbo<br />3) 3 bladeMercury Vengance<br />4 4 blade Mercury revolution 4( alomst too much money <br />5) 5 blade Mercury high five(too much money)<br />6) 3 blade Michigan wheel Rapture XHS<br /><br />By the way...what would you recommend pitch wise for a 4 blade prop in order to stay in my recommended RPM range? I was thinking dropping to 20 inch on the turbo or maybe 19 on the revolution 4?

 

[bluewater19]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

Buy your 21 pitch highfive through ebay.<br />Or check out hill marine dot com for a custom 5 blade stump pulling prop. <br />I have one(ron hill) on my 03 glastron 175sx (4.3L 190 hp)in 23 pitch. and I have tried tons of props before settling on this one for best water sports .<br />I tried all the props on your list except the turbo 2+2 an rev 4. I also tried the tempest plus, Mirage plus, LAser II and the Off shore.<br />The Ronhill prop has better pulling and topspeed performance than the high five.<br />My hull seemed to like the Laser II best for top speed and cruising. I ended up buying a 25 pitch laser for cruising and long trips(40 miles or more) on the sacramento delta.<br /><br />I bought and sold all these props on ebay over a 3 year period and If you buy in the winter and sell the ones you don't like in spring/summer You will not lose money.<br />I have a couple more to sell this summer once boating season starts and yes the shipping is a pain but I can say I tried a lot of props on my boat and in the end I think I even made a little money. <br />Good luck

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

the props that most interest me are the 4 blade turbo 2+2, the 3 blade rapture, the 4 and 5 blade ron hill signature series you mentioned, and the apollo as well which i forgot to mention. I dont want to lose much top speed, id like to keep it very close, or even increase it if possible. but i want even better mid range and hole shot. i do not want to get the high five as the price is way too much money for that prop ($500.00+)

 

[walleyehed]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

Slip ratio shows a possible speedo that isn't correct, or the tach may be off.<br />Speed by GPS or dash mount dial w/pitot or speed wheel???

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

that is what my speedo roughly gave me and my tach. ill check asap as soon as it warms up just a little more. for the most part though, im assuming my boat does above 50 and the rpm's i know are above 5,000. anyways anyone else have any comments or suggestions?

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

05Glastron,<br />2 things. Are you coming to the WI iboaters get together? I ask because i have an extra 21 pitch High Five. You could try it out.<br /><br />The High Five is the best holeshot prop IMO. You may lose 2-4 mph off the top end, but you will definitely gain holeshot and mid range.<br /><br />I run a 19 now and have no real use for the 21. just haven't found a buyer, although I haven't looked very hard at all. I won't put it on feebay.<br /><br />P.S. You really need to make sure the tach is accurate at WOT. If your tach were say 300 RPM off, you could be doing damage to your engine and not even know it. After that, use a GPS to verify speed. you can also check how far off your speedos are.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

im sure that my RPM's are over 5,000. also, i have nearly 100 hours and this motor and not once has it ever missed a beat. As for the high five, what are we talking about price wise? also is it in good condition? anywyas, anyone else have ANY input or info regarding props??

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

05Glastron, the High Five is perfect. I ran it for only a very small portion of 1 season, maybe 1.5 months at most. No dings, nicks, or imperfections at all. It is a newer one with the PVS system. Email me and we'll talk more. My addy is in my signature below. I don't wanna offend iboats, although there SHOULD be no problem seeing as they do not sell them here. <br /><br />Are you coming to the get together? You could also try my 19 if you wanted, and I also have a Turbo II 22 pitch you could try. Playing with props is kinda fun. It's truly amazing how much different one can be from another in speed, holeshot, and handling.<br /><br />The best thing you can do IMO, is find a local prop shop that will let you try before you buy. They'll usually let you take out 1-3 props if you leave them a deposit, and will let you continue to try props until you find one you like. You will have to buy one from them eventually, though. Make sure they have a decent selection for your application. You may pay slightly more for the prop, but you'll only have to buy one. Make sure you find a Turbo dealer and try a Turbo I. They are pretty aggressive, so you may have to drop to a 20 on that particular model. Otherwise, your list looks good, except the Bullistic. Don't bother IMHO.<br /><br />I'd still verify my tach and speedo before I started. I agree with Kenny now that I've looked at a slip calculator.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

As was mentioned above...5000 is not enough, #1, and you CANNOT prop correctly without an accurate RPM indication.

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: need advice on new SS prop...buying soon

Kenny I don't think some people want to test correctly. They just want someone to say it'll go 70 and pull 9 skiers at the same time.<br /><br />05, Listen to what kenny has to say he's tried more props than all of us put together . You must check the accuracy of the tach and at least use the same speedo for every test. Gps is good for accurate results. This way you are not pissing into the wind. You also must keep the load on the boat as even and the same for every test. You will be suprised what you will find out if you do these things and test different props, and your results will be accurate.