What pitch of prop to use and or should I swap the 3 blade for the 4 blade? 4 cyl inboard/out bayliner 19.5 ft

Question

local mechanics say to try each pitch of prop till I find one that suits, has anyone given this a shot yet? What did you go with?

used just for fishing, hauling friends and partying in the cove on ;)

Answer 1

I have a 19.5 Fiberglass w/130hp I/O Merc. I use a 3 blade aluminum 19 pitch & top out at about 33 MPH fully loaded (8 people). It gets up on plane ok & I also pull my kids on tubes.

Answer 2

Big boat for 4cyl.,   4blade is always good choice I think 15'' pitch, will be good to start with ,  give you more power out of hole.        17'' pitch will take longer to trim out but will go faster on top speed , might have to move weight up in front of boat to get 17'' pitch to trim out

Answer 3

Just as long as the pitch you select brings reasonable top speed and your optimum RPM range doesn't go too high (too high RPM) or too low (bogs down at max throttle), and the boat performs well, then you should be fine.

If in doubt, read the data from prop manufacturers on the recommended pitch and blade count for the engine and sterndrive of your boat.

Answer 4

the lower the pitch the faster you'll get up and running, the higher the pitch the more top speed you'll have, so it's your choice what you want.  I just change my prop on my 60hp outboard and I went with a 3 blade 14 pitch prop to give me a little extra top speed. hope this helps.