Prop Recommendations

[Rkoola1]

Hello,
Fairly new to boating. I have a 2010 Evinrude 200HP HO which I am running on a 2002 Seaswirl 21' boat. I run it in fresh and salt water. Currently have an aluminum prop which needs to be replaced. Looking for advice on what to buy, based on what I am reading i believe stainless steel is the way to go. There are so many brands out there, looking for a solid all around performer?

 

[dingbat]

Hello,
Fairly new to boating. I have a 2010 Evinrude 200HP HO which I am running on a 2002 Seaswirl 21' boat. I run it in fresh and salt water. Currently have an aluminum prop which needs to be replaced. Looking for advice on what to buy, based on what I am reading i believe stainless steel is the way to go. There are so many brands out there, looking for a solid all around performer?

There is no “solid all around performer” per say.

Every hull behaves differently. It’s trial and error unless your lucky enough to find someone with the same setup who has gone through the same exercise.

To make matters worst, your better props are not cheap. You may be better served to running the boat for a while to see how it handles. Address any dislikes in your prop selection criteria.

Brand wise, I’m firmly in the camp that any prop will work, as long as it’s a Merc prop

 

[achris]

... looking for a solid all around performer?

That's like asking for a boat that you can take out 50 miles and catch marlin, and next weekend tow around a few wakeboards, then run in a ski race. No such animal.

Decide what aspect is the most important (Acceleration out of the holes? Top speed? able to handle high levels of trim, resistant to ventilation?) then look for the prop that satisfies that criteria. You may (most likely) will end up with more than one prop. Select the prop that takes the engine as close to the top of the recommended WOT as you can. Getting a prop to steep (too much pitch) will lug the engine, and may blow holes in the pistons).

...Brand wise, I’m firmly in the camp that any prop will work, as long as it’s a Merc prop

Likewise. Having owned a boat shop years ago, and gotten to try out quite a few props, yeah the Merc props eat the rest. Steer well clear of Solas. Hopelessly inefficient. They overload the engine without offering any improvement in speed.

And with the Merc Flo-torq II hubs, you can prop any engine brand with the right hub insert.

Chris..............