A move to a SS Prop

[Chopper Doc]

I have a 2005 model Tahoe Q4 Sport with a 3.0L Mecruiser. The boat is roughly 19 1/2 feet long and seems to be heavy in my opinion. It came OEM equipped with a Merc Black Max prop that I soon destroyed by backing into an unseen limb in the water. I replaced that prop with the same size MWC prop a short time ago. Needless to say I have decided that an aluminum prop may not be for me. This is my first I/O powered boat and I am still learning the disadvantages of the sterndrive...otherwords I need deeper water than what I have been accustomed to from my outboard on my fishing boat. I know, the Tahoe ain't no fishin' boat. But I am learning. Bad thing is my learning curve has cost me one prop and considerible skeg wear...but I have gotten better. Also the MWC prop seems to vent at WOT and it seems a little less of a performer than the Black Max was. I believe my max speed was in the range of 42 mph at roughly 4700-4850 rpm depending on water condition with a normal loadout. Loadout being myself, wife, son, and normal carry-on junk and loaded cooler. The Black Max would carry the same load at the same numbers without the blowout. Prop size being 14.25 * 21.

I have decided to order a SS prop and keep the MWC prop as a back-up. The MWC alum prop was sold to me as a direct replacement for the stock black max prop and looks very much the same.

Anyway, I ordered 2 props and have already decided to return 1 of them upon receipt. I am going to try out the Apollo prop in 14 * 21 pitch and see how it does. If it matches the performance of my current prop without blowing out at WOT i'll keep it. The other prop I had ordered was a Ballistic prop. After reading a lot of other less than impressive reviews about it I think I'll not take my chances with it. They can keep it. Blow-out is what I don't want. Reliabilty and toughness is a must. I have pulled a skier on this boat with 3 on board and one on the rope and it seems to pull fine. It is definately not the fastest boat I have ridden in but I don't expect it to be. It is a comfortable boat though and I am happy enough with that. And I have fished off it before even though it isn't good for that. I spent 14 hours out in the bay on it and fished all afternoon and all night putting over 60 miles on it with plenty of gas left in the tank the next morning. I probably won't try that gain anyway, at least not without more beverages in the cooler

I am gonna post my results with the new prop cause there seems to be very little Tahoe traffic on the boards. I doubt the will be any improvement but who knows. There seems to be a lot of debris in Florida coastal waters these days and I seem to be the unlucky guy who finds it with my prop. Anyhow, any comments and recommendations will be appreciated.

Thanks for reading this post,
Wes

 

[walleyehed]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

SS is a wise choice for ya...Keep us posted on how the Apollo works for you.
I just finished some testing, and 1 series included the Apollo large diameter (15-1/8") and it fits quite well into the class it is designed to run in. It's now on my 19ft Wellcraft with a 5.7 and I'm very happy with it there...others will come along to test though!8)

 

[Chopper Doc]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

Hi Kenny, yep, I did read your test on the large props. I have read a lot of your posts and a lot of other peoples post on this board. I do way more reading than posting. It seems most people have already done what I am going to do so it only seems wise for me to learn from others than to learn from my own mistakes. With the exception of actually learning how my boat reacts under different operating conditions of course. That can be only learned by my own experiences of course. I do have a mechanical background though...I am an aviation mechanic and even though I understand how an aircraft propellor works a boat propellor is way more perplexing. You can't just slap any prop on an aircraft...FAA rules basically restrict you to certain props per airframe. Boats, however, are a whole different deal. It seems to me the user has a lot to think about. If I had endless resources and endless time I am sure I could find a perfect match. But I don't. I am a reasonable person and I know that if I can find a decent prop with good results I'll be happy enough. For me that is all I need. I suppose if I wanted to haul BASS I could have gotten a bass boat My cousin has one and it will definately haul BASS! It is very fast and in my own opinion very uncomfortable. For such a big fast boat it is very limited. Thanks for your reply and hopefully later today I'll have that prop on my boat. I'll definately let you guys know.

