Need Prop Recommendation
 

The boat that I just purchased has an aluminum 14 1/2 X 19 Prop. It is the stock prop that came on the boat. The prop has been damaged and repaired. It has the Volvo Penta SX outdrive. 4.3L 190 HP Volvo. 2001 Diablo 180. I took it out this weekend and at WOT the RPM gauge was showing 5000 and could have possibly went a little higher had I not backed off. The Max RPM range shows 4200 - 4600. Did not have anything to check the speed so I am not sure how fast it was going. I am looking for a stainless steel prop to pull skiers for the most part. Top end speed is not that important, however, I don't want to keep running 400 rpms over the max. Should I stick with the 14 1/2 19 in stainless steel?

thanks

Re: Need Prop Recommendation
 

A 4 blade 20" SS prop will lower your rpms by about 200-300 and give you a little more low / mid range bite when pulling skiiers/tubers etc. A 3 blade 21" aluminum or SS will drop your rpms by about 400 or so and get you within the recommended range. The downside is that you might lose a bit of that out of the hole / low end 'grunt' but you should gain a little cruising ability. A 4 blade 21" should reduce the rpms by about 500 and still provide the skiier towing ability. If you can get your max rpm to around 4600-4700 you should be okay. Double check the tach though and ensure that it is set at '6 cyl'. There is a small round dial on the back of the tach that you can spin around once or twice then reset at '6 cyl'. Sometimes they get a little finicky due to age / corrosion.

Re: Need Prop Recommendation
 

thanks, I will check the tach and make sure it is reading correctly and go from there.

Re: Need Prop Recommendation
 

I think I have decided to go with a 4 blade 20 pitch prop. The two that I am considering are the Michigan wheel Apollo 14 1/8 X 20 and the Solars HR Titan 14 3/4 X 20. Anyone have any options on these or any other ones they would recommend?

thanks

Re: Need Prop Recommendation
 

I have the Apollo on mine and it does a good job for the money.

Re: Need Prop Recommendation
 

OK, just ordered the Apollo. Hopefully it will be here by this weekend. thanks for the input.