Newb question about props for 4.3 V6 motors

[bjeremi]

I own a 1991 seawirl. It has a 4.3 V6 motor, I know it's not the best motor for wakeboarding, but it's what I got right now. I have heard people talking about putting a 4-blade prop on. Is this something I should do and what and where should I buy this prop.

[tball]

http://www.marinepropshop.com/acmeprops.html

haven't bought from these guys but their website seems thorough.

[Chad H]

bjeremi,
Are you running much wait in the boat? Is it bogging down much?

The 4 blade prop will give more torq, but at the same time lose speed. It looks like a sea swirl is an i/o and so the link tball provided is for inboards, so it probably won't work.

Answer those questions and we can help you out.
Hope this helps
Chad

[tball]

Sorry, the site has IO stuff also, I erroneously had the inboard section in the address. My bad. Try this.

http://www.marinepropshop.com

[bjeremi]

I am running one phat sack I think it's like 300 pounds maybe I haven't put on a scale or anything ha ha, but no it doesn't seem to bog down to much if we have a bunch of people on the boat then it does seem sluggish on take off. If all I am going to lose is speed that doesn't concern me to much I sure I would still be able to go fast enough to get a good pull. My engine would just be sitting at higher rpm's right.

[tball]

it would be similar to driving your car in a lower gear. props aren't cheap, though. be sure to talk to some folks that have made this kind of change. I'm sure there are plenty of folks on here that have 4.3 IO with new props. Hopefully some of them will chime in.

[bjeremi]

Yeah come on guys chime in.

[srh00z]

I went to a 4 blade on my 3.0L 4 cylinder before I bought my Malibu. It helped tremendously, but I probably lost 3-4 mph off of the tope end, and the engine did turn higher RPM's. I was warned to be careful of how many RPM's you are turning because boats don't have rev limiters, so theoretically you could cause damage. I never ran mine at full throttle after I put the new prop on. I didn't buy a stainless prop for what it's worth, I didn't think it was worth it, my prop was under 200 from overton's.

[h2obug]

The Merc HI FIVE blows away any prop ive seen for towing. My friend, Don, has had 19 IO w/ 4.3HO & HI FIVE he pull out of the hole as quick as any inboard or VDrive unweighted. After seeing its performance compared to the last 2 new Inboards and 2 Vdrives I have bought, I would not settle for anything less than that prop on an IO.

[gmarkham1]

a high five is the best but is also the most costly, and also stainless steel which can be nerve racking if you are in shallow water at all...

best bang for your buck is a 4 blade aluminum, they can be had for approx. $100.00

what size prop and pitch are you running now? also merc or volvo outdrive?

I might have a few extras here soon... might be upgrading...

btw I have a 2000 bayliner capri 1850(18ft) with a 4.3 l merc and have upwards of 2000lbs extra ballast. I have had the best luck with the a 18 pitch 4blade. And a high five is very tempting but the river I run has rocks and stumps and I lost one outdrive on an older boat due to a stainless prop and dont want to chance it again, aluminum gives before the gears do!

[Brit Rider]

gmarkham1, Running a high five shouldn't be nerve racking.. they all have the torq flo hib which allows it to break loose if you hit anything too hard.

h2obug,

[Darin]

I've had a Mercrusr Shifting prop. It was amazing. It's the equivilant of having a transmission on your boat. Mine was a 13to17 pitch. It would start at 13 for hole shot, wind the motor to your preset rpm limit, then shift to 17. I had a 3.0 then. It was the only way I could get up on a tournament ski. They are pretty expensive. But well worth it. Also they rule for slow speed stuff, like docking and trailering because of the super low pitch. The are solid stainless. Worth a look.

[Brit Rider]

Darin, Wow, never heard of this... I am pretty sure its not made by mercruiser.. but can you please tell me more? pics and links especially appreciated..

Mike

[Darin]

Here's the link for the Land and Sea prop.
http://www.land-and-sea.com/marine/torque-shift/torque-shift.htm

The Prop I had was a Quicksilver Power 2 shifting prop. You can search for reviews of both.

[Brit Rider]

Darin, wow, I've never seen that before.... that looks like a great idea.

[vette74]

I have an 18 pitch 4 blade aluminum quicksilver prop for my 4.3 I/O. I bought it off of ebay for about $130 with the hub. It works a lot better than the 3 blade I replaced it with. However, I have never tried the high-5.

[pilot_ryder]

I bought the high five prop for my 4.3 and was seriously disappointed with it considering the cost. I noticed very little change from my factory 3 blade in regards to performance.

[bmartin]

The most important factor in propping a boat is prop pitch and the holeshot and speed is less influenced by the number of blades, or what the prop is made out of, although the blades and materials do matter, just not as much as pitch. I suppose size matters too! I had the same motor and ran 700lb sacs plus 6 people with a 3 blade 17 pitch aluminium prop on 18ft boat. If you are pretty much using the prop for wakeboarding, a lower pitch prop is better so you get better hole shot with weight and rider in tow, but more impotrtantly, IMO it is easier to keep constant speed. If you underprop (low pitch), you need to watch the RPMs for overrevving when running unweighted WOT.

[Darin]

I sacrificed all my top end to get my boat to pull quickly and rev effeciently at wakeboard speeds. I went from 50+mph to 38mph. But I don't need to go that fast for any reason, so I don't really car. I have a fast enough Sea Doo 3D for ripping around.