Wes

 

[Chopper Doc]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

Got the prop today and took the boat out for a hort run on the lake. I wasn't able to run the boat with a nomal load but my normal load usually runs a little better actually than just me on the boat...don't know why...maybe where I place the cooler. Initial thoughts on the new prop are great. I noticed right away the boat would come up on plane and hold it at a lower speed. It also tracks through turns way better too. I wasn't expecting much in terms of speed increase at wide open throttle but I gained a 2 mph increase and an overall decrease in rpm. WOT previously was 42 mph @ 4900 now it is 44 mph at 4600 rpm. This is with just me on the boat. I think this says a lot about the efficiency of the prop. It also puts my rpm range more close to what it needs to be. I did notice more upward spray coming from the middle of the wake though. Is this bad? The prop never blew out and I tried pretty hard.

Later today I am gonna run it out in the bay in rough water with a full load and see how it handles then.

So far I am happy with the new Apollo. I'll post more info later.

Wes

 

[walleyehed]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

When I seen your sig, I thought maybe you might be an AC wrench......we have that in common...
I went a step farther and got my IA several years ago...
Garrett and PT-6 are my specialties in that area, so I do get called out about twice a week for something along those lines....
Sounds like the prop is working good for ya.

 

[Chopper Doc]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

prop is working great! I took it out into the bay today and I cant believe how much better the boat did in the rougher water with the SS prop on it. I would have never thought it would have made a difference in handling in the rougher water. I actually drove it out through the pass at Destin and went out about a mile in the gulf. My boat is kinda small for that but the water was really smoother offshore than it was in the bay. The bad thing is that my speedo quit working and my soon broke the hinge loose on the rear seat. I'm not sure but from the way the screws pulled out of the seat I am guessing the seat bottom was made of particle board. If so that's not a good thing. Anyway, I can drill new holes in new locations and try that. If that doesn't work I may try and see if someone can replace the wood with plywood. Too bad boat manufactures don't use a poly material for seat bottoms. I am thinking that stuff that plastick cutting boards are made out of would be totally impervious. I am not sure about the speedo though. from just a quick glance I think there is a water tube going from the lower unit though the boat to the speedo in the dash. Is this correct? Possibly there is debris in it or maybe the hose gave up. I'll look tomorrow.

I spent 8 in the Air Force working on big jets and now I am a flight mechanic for a civilian contractor on a mil base. I try to stick with 206 series helicopters now if possible. But I have worked on Apaches, Blackhawks, Hueys. I try to stay clear of all of the bigger stuff. But if I had to work on anything other than a 206 series aircraft I would go back to the Apache. It is a good 'mechanics' helicopter. It was designed for ease of maintanance instead of pissin off crew cheifs.

So did my info on the prop sound ok with the info I gave? Is this thing working pretty good you think?

Thanks,
Wes

 

[walleyehed]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

Sounds like it's doing better than you expected....I'd say that's a positive reaction..

 

[Chopper Doc]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

I drilled some new holes in the seat hinge and fixed that today. I also think I may have fixed the speedometer too but I'll have to put back into the water to make sure. I pulled the hose lose from a q/d on the lower unit and blew into it as my son watched the guage. He said I made it go up to 18 mph! LOL, I thought I was gonna blow out my eardrums. But that seemed to work. With the hose off I blew into the feedr hole...seemed clogged. Don't laugh. I don't have an air compresser. Even if I did I would be scared I might blow something apart with it anyway. I took some safety wire and ran it into the hole. Twisted it around a bit and a few seconds later some brown crud and water ran out of it. I can only guess these thing are simple to clog. I put it back together. Maybe it'll check out ok the next time I run it. I normally monitor my speed with the gps on my depth finder but I like all my guages up and running.

You mentioned having an IA and working on Garretts and PT6s. Do you work on aircraft with these engines or do you work at a repair facility? I don't know much at all about either engine but the PT6 seems to work really well on the T34. Those things pull like a jet with a PT6 up front.

Wes

 

[walleyehed]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

Airframe as well...
If they had a dash-10 Garrett, or dash-11, they would never go back to the pratts...
If I could figure out how to get a garrett mounted on my boat....well...it'd be a garrett powered boat.....I'm partial to those ugly green units..

 

[Chopper Doc]

Re: A move to a SS Prop

Hmmmm. Never thought about it much. A C250-20J might push my boat good. Off course after the turbine goes in youd have to put in a few more fuel tanks or one really big one. Fuel burn on a -20J is in mid to upper 20gph range. But then it is generating a lot of horsepower for a really small engine. I think putting the engine onboard wouldn't be too hard. Insulating everything from the heat and getting the exhaust out safely would be tough. Anyway, something else to ponder.

Wes