I have Wellfoot 18 Classic that I mostly use for pulling kids on the tube and wakeboarding. It's got a 4.3L OMC with the holly 4brl carb and a few other minor engine enhancements. My guess is that it's probably around 200hp. At WOT, with the engine trimmed up a little to refine the plan, it hits 4400 rpm with a 14-1/2 X 19 prop.<br /><br />From all of the reading I do on this forum, I gather that's about perfect. But, we wakeboard in a lake with very low water, and despite lots of caution and inexperience (i've been boating only two years), I seem to keep dinging the props. My question:<br /><br />1) My two alum. props are dinged and need to be repaired. Would I be better off repairing the better one and using as a back up and buying a four blade composite with the replaceable blades?<br /><br />2) The boat is very heavy, and it does seem to take long to plane (it seems the tube creates more drag than anything else). When towing, it always seems to lose its plane around turns, etc. Would I be better served going to a lower pitched prop or should I stick with same setup?<br /><br />3) Repair both props and scrap the composite prop idea?<br /><br />Thanks in advance - this is a great forum.<br /><br />3) If go to the composite, is the 4 blade the best? I read many conflict posts on this topic.
