The right prop = awesome!

[1badhusky]

Finally got my bayliner 185 br 4.3mpi back from repair shop (it got hit by forklift two months ago) and got to try my new 4-blade 19" prop. Wow - the boat is a whole new animal! It planes ridiculously fast - like instantly. And top speed is still way too fast. LOVE IT! W/ just me in the boat it's right at 4800rpms - top of rev range. Perfecto.

Ok, so why on earth does Bayliner put a 3-blade, 23" on this boat stock? Makes no sense at all to me. Took forever to plane, wouldn't hit the bottom of the rev range...wtf bayliner?

I had to try 4 props to get the right one on, but it was totally worth the effort!

 

[steelespike]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

Its possible the motor is a little tired.Or perhaps the throttle plates aren't openig all the way. If they reccomend a 23 for that boat and motor thats obviously for top end only and may end up at the bottom of the rpm range with a sliggish hole shot and limited load performance.The 23 is probably listed for speed and others for more specific requirements.

 

[dazk14]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

1bad,

Glad you've got it dialed in.

Can you tell us what results you got for each specific prop you tried?

Pitch, blades, material, holeshot, speed/rpm.

 

[sleeper]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

On the bayliner 185br if I remember correctly, the 23 pitch prop only comes standard with the carbed 4.3 (190 hp) with 1.81 gear ratio. The 4.3 mpi engine (220hp) has the 1.62 gear ratio and should come with a 21 pitch prop. The dealer may have given you the wrong prop when the boat was new.

 

[1badhusky]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

1bad,

Glad you've got it dialed in.

Can you tell us what results you got for each specific prop you tried?

Pitch, blades, material, holeshot, speed/rpm.

Yeah, but I wasn't suprer technical about it:

Rough around the edges 23" 3 Blade aluminum boat came with took forever to get on plane, topped out at 54mph on gps

ProPulse 4 Blade compolsite imploded before getting to 3500 rpm - recommend never, ever, EVER putting one of these on your boat.

21" 4 blade aluminum - Up on plane very quickly, but max rpm was only 4300, didn't get a top speed.

Went to 4 blade aluminum 19" to get better RPM's (spec is 4400-4800). Only got my boat to WOT for about 10 seconds due to large amount of crap in Columbia River, so didn't get top speed, but max RPM seemed to be right at 4800 w/ just me and the dog in it. It felt scary fast - assume it's less than 54mph due to decreasing pitch and adding a blade, but plenty fast for me. Feels very smooth and incredibly responsive - love it.

All these tests were done w/ either 1 or 2 people, full tank of gas and a medium sized dog.

 

[1badhusky]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

On the bayliner 185br if I remember correctly, the 23 pitch prop only comes standard with the carbed 4.3 (190 hp) with 1.81 gear ratio. The 4.3 mpi engine (220hp) has the 1.62 gear ratio and should come with a 21 pitch prop. The dealer may have given you the wrong prop when the boat was new.

Bought used 4 months ago - so don't know what it came with from dealer, but seeing how it performs now, it is clear that the 23 it came with was totally not right for the boat. Would make sense that maybe the previous owners put a 23 on thinking they needed "mad speed" out of it...wouldn't know, it was a repo boat, so never spoke w/ them.

 

[180shabah]

Re: The right prop = awesome!

assume it's less than 54mph due to decreasing pitch and adding a blade,

...actually could be a tad faster now that the engine is up to full speed.