4-blade or 3-blade

fab5balla · Newbie Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 10

My dad is trying to decide wether or not to buy a four blade prop for the upcoming season. He's looking for the pros and cons against a 3-blade. Any help would be appreciated

squirrell · Outlaw Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 118 City: Pennsylvania

Pro's: Faster out of the hole and a nicer peaker wake
Con's: You lose a mile or two of top end speed

Phaeton · Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 572 City: Redding

Depends on what type of application. I would call Acme and have them recomend the correct prop for you.

Jeffro · Addict Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 659 City: Austin, Texas

go with the 4 blade.

i went from a 3 to 4 and get a better hole shot, and at higher rpms (3K +) the 4 blade is more efficient than the 3 blade. i actually picked up more mph in the higher midrange of rpms. the top end/max was about the same (i rarely use a top end/max speed for more than a few seconds).

it will also depend on the pitch of the prop. you want to make sure that it will not over rev your engine when at full throttle.

RanMan · Outlaw Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 186 City: Pittsburgh

Check your engine manual to make sure you have the right prop. The critical value is Wide Open Throttle (wot) RPM. It must fall in a certain range. Outside of that range you are over-revving or lugging the engine. Talk to the guys at ACME. They are making three blade props with the same surface area as four blades. (They Claim) Just make sure you get the right pitch corresponding to your opimal WOT range. Cool