Prop to suit 2006 175 for skiing/wakebaording-gctid402020

[Guest]

Hi All,

Im after some prop recommendations for my 2006 175. Im after something that has good hole shot to pull single skiers out... Currently have a 3 blade quicksilver alloy prop that came on the boat but I think its more of a high speed cruising prop than one thats for skiing and wake boarding. When we go FLAT OUT to pull out a single skier it doesnt really hit hard and takes a while to get up on plane ect.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Guest]

I believe the current prop is a 21...

[Guest]

I'm wanting to say 17P is about the lowest you want to go. I boat in Colorado where altitude at local lakes varies by 4,000' so I have 3 props and swap them out regularly. That's always an option for you. Example, verify you have a 21P, if you do... grab a 19P and try it for a while, if you want more hole shot later, snag a 17P. I have a 9P, 11P and 13P for my boat. I run them kinda like this

under 3,500' above sea level = 13P

between 3,500' and 6,000 above sea level = 11P

over 6,000' above sea level = 9P

You could apply the same theory to the amount of weight you are pulling vs the hole shot you want. Remember though that if you step it down too far you can over-rev your motor and cause damage so be mindful.

[Guest]

kidafa wrote:
Hi All,

Im after some prop recommendations for my 2006 175. Im after something that has good hole shot to pull single skiers out... Currently have a 3 blade quicksilver alloy prop that came on the boat but I think its more of a high speed cruising prop than one thats for skiing and wake boarding. When we go FLAT OUT to pull out a single skier it doesnt really hit hard and takes a while to get up on plane ect.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

I currently run a solas amita 4 blade 17" pitch prop. It works great for popping boarders out of the water with lots of people on board. I am usually boating with 5+ people, so its nice to have that extra oomph. This prop also helps keep the boat on plane which gives a nice clean wake. Make sure with other people on board to always have people sitting in the bow, otherwise the weight in the rear will cause the stern to drag and your rpm's will drop off if pulling at 20mph. top speed of the prop is 35 mph at 4800 rpm's. For boarding I am using a 65' rope off my waketower.

[Guest]

I'm running a 21' and until reading all the posts on Props have been happy as with it.

I had a 19P Alloy (Factory I think) this was OK but I kept hitting the rev limiter when we were running WOT.

To be fair we have got big lakes (For NZ) with not a lot of people, our roads to get to some fishing spots are gravel and pot holed so we tend to put in at the bottom of the lake and boat up rather than drive, most of the time this is on glass water so we can open her up and get up the lake in good time. Bit like the bass guys a guess.

When it comes to water sports the 21P SS is OK for our family but now i think about it would the 19P would get me out of the water better on the single ski. The kids are all light so the pop up easy as. I learned to ski behind a 40Hp outboard so you just take a deep breath and hold on until the boat gets up to speed.

Pick what you want to do mainly with your boat then pick your prop to suit.

[Guest]

Well I'm 90% sure its got a 21p at the moment..... when Im skiing I always make sure that at least two people are in the bow to help it get up onto plane. When we are out we have at least 5 with us so some added oomph out of the hole would be great. Saying that I don't want to over rev it either as when I'm skiing others drive and will not be as careful with RPM as myself. What is a safe rev range?

Can someone give me some links to example props and where to buy? Im in Australia but will probably buy from US ebay or amazon ect...

where I mainly ski is 150 feet above sea level.

Will a 19p and 17p be able to hit bare footing speeds?

Whats the pro's and cons of stainless/alloy ect....

Ohh and its the baby 3.0L

Thanks again.

[Guest]

kidafa wrote:
Well I'm 90% sure its got a 21p at the moment..... when Im skiing I always make sure that at least two people are in the bow to help it get up onto plane. When we are out we have at least 5 with us so some added oomph out of the hole would be great. Saying that I don't want to over rev it either as when I'm skiing others drive and will not be as careful with RPM as myself. What is a safe rev range?

Can someone give me some links to example props and where to buy? Im in Australia but will probably buy from US ebay or amazon ect...

where I mainly ski is 150 feet above sea level.

Will a 19p and 17p be able to hit bare footing speeds?

Whats the pro's and cons of stainless/alloy ect....

Ohh and its the baby 3.0L

Thanks again.

i bought mine from iboats.com, shipping was free but i'm in the states. I don't know what bare foot speeds are cuz I don't do it, but I can tell you the 17" pitch will only hit 35 mph at 4800 rpms. That isn't to say you couldn't go faster with this prop, you would just be over revving the engine. I have never used a stainless prop, so I couldn't tell you the difference. People swear by them, but I can't justify spending 3 times as much in an area with a lot of debri in the water.

[Guest]

and until reading all the posts on Props have been happy as with it.

lol

[Guest]

Can anyone answer my last questions?

[Guest]

I don't pull skiers so intial bite is not as crucial for me. I do frequently pull towables.

