1974 22-2 with 150 yamaha looking for prop advice

[BTF112989]

Hey everyone,
My 1974 22-2 with a 2001 150 HPDI desperately needs a new prop.  I have the stock Yamaha 14 1/4 x 17" aluminum prop on there right now.  It is really eaten up(from running up on a sandbar in Florida) with several large chunks out of it & a slight amount of vibration in it.  I am looking at 3 and 4 blade stainless steel propellers, but really need some help choosing a prop.  No one in Tennessee understands what type of boat I have to adequately match up a propeller.  The previous owner had a 225 Evinrude with a 21' pitch cyclone 4 blade propeller on there.  I have no real porpoising problems or bow rise issues.  When at WOT I hit 5300 rpms with the 17 pitch prop I have.

I use my boat for cruising/fishing/etc on the lake with 2-3 trips to the gulf a year.  However I am very involved in slalom waterskiing.  Whenever I go pretty far outside of the wake while skiing & start to cut back in, the driver can feel the back end of the boat get pulled & the prop slightly ventilates.  My old boat (variable deadrise) & my dad's boat 19" deadrise do not have this same problem.  I realize that it is a light boat with minimal deadrise(12 degree) & the forces exerted by a skier cutting are very large, but will a propeller such as a 4 blade help the engine get additional bite & not ventilate?

I have looked at powertech & stiletto propellers, but I need some advice from people with boats similar to mine.

Does anyone have advice for a propeller that I should be looking at to fit my needs? 3 vs. 4 blade?


Thanks,
Ben

[flounderpounder225]

Ben
Best advice I could give you is contact Ken @ propgods in south FL.  He is very knowledgeable and a very fair straight shooter, he will probably be able to hit with the perfect prop on the first try, he'll ship you one to try, and if you like it, he'll give you a good deal.  He nailed my prop first shot, couldn't be happier with the performance or the price.  Tell him Marc up in Pensacola sent you, and your a member of the Classic Aquasport Forum...  
http://www.propgods.com/forum/

[fitz73222]

I'm a little concerned that your WOT numbers with the 17" are a little low. I will assume that the numbers were taken with the propeller undamaged. 4 blade propellers are great for mid range and bottom end torque IF you have an engine that can pull that much bite and that's were we might begin. The school of thought and I gladly accept dialog is that when you switch from 3 blade to 4 blade, you need to drop 2" in pitch to obtain the same amount of RPM's @WOT to take advantage of the additional blade bite for mid range. I thought your engine needs to be around 6000 rpm's at WOT for the best loading and overall performance. With water skiing you need cubic inches and / or gear ratio in your engine in order to maintain constant speed without having to throttle jockey every time the skier digs in on a turn. You may be borderline when it comes to water skiing with an inline 4 cylinder 4 stroke 150 pushing a 22-2. We used to run into this even on 17' ski boats with 140-150hp 2 stroke outboards. The avid skiers wanted the engine to hold speed @ tournament regulation of 34 mph (if memory serves) without throttle jockeying every time the skier dug in hard.

A lot of these guy's wound up running two different propellers; one for ski and one for general purpose and it seemed to work for them. If they were skiing that day they would run the lower pitch prop that would slightly go over redline without a skier load at WOT which they didn't care because they just wanted tournament speed with adequate torque to allow the engine to hold rpm and speed and stayed away from redline WOT. My advice would be to go with a 15 pitch three blade and ski till your hearts content with all the torque you'll ever need to water ski, and when fishing or cruising run the 17" pitch. My gut tells me you're going to have a tough time propping the boat with one prop fits all of your needs (skiing) for your horsepower and hull combination. I love prop talk so i'll let the prop guys chime in from here. Just my $.02

I can't say enough good things about Stiletto propellers and have calculated their slip ratio around 8% which is excellent bite. I've been running them on every boat I've had and love them (3 and 4 blade versions). Personally I'd stay away from a 4 blade on your boat; I just don't think you have the cubic inches to turn one that you'll be happy with.  The prop guy's may think otherwise so we'll see what they say...

[fitz73222]

I just re-read your original post and for some reason I thought you had a 4 stroke 150 I4 on your boat. Now that i understand you have a 150 HPDI you need to do a compression test, spark test or look for a faulty injector / fuel delivery issue. You should be turning more rpm's with a 17 pitch than what you are stating. The problem may not be the propeller although it needs to be replaced.

[BTF112989]

Yes, that is correct. I have a 2001 HPDI with the 76 degree V6 block and a WOT rpm range of 4500-5500 according to my owners manual. I hit 5300 rpms the other day, but when the whole setup was first installed on my 1992 Sailfish the motor always hit 5500rpms. Compression test 3 months ago checked out, new spark plugs at the beginning of the season, and I just spent $250 replacing every filter possible inside & outside of the engine. Even the micro basket filters in the high pressure pump. So, with all that said I think the engine is in good running shape.

If I remember correctly, I think the four stroke yamahas WOT is 6000 rpms. But my two stroke is a little bit lower at 5500 rpms.

I was just thinking maybe a 4 blade would give me additional bite & hold the back end of the boat in the water more while skiing or while turning a corner hard.

I am mostly in the market for a propeller that fits the boat's general performance needs first & foremost. If it still pulls the back end loose while skiing then so be it. I realize that I can't have it all with one propeller. That's when its helpful to have a friend with a mastercraft to pull you around!

Thanks,
Ben