four blade prop for following seas?

[porkpiehat]

My boat seems to really bog down in following seas, to the point that it scares me a little. It is a 13' AB console with 35hp Johnson.

Is there any point in trying out a four-blade prop to minimize the risk or am I just underpowered, period?

[matt h]

underpowed

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by matt h

underpowered

I agree. Underpowered.

[jyasaki]

When you say bog down, are you talking about the stalling feeling you get climbing the back of a swell? While you may well be underpowered, I think all boats get that feeling to some degree; it's a function of driving the boat essentially "uphill" just after losing forward momentum from bashing into the back face of the wave.

jky

[porkpiehat]

And what if I'm going to be towing out divers and equip for scuba? Any benefit for a four-blade then?

[Landlockedpirate]

After many years spending a small fortune and playing with shiny props, I have come to the conclusion that 99% of the time the factory fitted prop works best for general use in a standard powered leisure application. The manufactures do a lot of testing of props, they know what they are doing.

On an underpowered boat like yours (sorry to be blunt) I would leave it alone, I'm pretty sure that a 4 blade prop, regardless of size, will make thingsworse.

BTW,the current use for 1 of my props that I was convinced would transform my boat is a little less glamorous

[Hightower]

On lower powered boats prop choice really doesn't reap the same rewards as higher HP models.

One thing I did find years ago when I was playing around with props on a 5.2m RIB with an 80hp engine was that if I was going out on a rough day I would replace the 17" pitched prop with a 15" pitched prop as it would give me better hole shot and quicker reaction times to wave conditions. This obviously dropped my WOT speed but increased handling capabilities especially in following Sea's.

So if you're still looking at props I would suggest a lower pitched one rather than a fancy one.

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Hightower

On lower powered boats prop choice really doesn't reap the same rewards as higher HP models.

One thing I did find years ago when I was playing around with props on a 5.2m RIB with an 80hp engine was that if I was going out on a rough day I would replace the 17" pitched prop with a 15" pitched prop as it would give me better hole shot and quicker reaction times to wave conditions. This obviously dropped my WOT speed but increased handling capabilities especially in following Sea's.

So if you're still looking at props I would suggest a lower pitched one rather than a fancy one.

+1! Good advice!!!!!

[porkpiehat]

And the engine didn't rev too high with the lower pitch?

[jyasaki]

If you're out in rough stuff, you rarely run at WOT. It's on again off again trying not to beat yourself up.

jky

[C-NUMB]

Trophy plus prop really increases bow lift, a low pitch version might be worth testing if those are available for a 35 hp Johnson.