Anyone in a 342 tried out 22p 3 blade vs 4 blade props?

Wildboating

I am about to pull the trigger and trying to figure out should i get the new 4 blades or the standard 3 blades.

Black_Diamond

The 4 blade is a nice price jump I believe. 

Handymans342

Let us know. What brand?

jme097

Couple guys at the marina have replaced their 3 blade with 4 blades and rave about it. I am curious too. Have also heard of guys replacing the front propeller with a 4 blade and leaving the back as a 3 blade. I am definitely curious

Wildboating

I've budgeted $2100 so I could get what is right. I hate being the Guinea pig!  Calling Hill marine today to discuss. 

Wildboating

Well, I pulled the trigger..  After speaking with the owner of Hill Marine i decided to give their 4 x 4's a shot.  He is convinced, or at least was able to convince me that the 4 x 4's and my boat are the perfect match.  

Quick back story,  I had problems when i bought my boat, i discovered burnt valves the day after buying the boat which cost me 7k to rebuild the tops of each motor.  Since then with all motor related issues addressed the boat would only spin 3800-3900 rpm with a max speed of 36-39 mph.  

If i ever had more the 6 people on the boat forget about getting on plane which normally happened in the mid to low 20's.  Very embarrassing by the way!    My boat currently has 24P bravo's on the boat with what he calculated to be a 1.8 drive ratio.  I was thinking 2.2 but I have no idea really.    Anyhow, i told him i had problems with the engines which were fixed but didn't tell him what they were.  First thing out of his mouth telling him i run the boat around all day at wot @ 3800-3900 rpm he says don't do that... You will burn the valves up.. ****!  Apparently the previous owner had been doing that for awhile.  I just was lucky enough to pay for them.

Based on my 24p's and 3800-3900 rpm he calculated and suggested 20P four by fours instead of the 22p that everyone else is using.  With the extra bite of the 4by's and the new rpm's i should be able to jump out of the water and cruise at my max speed!   I pulled the trigger with them as they offer a full exchange if the size is incorrect, not a lot of risk in trusting the pro's.  I will be reposting before and after comparisons once she hits the water.

Michael T

Sounds exciting! Good luck!

Handymans342

That RPM is way to low. You should be up around 5K at WOT. I would think

Black_Diamond

++ With Handy. The rpms that low means the engines were lugging, thus the valve issue. I cruise at 3800-4000 rpm, WOT ~5,000 rpm. 

Handymans342

Something is not right with that boat

Wildboating

Could it be the 24p props?  

Wildboating

All of you are the same people I have been talking to since last year when we tried to figure out the original problem.  Rebuilt motors, new, plugs, dist, wires, etc.  This was the top rpm.  Only thing you offered up was to re-prop which is what we are doing.   I wonder if the drive ratios are off.  Is it possible to mix an upper drive of one ratio with a lower drive of another?  I know the lowers were replaced at one point.

Handymans342

Al will know. He wasn't on here too much last year. The higher the pitch the more RPM you will get. Is the boat in or out of the water?

Handymans342

Also confirm when the throttle is pushed to the max that the other end is open to the max. That was the problem with my boat

Michael T

Where did the previous boater boat, I had a friend who was going through h8LL. Finally we checked his drive ratios. The p.o. had a high altitude gearcase!

Handymans342

Yeah its stamped somewhere on the drive. I need to find mine.

Wildboating

Previous owner lived in Pittsburgh, he replaced the lowers and i just pulled up the receipt which shows 2.20:1 lower units were shipped to him.  Hill Marine was thinking i have 1.8's based on the speeds i said.  Is it possible he ordered 2.20' and put them on a 1.8 or does the ratio all take place in the bottom?

Handy, boat is currently out of water.  My diacom confirms that I am achieving 99% throttle position.  Could this mechanically still be out of whack?

Handymans342

I dont know how to confirm full throttle on a MPI engine. Can you see your ratio stamped on the upper side of the drive?

Wildboating

I will check tomorrow, plan to stop by the boat.

Handymans342

Get numbers on the props too and pictures of numbers on both

Black_Diamond

FYI: the lower the pitch number, the higher the engine rpm. So a 22P will give about 400 rpm increase over a 24P prob. 

Wildboating

Which is why he suggested a 20p four by four to address my 3800 max rpm i guess.  I just hope she planes easier with a heavy load and cruises nicely between 20-30mph.

Wildboating

Al,  Is the ratio decided by the lower leg or upper housing or a combo of both?  Still wondering if the P.O bought incorrect lowers when he replaced them.