FYI... There was a BOC member that did a lot of research on props testing 8 or 10 on his 175. You could dig in the archives to find the thread. He came up with the Stiletto Advantage II stainless three blade (14 1/4 x 19p) as a good all-around prop for the 175. I took his recommendation and found one well under $300. I have been running this for several years and have been extremely happy with it. It has a good hole shot and cruises around 42 MPH @ 4800 RPMs (not GPS verified).

It can be purchased here...

http://www.dansdiscountprops.com/Buy...cfm#advantage2

for $269 + shipping. Part number for the Mercruiser is 800319-501.

Now... I have a question. I know with boats, MPG is not a big issue as it usually sucks! How do various props effect mileage? Which is most efficient? Which causes a significant decrease? How does pitch make a difference? Flexible aluminum/composite versus rigid stainless. I assume it is all about RPMs, but not sure. Did sombody do the math?

Just curious.

[Guest]

I might also add that if Im trimmed up much at all above all the way down in corners this prop slips/ventilates quiet badly

[Guest]

Capman wrote:


Now... I have a question. I know with boats, MPG is not a big issue as it usually sucks! How do various props effect mileage? Which is most efficient? Which causes a significant decrease? How does pitch make a difference? Flexible aluminum/composite versus rigid stainless. I assume it is all about RPMs, but not sure. Did sombody do the math?

Just curious.

Now don't hold me to the coals here and someone please correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe props work the same as the rear end on a car. If you drop a lower set of gears in a truck, your power goes up but your top end and MPG come down. I believe the same goes for props. Drop the pitch down, and you will see an increase in power but your top end and MPG will suffer a little bit. Honestly though, if you have the 3.0L who worries about MPG anyways? I have the 17" pitch 4 blade, and it took me 5 trips this year to burn through my first tank of gas. Albeit a few of the trips were only 2-3 hours, but I still ran the boat probably 12 hours total before I needed gas.

[Guest]

whitey382 wrote:
Now don't hold me to the coals here and someone please correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe props work the same as the rear end on a car. If you drop a lower set of gears in a truck, your power goes up but your top end and MPG come down. I believe the same goes for props. Drop the pitch down, and you will see an increase in power but your top end and MPG will suffer a little bit. Honestly though, if you have the 3.0L who worries about MPG anyways? I have the 17" pitch 4 blade, and it took me 5 trips this year to burn through my first tank of gas. Albeit a few of the trips were only 2-3 hours, but I still ran the boat probably 12 hours total before I needed gas.

:wow-! I do that a day

Good analysis on the props. that my understanding as well. Lower pitch, better bottom end power, higher pitch better top speed.

I've got the horsepower to spin a bigger prop (21p) to give me a good hole shot even with a loaded boat, I would think the 3.0L would need the lower pitch to help get up on the plane nice and fast. Having said that the 3.0L will be a lot lighter as well.

I would have thought the 17p would rev like hell, do you find you hit the rev limiter or does the WOT stop just before this happens?

[Guest]

Macca wrote:
:wow-! I do that a day

Good analysis on the props. that my understanding as well. Lower pitch, better bottom end power, higher pitch better top speed.

I've got the horsepower to spin a bigger prop (21p) to give me a good hole shot even with a loaded boat, I would think the 3.0L would need the lower pitch to help get up on the plane nice and fast. Having said that the 3.0L will be a lot lighter as well.

I would have thought the 17p would rev like hell, do you find you hit the rev limiter or does the WOT stop just before this happens?

i definitely have to watch my rpm's when I have the throttle mashed. out of the hole shot and the next few seconds after that I'm fine, but once the boat planes out it picks up speed really quick and I have to throttle back to keep from exceeding 4800 rpms. I'm sure she would fly all the way to 6k rpms with this prop if I let her. So far I haven't needed to exceed 35 mph. If I want to cruise at a good speed I just steady her right at 4400 rpm's, pull the trim up just a little, she settles nicely at 30 mph and I just let her hum away.

[Guest]

I average 1/2 to 3/4 tank usage each day trip. If it is a comfortable day, we sit. If it is hot as hell, we ride. We cruise at 30 to 35.

With the Stiletto prop, I wanted to see how fast I could get her up to. I ran the trim up, just under 1/4. At WOT I was running 5100 RPMs and the speedo showed 47. It was on glassy water (no wind). I have only done that once, and only for about 5 minutes. No need to break my toy.

At WOT with no trim, RPMs are right on the nose at 4800, and the speedo shows around 42 (I know it's not accurate. I am too cheap to spring for a GPS).

I like the 3.0L. It is a workhorse.

My OEM prop was mediocre at best. I upgraded to a aluminium Solas Amita 3 blade in the OEM size (14.25 x 21p). Performance was greatly enhanced. I would attribute that to the specialized cupping that they give the blades in manufacturing. Nice bite and good top end. I tore it up on a rock bed at launch a few seasons ago. Still haven't had it repaired yet.

The bite (take off) is better with the Stiletto, and the top end is just a little less than the Solas. No cavitation or ventilation in hard turns with the Solas or the Stiletto. I would consider either prop a good buy.