which prop for an IO

want to change my standard 3 blade to a 4 or 5 blade.. Im not sure about the different pitches though. Any help would be great. And does it matter if its stainless steel aluminum .. etc

A 4 blade is usually gonna be comparible to the next highest 3 blade as far as pitch is concerned , example , an 18p 4 blade should performe like a 19 pitch 3 .. Not sure how a 5 blade would be thrown in the equation . My boat came with a 21p 3 blade , and i dropped to an 18p 4 blade . I lost 5mph topend , but it is a hoss comin out of the hole , plus it holds speed much better . Good Luck

mercury high-5 5 blade stainless in same pitch.

jeremy what motor do you have?

3.0 mercury in an 18' boat , its stout for a 4 banger !!!

I have the same.. so you recommend that prop? does it plane faster?

(Message edited by extremeisaac on June 26, 2006)

6 blade

yes ,, comes on plane alot faster , top speed is only bout 40 though , but we normally are pullin boarders , or cruisin to the party spots . I dont like runnin wfo very much , esp with $3 gallon gas ..

If you have a West Marine anywhere close to ya , i got mine for $109 . It was a Vortex . Good Luck . Good Lookin boat by the way

thanks. Ill go check it out .. is it aluminum or stainless steel... thanks for the help.. ya, I dont really care for top end to much.. we are primarly, doing wakeboarding, tubing, some skiing and just hangin out...

Is it this one?

Vortex Prop - 14 1/2" dia x 19 pitch

I dont see an 18 pitch on their website

(Message edited by extremeisaac on June 26, 2006)

What boat will you be putting this on?

We have a 18' with 3.0 Merc.

I may have to pick one up if its worth the jink.

bayliner 175xt

had a 4 blade 14 1/2x18 prop on a 17 ft. starcraft topped out at 33mph , was ok but with 4 people in boat with 1k of ballast then it sucked. i would get a 4 blade 16 pitch blade # 992202 series A vortex prop.

mark

isaac ,, that 19p you found is a 3 blade .. Here is a link for the 4 blade 18p

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/65105/0/0/vortex%20prop/All_2/mode+matchallpartial/0/0

Ethan ,, it depends on what you mainly want to do with the boat . We spend alot of time wakeboarding , and pullin the kids around on the tube ( sshhh , dont tell anyone ) , so this prop worked great . It still has decent topend , but loaded with 6 people and 600lbs of sacs , i can still get out of the hole pretty easy . Plus it holds speed better than the 3 blade that was on it . Isaac and i have the same boat , so he should see the same results as i did by goin to the 18p 4 , from the 21p 3 . Other boats may not see the same results though , so you just have to kinda ask around ,and see what people with the same boat u have are runnin . Good Luck

Jeremy, Thanks for all the help, Looks like we have the same objection

Vortex Prop 4 Blade - 14 1/2 x 18 3683604 992203 Only $109.99

Right?

6 people and 600 lbs of sacks?? Is that 6 adults? You werent able to do something like that with the stock prop right?



(Message edited by extremeisaac on June 27, 2006)

Jermey, what racks are you using?

Those are wakeworx ,, i plan on upgrading to the monster racks next summer .

Check out the latest issue of trailerboating.com
They do a test on all props for IO's at speed and towing a dummy sled. The mercruiser 19P Hi-5 S.S prop came out on top on everthing but top speed of course!
I would be interested In how this prop really works! Not sure If It's worth the 5 bills!
We have a 2000 SeaRay 19' BR with 5.0L 220hp, Alpha drive 1.62R with a 3-Blade 19P S.S prop.
It runs at 4,660 rpm W.O.T which puts us right In the middle of the W.O.T range.
With 600lbs of ballast up front and 4 people In the boat It works a little to get on a plane. So I would be willing to give up a little of the 50mph top end speed for better pull!

I have a Regal 2200 with 5.0 Mercruiser. It came with a 4-Blade 19P. It was very difficult to keep a steady speed. I changed to a Highfive with 19P and now its a lot better (even without Perfect Pass). I even consider getting a Highfive 17P if I add some more Ballast.

