176 ideal prop?

With the season coming to a close, I'm turning attention to the winter projects. I want to upgrade my prop (and possibly an ARE shaft) and want to get some opinions while I still have the boat in the water.

Zack, Chris, and Joel (I think?).......you guys came and stole the prop off the 176 at Green Lake last year. One of you gave me a recommendation for an upgrade and I can't remember what it was.

Here is what's on the boat currently


Are these numbers just from prop repair shops or do they mean something?







With this prop I'm getting 41mph at 4200rpm (GPS) with a completely empty boat. Stock 351 @ 240hp.

I use it exclusively for slalom and barefoot.

3 blade? 4 blade? Looking for a good ACME recommendation.

Cheers!

Chris

Edit - that's why I shouldn't talk props... Tim would be the man to ask.

Chris, I put a 668 on a 240 horse 17'6" this last fall and it turned it 4600-4700 rpms, I was impressed. A 422 would be just fine as well. 668 is a 422 with a little more cup commonly used on the 6.0 196 boats.

The owner uses it on a private slalom lake and loves the prop.

Either of the two would be a good pick for your rig but I do have some discounted old stock 668s if you are interested.

Whoops.

Could have sworn you had a 13x17 around at GL... Maybe a spare? If you're only pulling the 14x16 4200 then I'd go 422 or even slightly smaller... 1442 or 470. I'm not sure how that freak 176 Zach had was pulling a 668 4600+ with only 240hp, that's really really strong. I do have a used/reworked 668 I'd sell cheap if you want to go that direction though.

The name of the game is matching size (mostly pitch, followed by cup, then diam) to proper wot rpm. Blade count is a secondary concern, both 3's and 4's are very good. Acme doesn't make any 3-blades in the 15.5-16" pitch range, so that will dictate your choices somewhat. If going with a a 15" prop, the best ones are 3-blades.

Frankenotter wrote: I use it exclusively for slalom and barefoot.

And collecting oil and toxic waste out of the Milwaukee River...

Wake should not change based on blade count, I'm not sure I buy a table/turbulence difference either. The latter can be impacted (along with rooster firmness) by props that run different rpm at a given speed (higher rpm = firmer/harsher), but blade count shouldn't factor in much. Props of different style (Oj vs acme, for instance) may cause changes to boat attitude depending on how much stern lift they generate (which in turn plants the nose, distributing the boats weight over a larger surface and makin the wake slightly smaller- at the expense of top end speed), but all of the acmes we are discussing are similar in design and shouldn't change the boats attitude in a measurable way.

Like I said above, there is no 3-blade equivalent to the 422 or 668, only ones that have (incrementally) less pitch. I would not choose a prop based on blade count unless all else were equal- in which case I generally prefer 3-blades on our lighter direct drives. Matching pitch to wot is a more important consideration though, IMHO.

Chris, what's on the boat now- a 3-blade or 4-blade? Confirm the dimensions on your spare- if be amazed if it only has 14" of pitch. $5 says it had 17", can't recall if it's 12" or 13" diam... But that would have been the original prop on a 176, not the 14x16- at least based on what I've been able to gather.

Frankenotter wrote: Steve, are we still on for Thursday? EDIT

Sounds like you got a plan, my need was to just waste some time, you go take care of your stuff! I'd ride along with you, but the boss will have my head if she comes back from work and I am out playing with boats, and trust me, it won't take much to take the head off with the headstart I have given it...

skutsch wrote: and trust me, it won't take much to take the head off with the headstart I have given it...

I am in no way laughing at your pain steve, but that's funny

Gotta make sure she's making full power. I was just up on lake Nagawika this weekend. I should have given you a heads up.

I had to do official wedding things all Thursday and Friday.

I have a 1996 Ski 176. I switched from a three blade to a four blade this summer. This is my first season with the boat. It seemed to me that top end is around 45.I can look at what prop is on the boat.