Yamaha f150 reliance

[ralphy670]

I have a new boat with a Yamaha F150. The boat came with a 18 Reliance sds 14.25 Stainless prop. With just myself and my 8 year old, I can hit 6000 wot however when I add the wife and gear plus a full livewell, the wot drops to 5600.

my question is, when determining wot, should you use a typical load on the boat? We also do a lot of water sports and cruising, we never go wot.

I am in search of lower plane speeds to handle rougher water and possibly better fuel economy.

The dealer has let me try a 17 in the same prop and it feels a bit better however I wonder if the boat will consume more fuel to travel the same distance as the 18.

I am considering changing to a 4 blade aluminum but not sure what pitch that would require either.

Sorry if these are dumb questions but I know little about props and any information is appreciated.

thanks

 

[porscheguy]

Going from a stainless reliance to a 4 blade aluminum is a downgrade. With the 18 your performance drop off isn’t bad. If you’re going to do watersports and you like how it feels anyway, switch to the 17. Keep in mind, all props are a compromise.

I test props lightly loaded because 95% of the time, I’m lightly loaded. If you run heavier most of the time, test heavy.

A prop alone won’t change your minimum planing speed much. If you really want to lower your planing speed, install trim tabs.