Hans
What drive Ratio does the Regal have and what Is your Wide Open Throttle R.P.M and top speed with the 19P Hi-5.
We have Perfect Pass and It surges a bit with the 3-blade Vengance S.S.19P trying to maintain speed.
There Is a setting on P.P. to soften the surging but I still think I would like a little more speed out of the hole.
We have been riding at about 21mph.

My 19'5 Tahoe with the 190hp 4.3 (merc drive, not sure on exact model) and I switched from a factory 23P to a 21P and it made a very nice difference out of the hole and still has a nice top end. Haven't got to run it a whole lot, but I plan on really testing out it this weekend. Adding some ballast and a couple of my "big boned" friends and our coolers.

I'll be using mine for boarding maybe 50% of the time, and running across the lake quite a bit, but top speed isn't all important. Would I benefit more from a 4 blade 21P or drop down to a 19P?

Jarod
You need to look at what R.P.M you are running at Wide Open Throttle with your 21P and see If you are still within range.

The W.O.T range for our boat Is 4400 to 4800 rpm. With the 19P 3-blade our WOT Is 4,660. If I go with less pitch I am pretty sure I could over rev It.

I am going to Demo a 19 HI-5 soon and hopefully It will give me a little more without having to watch over reving.

It still seems like alot of money for a prop but If It works then so be It.

as far as over reving your motor you can install a rev limiter you can pick on up in any ROD SHOP or in SUMMIT. Isaac just hook up with some people with the props you want to try take you GPS and all your friends to to the lake make lots of notes and try all the props you can come up with. Maybe your local prop shop will lone you a couple of props if when you find the one you want you buy it from them.
Jay

Jay great Idea.. thanks

Yea Scott, I can't remember what RPM's I was turning, I want to say it was between 4200 and 4300. I've got a hook at the local prop shop, so if all goes well, I'll be trying a couple different ones out. From what I understand the rev limiter doesn't kick in until 5200 is what my dealer told me, but I doubt I'll ever be running it there.

I've still got a lot of tweaking and what not to do. Get some sac's in it and my usual crew in it and see what it needs.

After u try out the HI-5, let me know how you like it.

Scott,

Its an Alpha Drive, so the Gear Ratio is 1:1,62 I think. WOT RPM are 4800, top speed is about 48 mph according to GPS.

I haven´t tried any of the control parameters. It works just fine. With speeds below 19 mph it needs a bit of time to settle in for the correct speed. Generally its much quicker if the throttle is reduced somewhat after the boat is starting to plane.

As I just said we don´t have any additional ballast, but the boat is relatively heavy anyway. It weighs about 2 (metric) tons.

I am happy with the high five. There is also no ventilation any more. Something quite common with the 4-blade vensura prop.

I was in the market for a new prop for my 4.3L Alpha One after my old one got eaten up. I got experimental and picked up a ProPulse on sale at West Marine for like $120. It's a 4 blade composite with replaceable blades and a pitch that you can change by removing the prop and making a small adjustment. I wasn't expecting much but was thoroughly impressed.

It pulls almost as good as an aluminum 4 blade. Top speed has suffered by about 5 mph on the new prop being pitched at 18 vs. my old 3 blade at 19. You can pitch it as low as 15 and as high as 21. My favorite part is that you can buy new blades for $20 each in case of damage.

One issue though: I did have to replace my trim tab anode with a flat one since the composite prop is significantly bigger than the aluminum one was. If you have power steering, it's not a big issue. They come with the flat ones nowadays anyways. If you don't have power steering, there's a "high performance" anode you can buy (the part numbers are in the instructions for the prop).

Issac Did u ever get the 4 blade? Im in the market also and wanted to know what you thought

Hans you know what I had a 19p high five and have been running a 20p 4 blade aluminum due to a slight mishap with the high five, ironically I have been experiencing alot of ventilation problems with the 4 blade??? Looks like I will need to bump up the priority of the high five rebuild.

