Prop Brand Suggestions

[THEFERMANATOR]

I was basing the size and pitch off of what has worked on my boat as I have a simliar hull set-up and simliar HP. The 15 1/4" X 16 PT would be a good prop as well. The ENERTIA is an EXPENSIVE prop, so that is one of the reasons I didn't suggest it. The STILLETTO was reccomended to me as well, but like I said I hated it. I've got it sitting on the front porch right now. OMC aluminum props actually tend to run lower on the RPM range for props I have found as they tend to not flex like other aluminum props. Give the guys over at POWERTECH a call and ask them what they reccomend as they are good guys to work with. When I had my flats boat I had bought a MERCURY TROPHY PLUS and it wasn't working out. I called up POWERTECH and they went and helped me set my boat up and get my TROPHY working for me. They could have just sold me a new prop, but they said what I had was good and just needed set-up. That is what I call customer service. i still think a prop with alot of blade surface area is gonna be what you want since I doubt you're after speed. Most of us now are after cruising milage and holding power for the rough stuff.

http://www.propgods.com/forum/
http://www.ptprop.com/

[mtnxtreme]

Originally Posted by THEFERMANATOR

I was basing the size and pitch off of what has worked on my boat as I have a simliar hull set-up and simliar HP. The 15 1/4" X 16 PT would be a good prop as well. The ENERTIA is an EXPENSIVE prop, so that is one of the reasons I didn't suggest it. The STILLETTO was reccomended to me as well, but like I said I hated it. I've got it sitting on the front porch right now. OMC aluminum props actually tend to run lower on the RPM range for props I have found as they tend to not flex like other aluminum props. Give the guys over at POWERTECH a call and ask them what they reccomend as they are good guys to work with. When I had my flats boat I had bought a MERCURY TROPHY PLUS and it wasn't working out. I called up POWERTECH and they went and helped me set my boat up and get my TROPHY working for me. They could have just sold me a new prop, but they said what I had was good and just needed set-up. That is what I call customer service. i still think a prop with alot of blade surface area is gonna be what you want since I doubt you're after speed. Most of us now are after cruising milage and holding power for the rough stuff.

http://www.propgods.com/forum/
http://www.ptprop.com/

Thats probably why they reccomended the Enertia LOL. These props you are reccomending to Wllly, should I research them also, will they work on my set-up? I see the Appolo's on E-bay a lot.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by mtnxtreme

Thats probably why they reccomended the Enertia LOL. These props you are reccomending to Wllly, should I research them also, will they work on my set-up? I see the Appolo's on E-bay a lot.

For a V-20 you can use the smaller diameter or the large diameter props. The APOLLO 4 blade I would think would be a great match to the V-20 hull. The HYDRA-SPORTS hull's are heavy by comparison to other hulls there size and require more blade area for lift on them to work properly. The right prop can make all the difference in how a boat rides even. The wrong prop and the bow will go for the sky all the time, or it will nose dive and plow like a B!TCH on every wave soaking you. The STILLETTO I had didn't bite well at all and made my hull handle poorly and slammed quite a bit.

[willy]

Hey Ferm I talked with a good guy at the Prop Gods and after going over everything with me he is suggesting similar to you, and I ordered his suggestion as he will change it out if he is wrong for $29. He suggested i go with the Power Tech stainless three blade, 15 1/4 x 15) OFS3. He said it should get me to the upper end of my desired RPM range and should provide a great hole shot which I could use with such a heavy boat and give me a more effiicient cruise and mileage. He said I might lose a couple miles an hour top speed though which is fine with me as it is not important. The other up side is that it has great offshore performance and bite while improving manueverability.
He said the same thing about the OMC props as you are saying, that it is likely I am off by no more than 100 RPM's due to flex. He said I probably have more error in my tach than the prop is giving.
Two things of note they have found, in the four blade when you go below 17 you start getting some problems with bite in different sea conditions and they have found very few below 16 pitch that have performed well in that regard.Also diameter wise and fitting between the prop edge and the cavitation plate on the Evinrudes is important for vibration reasons so that is why he thinks it best I stay no bigger than his recommendation.

[THEFERMANATOR]

The POWERTECH OFS3 is a MIRAGE PLUS copy basically. You won't be disapointed with it, I'll guarantee you that. There are more expensive props out there that will do better, but only by a small margin in performance and a good size margin in price. That HYDRA-SPORT is a big heavy off shore hull, and needs a big propeller to bite in and hold. A 15 is a good starting point, but you may need a 16 pitch before it's over with. Prop it to turn up to about 5800 or so with a moderate load(2 people and half tank of fuel), and heavily loaded you want her to turn up to about 5400-5600. Lugging these big engines WILL kill em FAST, but a few extra RPM's won't hurt em a bit. Like I said I've got a 14 1/4 X 15 STILLETTO I'll send yeah to try for the cost of shipping, but it would be a waste of shipping feees as I know you won't like it if you get into any seas of any size.

[willy]

Thanks Ferm your input sounds right on, lets see how the 15 pitch does and Ken Z from Prop Gods said the same thing about if I need to change it will probably be to the 16.
I'd be worried if the boat had a lot of hours and the fellow ran it a lot but he fished in Cape May inside the back bay area and only had a 168 hrs on the boat so I don't think he could have done any damage to it. he said he never even knew what the max rpm was on the boat until I showed him at sea trial. Seemed a little uncomfortable at that speed, made me laugh.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Hit her with a good shock treatment of SEAFOAM and be prepared for HUGE clouds of blue smoke is what I would od to it. If she was run that easy her wholel ife with that prop, chances are she's carboned up a bit.