High 5 prop Or 4 blade for holding speed????HELP

Hey well I need your help since I am new to I/O's. Which prop would hold speed better? what pitch? My Four winns 180 Volvo sx has a 14.24X 23 SS prop now which was stock. I am looking to hold speed better. PPass is not an option because I have a push throttle not a pull. I know with mods it can work but dont want the hassle.
SO 4 or 5 blade, which pitch? High 5 says stay with same pitch.
OH and I have a locker sac 375 lbs, and 200 lead up front.

cant tell you much bro, but my parents have a bayliner with a high five and it works well...I would reccomend it.

The prop you have is for speed - save some money and get a 4 blade alum prop - 18 pitch. Be careful as it will over rpm the engine. Go to your local prop shop - buy there with the understanding that you will need to add extra cupping to the prop to stop the over rpm. Understand that top speed will go down 10mph or more with this new prop.
High 5 prop = 450
4 blade alum = 185 with extra cupping
This worked very well in my old glastron with sx drive.

(Message edited by buttskimmer on February 28, 2006)

I agree with pretty much both guys above, ive got a high 5 and a 4 blade aluminum. Right now the 4 is on due to munching my 5. I would definitely drop the pitch considerably but as Scott mentioned you cant drive blind, you have to watch the tach and no more dropping the hammer to the wall. My boat came stock with a 23. I had the 19 high 5 and it worked great. The current 18/4 blade does real close to the same job for way less money.

The PP mod for your motor is very inexpensive and easy. Maybe $20.

OK I will try the 4 blade. so 18 P huh...I thought from what I read to go 19 on the 4 blade. As far as cupping how do I ask for that? any web links to a good 4 blade?

Karl what do I need to do for the PP?

i talked to four winns today and they said 4 blade 19p just watch those RPM's

whish I knew how to make PPass work for 20.00

The 18 and 19 are pretty close and you havent mentioned your motor size yet which makes a big difference.

To modivy PP for the push throttle takes a brass treaded rod to connect the PP pull to the throttle. If you can drill and tap, it is easy. My friend did this on his Volvo and it works great. I have a picture somewhere that I need to dig up.

Sorry I have the 4.3
If you cand find the pics it would be great. I would really like to add PP , I am used to riding behing my Sanger or all my other friends boats in California...but in the panhandlae I am the minority wanting this stuff so things are really limited....so all help is appreciated and needed

Gary, myself and a couple others are going to be over your way next weekend with the boat, coming from Ft walton. We are going to camp at St Andrews St park friday, possibly sat, and hit the party on the beach. You should come over some time, when we're there.

Gary, I doubt that the prop is going to have much of an effect on holding a steady speed, but what little effect it will have, the 5 blade would be better.

The differences a prop makes are in acceleration, hole shot, cavitation and top end.

In general, more blades means more surface area pushing water the "ability" of the prop to push more water. I say ability because if the engine lacks the horsepower having the prop get a better bite doesn't help. It's like a dragster: if you can light the tires up, you can use racing slicks! Putting racing slicks on your commuter car isn't going to make it go faster!

The down side of a 5 blade prob is increased drag, it simply takes more horsepower to turn it. If you want to win the race you would go with a two blade prop. If you want to win the tug of war you go with the 5 blade.

A small, second order effect is that the 5 blade prop would have a bit less "slip", and hence it might not chance quite as much under varying loads, and hence it *might* help in holding a steady speed. Unfortunately, I think that the dynamics of the hull and engine will be so much greater then the prop effects that you probably won't be able to tell if it helps or not.

You will notice a difference in performance, however. If it is good or bad will depend a lot on what your current situation is.

With an IO, often the problem is not the prop holding speed, but keeping the boat on plane at a consisent angle. The use of a foil on the ventillation plate really helps this.

Thanks for the input. I wish I had the ability to add PP, I know karl stated there is a mod for this but I have no way of machining anything in my current situation. Now if back in Cali I would...but in Cali I would still have my Sanger. So I will do with what I have.. I love to ride, But I am not going to try and make my boat what it is not. I am going to add a Monster tower. I am going to add some weight to it.. Hell I still have my lead bricks from my sanger, well except for the ones I gave a buddy of mine.. I am going to add a 4 blade 19 p... And most important of all of this... I AM GOING TO BE ON THE WATER!!!!! That is the point isnt it, to have fun, meet new folks who are as passionate about boating as I am. I had reasons for buying this I/O and I do like it. I am having the few things fixed that needed repair when I bought it right now. Nothing major just ANAL things I wanted done. Hopefully I will meet some cool folks down here and have a good time. THe salt is new to me, but I am learning really quick on how to properly take care of boats out here.
Bob- Send me a email with a good number for ya. I Wont have the boat back untill next week still waiting on a part.
Karl- see if you can dig up those pics, maybe you could hook me up with the parts I need? I knwo its asking alot but I would pay, and really appreciate it, considering I am in a wakeboard free zone...LOL

Thanks all for your replies!