Need some prop help

[sportsmanphil]

I was backing the boat up the driveway and my youngin was a bit slow on telling me when to stop. I bumped my prop into the house and cracked off a bit of it in the process!

Needed info:

Boat, 175 Basstracker
OB, Mercury Classic fifty
current prop is a 3 blade 14P (should be 10" diameter) its the factory prop some sort of pot aluminum.

Engine tach reads 5500 - 6000 at max but I dont think its perfectly correct.

I am happy with the performance overall.

***************8

Problems and questions I have.

I dont want some fancy mirror image racing prop. A standard or factor prop will be fine. However I cant seem to find them all that easily. Plenty of SS props for 150 to 200 bucks but I doubt a factory prop will set me back that much, just got to find one.

I cant seem to find many 14p props but plenty of 13p are out there.

I do find plenty of 14p props that are 4 blade. If I switch to a 4 blade do I need to change the pitch from what I have?

What exactly is a "torque flow hub adapter" that BassPro and Cabelas have listed with some of their props?

Any other info I need to know, please share it.

Thanks for any help.

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Need some prop help

One more question. I found a 10 1/4 x 14 pitch aluminum prop off a 50 horse Yamaha for 15 bucks. Will that fit my 89 Classic fifty?

 

[hwsiii]

Re: Need some prop help

Phil, welcome to Iboats prop forum and we will try to help you as much as we can but without more information no one can help you, and I will tell you I need more information than anyone else. But if you would like my help fill this form out and I will help you as much as I can, if you would prefer to not go to this much trouble there are other people who will help you.

Iboats Boat and Motor Info
1. Year, make and model of boat
2. Length, width and base weight of boat, look for boat decal on back of boat
2a.What is the recommended HP for your boat
3. Number of people and gallons of gas normally on boat
4. What do you use the boat for
5. Is it a Deep Vee and if so how many degrees of deadrise
6. Year, make. manufacturer and model of motor
7. HP and gear ratio of motor IMPORTANT
If you don?t know the ratio, you need to pull the plugs out and put a piece of tape across the prop and the lower unit and then cut it between the prop and the housing and turn the motor until the tape lines up with each other, it is easier if two people do this, so one can watch the prop while the other counts the revolutions of the motor
8. Manufacturer?s recommended Wide Open Throttle (WOT) range
9. Anti-ventilation Plate height above keel of boat if it is an outboard in inches
10. Is it a bass boat or does it have a pad bottom
11. Does it have a hydrafoil, dolefin or trim tabs
12. Make, model, diameter, pitch and whether SS or aluminum prop
13. WOT RPM and speed from your current prop and how much gas and how many people were in the boat for the test data and is the speed by GPS. If you do not have a tach you can buy a Tiny Tach for $ 50
14. Are you at sea level or a higher elevation, give us the elevation in feet
15. Has your motor been tuned up lately and have you checked that the carburetor butterfly is opening all the way, checked compression, and looked at the plugs and checked spark, all of the foregoing could be the reason your prop is not attaining full RPM
16. How long has this prop been on the boat and why, at this time, do you think it is the wrong prop
17. Does the prop show any damage that you can see
18. What problems are you trying to cure or what are you looking for the boat to do that it is not doing the way you think it should or to your expectations
19. If you are trying to attain a better cruising speed and fuel savings or trying to attain a faster speed I will want you to take your boat and run it with 1 or 2 people and give me the RPM and speed readings starting at 3,000 RPM in 500 RPM increments all the way to WOT.

REMEMBER, The numbers I give you will be NO better than the information you give me

The only thing I ask of you is to come back and give me a report of WOT RPM and speed for my database.


H

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Need some prop help

There is a good chunk of this info I dont know, but here goes.


1. Year, make and model of boat
89 Basstracker 175 TSX

2. Length, width and base weight of boat, look for boat decal on back of boat
17'6" long 6' wide. Label said "1030 lbs persons motor gear"

2a.What is the recommended HP for your boat
It has the 'classic fifty' on it but its rated for 85max.

