propeller recommendation

DeanBeat

Good day,
I just purchased a 2007 Rinker 226 Captiva bowrider.  It has a 21 pitch aluminum propeller on it right now.  My previous boat (17.5' Larson) had a "High 5" stainless steel so I'm worried about the aluminum prop on this one.  Any suggestions or comments are welcome.  I would like to purchase a stainless steel but what exactly should I go out and get?   I mainly use the boat for skiing. 

Thanks everyone! 

Dean

mvn

Before I can make a recommendation, we need to know details regarding your engine and sterndrive (ie. make, model, gear ratio, etc.).

Mark

prgrod01

Are you wanting to convert to a stainless prop only and stay with the 21 pitch? or do you want to change your pitch at the same time?

My previous boat was an 18.5' Bayliner with wakeboard tower, it had an OEM 23p 3 blade aluminum. I knew I wanted a better hole shot and lower plane speed for wakeboarding, but also didn't want to give up all my top end, so I did my homework and was not convinced the "go to" High 5, 19p was my answer for a number of reasons. High 5 does come in a number of pitches, but the ski/wakeboard boats seem to lean towards the 19 pitch.

I did hit something previously on my 1st prop, ski boating in new lakes and venturing to close to shore has it's dangers, it was aluminum and it sacrificed it's life for the better good... meaning it bent instead of my Alpha1 drive shaft. Stainless steel may look good, but unless your in salt water and want to corrosion resistance, I personally would stay with an aluminum prop. If I did have a SS and hit something, and my prop was still good... that energy was just absorbed by my leg and not my prop, I would rather pay $200 for a new prop vs big $$$ for leg repair or replacement. I chose to run aluminum from that day forward and also carried a spare prop and prop wrench to make up for the downfalls of a soft prop.

Now the pitch, you need to determine if your boat, as is, has the right prop for you... is your hole shot acceptable and can you plane slow enough for your needs? I ended up with a much cheaper aluminum 4 blade 21 pitch that made a big improvement over my OEM 3 blade @ 23. The slower plane speed was the biggest advantage in my case.

I would have liked to try a 19 to see the difference, but I also like going fast when I want to. I did read there are places that will give you different prop pitches to try until you find the right one, but no such vendor existing in my area. But heck, if you stayed with aluminum... you could buy two aluminum props for the price of one High5 SS prop and switch out from skiing to a go fast(er) boat with a switch of a prop.

Hope that helps.

DeanBeat

Ok, so I took the chance with the 21 pitch 3 blade.  Terrible.  It would not even plane with 5 adults and 2 children aboard.  so I purchased a 19 pitch 4 blade ($255) and it is much better, however still takes too long to plane (I have to put 2 adults in the bow) and definitely not great for skiing and wakeboarding.  It takes forever for me to pop up on one ski and almost impossible to teach skiing when it takes so long to get up.  I think I have no choice but to go with the stainless steel.  I know the lake fairly well so I guess I take the chance.  Unless someone has experience with an 18 pitch aluminum or something? 
By the way, to the previous commenters, the boat is a 2007 Rinker 226 Captiva (5 litre 260 h.p.  No idea on the gear ratio though....

mvn

I've got the same setup as you.  I have a 4-blade 18" stainless prop that is perfect for watersports.  Just last weekend the boat had at least 7 on-board and pulled up a skier no problem at all.  Mind you, I also have Nauticus SmartTabs.

Mark

DeanBeat

Ok, thank you so much Mark!  Ok, so Nauticus Smart Tabs it is and I will also get the S/S prop.  I've been doing a lot of research and it seems like the motto in skiing and wakeboarding is "no pro ski or wakeboard boat uses an aluminum prop".  One more question though;  the wake is massive for skiing!  Amazing for wakeboarding but it has totally effected my ski experience.  Do the Smart Tabs fix that? 

Dean

mvn

Although the tabs do not "fix" the wake completely, I find it reduces the wake considerably.  

Mark 

DeanBeat

Hey Mark (and whoever is listening), sorry to bother you again.  lol. 
So I had a 17 pitch, 5 blade stainless steel (High 5) shipped up from Florida just in time for the Labour Day long weekend.  It was AMAZING for jumping out of the hole and planed in just 1-2 seconds with 6 adult men on board (some heavy lol).  For skiing and wakeboarding, it was fantastic.  It also made a HUGE difference in fuel consumption;  I couldn't believe the difference.  I also installed doel-fins to help plane.  However, the new problem is:  Not that I have any reason to get to top speed, but if I do try, the rpm alarm goes off.  ie:  at 3/4 throttle, it is perfect at 4500 rpm's and about 56km/hr (35 miles/hr).  Anywhere near full throttle and the rpm's shoot up to 5,000-6000 rpm's and the alarm goes off.  Are you thinking 18 pitch would do it, rather than the 17?  Would that be the happy medium? 

Thanks, as always, for your input.  This is fun!  haha

Gr8ears

If you go to a reputable dealer, they should have a supply of "demo" props for you to try.  Done that at my local boat shop, and it was painless.

DeanBeat

Thanks!  Believe it or not, I have called every dealer and marina in Ontario and it seems that nobody stocks stainless steel, except for large cabin cruisers,  hence why I had one shipped up from Florida.