I need some advice. I am a recently new first time boat owner, but have been around boats since I was a child. I have done a ton of reading about props and feel that I have a decent understanding of them, but would like a few experts to chime in.
We bought a new 2008 bayliner 195 bowrider 19' boat with the 190hp mercruiser 4.3 and alpha 1 leg. It came with a black max 23" pitch prop. During engine break-in this summer, I wasn't able to run it to WOT to check max rpm but I like to ski, tube, kneeboard and weigh about 250 lbs and we often go out with 5-6 people on the boat. With all that said I knew I would want a lower pitch prop so I did some research and ordered a turning point hustler aluminum prop in a 21" pitch. That with the addition of the smart tabs totally transformed the boat and I am extremely happy with the performance. It comes out of the hole very nicely, and runs strong from there. At the end of the summer I was able to do a few short WOT runs with just 2 people aboard but no GPS. I was hitting right around 4700-4800 rpm and the speedo was showing around 50 mph (This was with the hustler 21" prop).
Ever since the boat was knew I had noticed the oil was showing over full on the dipstick. I never really thought much about it. I thought maybe it was over full from the factory for break in reasons. When I drained it at the end of the season with a dipstick pump, I pulled out 5 quarts and the manual only calls for 4 quarts. So now I am wondering if I didn't have some oil drag and the rpms at WOT could have been higher.
I am happy with the hustler prop and the price since I wanted to get to know the boat in its first season. But now I am wondering what-if. The Stiletto stainless props have awesome reviews and I would love to get some more out of the boat. I am not really concerned about top speed but another few mph would be nice. I am mainly concerned about hole shot, midrange punch, staying on plane at lower speeds, and not dropping as much speed in tight turns when tubing.
I was going to wait and run the boat some more next season, but iboats has these dang props on sale right now for good deals so I am thinking about it again.
Let me summarize:
2008 bayliner 195 bowrider
mercruiser 4.3 190hp
alpha 1 1.81:1 ratio
came with 23" pitch
currently 21" pitch hustler aluminum
4700-4800 rpm at around 50 mph speedo with an extra quart of oil.
We boat in fresh water, small lakes and the Tennessee river.
I am looking at two props, what would be the advantages and disadvantages over my current. I am guessing a little on the pitch, but they should be close.
Stiletto Advantage II 3-blade 21" pitch
Stiletto Bay-Pro II 4-blade 20" pitch
Sorry for the rambling, thanks for the help.
We bought a new 2008 bayliner 195 bowrider 19' boat with the 190hp mercruiser 4.3 and alpha 1 leg. It came with a black max 23" pitch prop. During engine break-in this summer, I wasn't able to run it to WOT to check max rpm but I like to ski, tube, kneeboard and weigh about 250 lbs and we often go out with 5-6 people on the boat. With all that said I knew I would want a lower pitch prop so I did some research and ordered a turning point hustler aluminum prop in a 21" pitch. That with the addition of the smart tabs totally transformed the boat and I am extremely happy with the performance. It comes out of the hole very nicely, and runs strong from there. At the end of the summer I was able to do a few short WOT runs with just 2 people aboard but no GPS. I was hitting right around 4700-4800 rpm and the speedo was showing around 50 mph (This was with the hustler 21" prop).
Ever since the boat was knew I had noticed the oil was showing over full on the dipstick. I never really thought much about it. I thought maybe it was over full from the factory for break in reasons. When I drained it at the end of the season with a dipstick pump, I pulled out 5 quarts and the manual only calls for 4 quarts. So now I am wondering if I didn't have some oil drag and the rpms at WOT could have been higher.
I am happy with the hustler prop and the price since I wanted to get to know the boat in its first season. But now I am wondering what-if. The Stiletto stainless props have awesome reviews and I would love to get some more out of the boat. I am not really concerned about top speed but another few mph would be nice. I am mainly concerned about hole shot, midrange punch, staying on plane at lower speeds, and not dropping as much speed in tight turns when tubing.
I was going to wait and run the boat some more next season, but iboats has these dang props on sale right now for good deals so I am thinking about it again.
Let me summarize:
2008 bayliner 195 bowrider
mercruiser 4.3 190hp
alpha 1 1.81:1 ratio
came with 23" pitch
currently 21" pitch hustler aluminum
4700-4800 rpm at around 50 mph speedo with an extra quart of oil.
We boat in fresh water, small lakes and the Tennessee river.
I am looking at two props, what would be the advantages and disadvantages over my current. I am guessing a little on the pitch, but they should be close.
Stiletto Advantage II 3-blade 21" pitch
Stiletto Bay-Pro II 4-blade 20" pitch
Sorry for the rambling, thanks for the help.
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