I have a 2005 four winns 170 horizon fish and ski runabout that I've only owned for about a month. After considering trim tabs and having difficulty with the placement on this boat, I've decided to try a 4 blade prop to decrease my planing speed and increase the low end for water sports.
I did a test this weekend, and hit WOT with my current prop (21" pitch, I believe a quicksilver prop, 3 blade) at just over 4600 RPM, which is at the top-end for my Volvo Penta 4.3GL V6 with SX drive. I had three adults on board, so I figure the passenger load was pretty average for my boat. It is possible, that if I'd had more room on the lake to stay at WOT for a bit longer, the boat may have approached 4650+ rpms, but I was running out of real-estate, so throttled down.
Now, after some research, it seems that my current 3 blade prop is correct for my boat, and that would likely dictate a 20" pitch 4-blade. I don't want to jump to a stainless prop at this time, due to cost, and thus my options are fairly limited. I've narrowed my selection down to these three props:
-Quicksilver Diamond 4 20" pitch, model QA2186X - this seems like an obvious fit, albeit the most costly of the three by about $40
-Solas Rubex 4 19" pitch, model 9513-143-19 - this seems like it might be moving down too far, possibly, though I almost never have a desire or need to go WOT, and thus would not likely have a need to exceed my 4600rpm high limit.
-Solas Rubex 4 21" pitch, model 9513-140-21 - this might be moving up too far, and might impede performance at the low end, though if it only changes my WOT rpms by 100 or so, I'd still be at 4500+ with WOT, which seems clearly within my 4200-4600 range.
I've seen positive feedback about the Solas Rubex 4 props, and a friend has stated that the quicksilver diamond 4 is a good prop, so I'm really on the fence. Does anyone care to shed more light on this subject? Thanks in advance.
I did a test this weekend, and hit WOT with my current prop (21" pitch, I believe a quicksilver prop, 3 blade) at just over 4600 RPM, which is at the top-end for my Volvo Penta 4.3GL V6 with SX drive. I had three adults on board, so I figure the passenger load was pretty average for my boat. It is possible, that if I'd had more room on the lake to stay at WOT for a bit longer, the boat may have approached 4650+ rpms, but I was running out of real-estate, so throttled down.
Now, after some research, it seems that my current 3 blade prop is correct for my boat, and that would likely dictate a 20" pitch 4-blade. I don't want to jump to a stainless prop at this time, due to cost, and thus my options are fairly limited. I've narrowed my selection down to these three props:
-Quicksilver Diamond 4 20" pitch, model QA2186X - this seems like an obvious fit, albeit the most costly of the three by about $40
-Solas Rubex 4 19" pitch, model 9513-143-19 - this seems like it might be moving down too far, possibly, though I almost never have a desire or need to go WOT, and thus would not likely have a need to exceed my 4600rpm high limit.
-Solas Rubex 4 21" pitch, model 9513-140-21 - this might be moving up too far, and might impede performance at the low end, though if it only changes my WOT rpms by 100 or so, I'd still be at 4500+ with WOT, which seems clearly within my 4200-4600 range.
I've seen positive feedback about the Solas Rubex 4 props, and a friend has stated that the quicksilver diamond 4 is a good prop, so I'm really on the fence. Does anyone care to shed more light on this subject? Thanks in advance.
happy 