3. Number of people and gallons of gas normally on boat
12 gal tank and usually me (240lbs and 1 - 2 kids but once in a while another adult goes and no kids)

4. What do you use the boat for
its a basstracker so I go to the boat drags with it (fishing)

5. Is it a Deep Vee and if so how many degrees of deadrise
It has a small bit ov V to it but its not a V hull by any standards. typical bass tracker.

6. Year, make. manufacturer and model of motor
89 Mercury 45 (classic fifty)

7. HP and gear ratio of motor IMPORTANT
I have no clue what the gear ratio is.

If you don?t know the ratio, you need to pull the plugs out and put a piece of tape across the prop and the lower unit and then cut it between the prop and the housing and turn the motor until the tape lines up with each other, it is easier if two people do this, so one can watch the prop while the other counts the revolutions of the motor

8. Manufacturer?s recommended Wide Open Throttle (WOT) range
If this is asking for WOT RPM, im not sure, just got the boat last year.

9. Anti-ventilation Plate height above keel of boat if it is an outboard in inches
somewhere between 1.5 and 2 inches it seems

10. Is it a bass boat or does it have a pad bottom
Pad bottom? its just a stock basstracker.

11. Does it have a hydrafoil, dolefin or trim tabs
No

12. Make, model, diameter, pitch and whether SS or aluminum prop
its an aluminum 10 1/4 diameter with 14 pitch

13. WOT RPM and speed from your current prop and how much gas and how many people were in the boat for the test data and is the speed by GPS. If you do not have a tach you can buy a Tiny Tach for $ 50

WOT RPM is about 5500. The tach can jump close to 6k but the engine dont change so I know its not perfectly correct. But 5500 is close. I dont let it get half empty usually so this is with 12 gal of fuel. Speed has not been GPS'ed but id estimate 25mph

14. Are you at sea level or a higher elevation, give us the elevation in feet
Central NC, around 800feet

15. Has your motor been tuned up lately and have you checked that the carburetor butterfly is opening all the way, checked compression, and looked at the plugs and checked spark, all of the foregoing could be the reason your prop is not attaining full RPM

The motor is an 89 but was only used for 2 summers until I bought it last fall. The engine runs like a sewing machine. New tune, recently updated carbs and fuel system.

16. How long has this prop been on the boat and why, at this time, do you think it is the wrong prop

Its the factory prop, nothing was wrong IMO, but I cracked about an inch off on of the blades when (with help from my dead eye spotting son) backed it into the house

17. Does the prop show any damage that you can see

The prop looks new (afterall the boat was hardly used until I bought it last fall)

18. What problems are you trying to cure or what are you looking for the boat to do that it is not doing the way you think it should or to your expectations

I want it to do exactly what its been doing. If I get a touch better performance out of it in this process then great. But I want it to be the same and I dont want to drop 300 bucks on a fancy SS prop.

19. If you are trying to attain a better cruising speed and fuel savings or trying to attain a faster speed I will want you to take your boat and run it with 1 or 2 people and give me the RPM and speed readings starting at 3,000 RPM in 500 RPM increments all the way to WOT.


**************

Anyone know if a Yahama prop will fit my classic fifty? I found the exact prop for 15 bucks.

If I change from my 10 1/4 X 14p 3 blade to a 4 blade, Do I need to change the diameter or pitch?

 

[hwsiii]

Re: Need some prop help

Phil, I don't know if that prop will work or not and yes as a normal ourse of events you normally have to hange the pith when going to 4 blades. I will do your analysis later tonight I am trying to get more information I need.


H

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Need some prop help

Phil, I don't know if that prop will work or not and yes as a normal ourse of events you normally have to hange the pith when going to 4 blades. I will do your analysis later tonight I am trying to get more information I need.


H

Thanks for looking into this for me...and I take it that the 'C' on your keyboard has given up the ghost

 

[hwsiii]

Re: Need some prop help

Phil, you are right my " " doesn't work. LOL
Try turning the swith on the bak of the tah bak and forth a few times to lean the ontats on the tah. I need to know the orret RPM, speed and gear ratio to help you.
If you don?t know the ratio, you need to pull the plugs out and put a piece of tape across the prop and the lower unit and then cut it between the prop and the housing and turn the motor until the tape lines up with each other, it is easier if two people do this, so one can watch the prop while the other counts the revolutions of the motor.
Some phones or a handheld GPS will work.


H