Prop for Volvo 3.0L I/O

My friend (no really) has an 18' Monterey with a 3.0L 135hp 4-cylinder I/O. I believe it is a Cobra SX outdrive. He loads the boat down with two Fat Buddies in the back and one 600lb fat sac in the bow. Even with the trim all the way down, it takes a long time to plane out. He knows even less about i/o props than I do so I'm trying to find out some 4 or 5 blade props that will give him a faster hole-shot and better speed holding.

I have heard the Mercury High Five 5-blade prop is good, but it's $450. What are some other props that would be cheaper (doesn't have to be SS) that would would still give a better hole-shot and holding power for his Volvo I/O?

I don't know about compatability with the Volvo, but I definitely reccomend the Mercury High Five prop. If you look around on ebay you can usually pick one up for under $300

On my old boat I started out with a 4 blade aluminum prop (excellent performance gain over the stock 3 blade) But upgrading to the 5 blade was a huge step up from the 4 blade.

Being that you have only a 4 cylinder, you will probably have to drop the pitch of the prop way down to be happy with wakeboarding performace (you will lose a lot of top end and will have to be careful with the RPM's)

Good luck, sounds like you have the weighting of the boat just about right anyway...

i HAVE A FRIEND WITH THE SAME SET UP AS YOUR FRIEND. I WOULD FOR SURE GO WITH THE HIGH 5,STAINLESS DOES NOT FLEX LIKE ALUMINUM- BETTER FOR HOLESHOT. PROBABLY AT LEAST A 17 PITCH OR A 15 PITCH.I THINK WITH THE 17 PITCH HE GETS ABOUT 35 MPH.