This past wk'd was the first time we have ridden with 8 people and 500lbs ballast with our 19' Searay 5.0L, 1.62 alpha drive, 3-blade 19p S.S vengance prop.
What a dog! It took a good 30 seconds of wide open throttle just to plane out.Now I can see a real need for a lower pitch prop.
I have yet to demo the 19P Hi-5 Merc prop.
Should I think about trying a lower pitch Hi-5???

scott

mercury recommends staying with the same pitch as your stock prop, but it's up to you. it really depends on where your RPMs fall at WOT with the new prop. if you drop down, they could be too high at WOT. i bought mine at the same pitch as stock, 21P, and have been very happy with it.

Bruce
Stock prop was a 23P 3-blade.
With the 19P 3-Blade S.S vengance we run right In the middle of W.O.T 4660. Range Is 4400-4800.
I just do not need to go 50mph but I would like a smoother pull and make It easier to get to and maintain speed.
Did you get the HI-5 prop??? Did It make a big difference?

yeah, it made a pretty significant difference for me, but keep in mind my boat's only 2000lbs dry, i came from a 3-blade aluminum prop and my motor is only a 3.0. it definitely helped with hole shot, improved time to plane (especially loaded up with people and gear) and also greatly improved turning, cruising speed and pulling power. it also seemed to lower noise and vibration at cruising speed and helped with slow speed wander. really the only downside to it is that reverse is a little more difficult to control and my top end dropped MAYBE 1-2 MPH. worth the 5 bills imo.

Scott I dont think youll need a lower pitch then the 19". You problem (im guessing ) is its a 3 blade prop right now. Swap to a 4 or 5 and youll notice a difference for sure.

I heard the M.W. Ballistic is great for better top end as well as pulling. I'm thinking of putting a 19 on my 5.0 Volvo (21 pitch original). Also, anyone ever heard of Perfect pass on I/Os???

What Is M.W Ballistic????
Check out trailer boating for their test on props.
http://www.trailerboats.com/output.cfm?id=1069057
We had P.P. Installed on our SeaRay 19' w/5.0L carb. and It works great! A real life saver! Mine! If she didn't kill me riding she was gonna kill me after all of the frantic gestures to speed up Or slow down!

Im going to order the Vortex 18 pitch aluminum prop next week and give an update on that, but im thinking it should be the exact same results as Jeremy, since we have the same boat

Keep us posted Issac.

Scott, about how much did the P.P. set you back. Oh yeah, http://www.propellersonline.com/StaiMichVol.php has the "Michigan Wheel" props. Read about the Ballistic, I've heard good things about it. No loss in top end plus more torque. Pricy though at about $325

John you havent priced merc high fives yet have you...5-6 bills(would work on a volvo with the right hub kit). Ive got 200 montura monterey with a merc 5.0 also. What year is your boat and how do you like it? Ive had PP wakeboard pro on since 2002 and definitely recommend it very highly. Dont get the cruise model as the I/O's react like very heavily weighted d or v drives and require the adjustments available only on the better models of PP. Oh on the prop issue of not loosing top end with a certain pitch prop, I dont believe youll ever get something for nothing so I honestly would never expect appreciable holeshot results without a noticeable difference in top end.

John
We got the Wakeboard Pro last Christmas for $1000. and had It Installed at a friends shop, Parker Marine Inc. Others have said It was easy for them to Install but after looking at It I am sure I would have had problems doing It myself.
Parkers did a very clean Install and even made a special bracket to mount the control module away from the heat of exhaust manifold and a nice bracket for the spring to help return throttle to closed.
I will be Demoing a 19P Hi-5 next week at Dillon State Park. It's nice to able to try before you buy! All of the reviews have given the Hi-5 top honors In pulling, but I will have to see for myself.
Yea these props are expensive but I think It will be better to try before dropping 3 or 5 hundred and finding out a prop does not proform.
Propline has them for just under 5 bills.

http://www.propline.com/Select-Boat-Props-By-Brand/Mercury-Propeller-Company/High-Five-Stainless-Steel-Propellers/135_250_HP.htm

One of my planned upgrades for the winter is def. sometime of cruise, I'm not sure on which one yet. I had really good luck with my 21P that I have been running. Worked suprisingly well the first time I really got play w/ a boarder behind mine. Still has extremely good top end, but I have yet to board w/ any weight or more than 3 of us in the boat.