My new prop is here?

[Jencourt]

OK So the end of my prop saga seems to have arrived.
After letting it slide all winter and longer We finally picked up the new prop.We did exactly what we were told and dropped to a 15p-4 blade same model Solaros And then took it for the test.

As predicted by Trendsetter we made 5600 at wot with a full tank, three guys and gear in the boat.Loosing 2mph of top speed from the 17p 3 blade that was on it .That took care of the under rpm prob I had with the 17p-4blade. Check!

The boat got up on plane quicker and was able to keep it on step at much lower speeds. Check!
Most importantly as predicted by Port Boathouse,going to the 4 blade pretty much completely eliminate the proposing even at slower speeds. Check!

What I took from our firstrun on the prop is this. It is still a older model trophy with a 150 four stroke Yamaha on it.The difference now is I am much happier with the performance of my rig and it only cost me 300 bucks.

As far as fuel economy is concerned that will have to be determined once I log some hours on the new prop. I am not sure what to expect better or worse?
I believe I will see an improvement as I can now trim the engine instead of having to run it berried all the way down and also I can now run with less throttle and no porpoising. So yes so far based on a very short test run on flat water I would recommend the 4 blade prop as Port Boat house did for me.I called them about a quote on trim tabs and they steered me this way.

Now to get out and get some blood in the boat. Need to add the check to this one.

Cheers: Ray

 

[FishBear]

I am setting up a new boat with a new F150 on it. Put the first 2 hours on this beast back in October and have put an hour here and there on it for the past 6 months. Now ready to complete the first 10 hours "break in" and put some serious fishing time on it this summer.

The prop that came with it is the black steel 17M which as far as I can tell measures 14 1/2 inches in diameter. I assume this is the Yamaha prop described on their web site as a "painted stainless steel series" general purpose prop.

I am very happy with the performance of this prop. It seems to have a decent hole shot as it jumps up pretty quickly and planes nicely with very little porposing until I reach the "high 5,000's" The WOT reading is spot on 6,000 and the rig is approaching 50mph with a light load... more like 46mph with heavier load.

No experience with fuel economy as yet nor have I really tested it in a good chop or out on the open ocean but that is coming soon. Not anxious to look for a different prop without first getting the feel of the existing setup down pat.

Anyone else have a similar setup? I have a 20 foot aluminum hull with off shore bracket. No "rear heavy" attitude with this boat.

In my previous boat I had the F115 on 17 foot aluminum and I switched out the factory "white aluminum" prop for a Stiletto SS and I was real happy with that result. That boat was seriously "hanging down" in the rear and the ss prop got her out of the hole real well.

 

[FishBear]

I need to make a correction... that 17M prop that I thought was the painted black steel is probably not. After more searching I found that Yamaha makes a painted black aluminum prop in a 17 by 14 1/2... and I could find no painted black steel 17 by 14 1/2.

But I still like it ;-)