Three blade vs four

[Stan R]

At what horse power do you draw the line between 3 and four blade props? What prop will give me the best performance with my 150 crossflow Rude on a 17 ft bassboat. I know there are lots of varibles, I have a 3 blade 21 on it now. Also how hard are jackplates on a transom?, my boat is old and the transom was rebuild once already. I seems solid and I am considering a jack plate.

[aceman93]

Jack plates I don't know. It is a case by case thing when you are talking about the qulity of the rebuild on the transom and how strong it is. As far as blades the most efficient blade would be one blade in theory but a three blade on a lighter boat should be more efficent than a four. The only way I know is to try them out and see what works best. If you can give more info on what you currently have it can help to better determine what you should be running n that hull with that setback and motor height.

[lilmule]

Im sure others will give better advise tap each bolt thats holding the motor on with a wrench or small hammer each one should sound the same.
For a beginer a manual jackplate is a good starter,and a used one can be had for half price generally.As for four blades a 150 is quite large enuff to run them,ive had them on my old crossflow in the form of a shooter,they do not however give great bow lift but preform ok up to about 2 1/2 below the pad a reworked one can run even to the pad and grip,but then again more dollars involved.
Changing from transom to a jp one would need about two sizes larger prop,my crossflow ran about 5250 rpm on a ten in jackplate 24p raker or a 25 p shooter,if yours is a higher rpm motor about a 23 p would be about right.The four blade shooter 25Phaving shorter blades runs about same rpm as a three blade 24P,only slightly less.
If a longer eared prop is used it takes less pitch overall .
Merc makes simular equivilent with slightly longer ears,sometimes in the form of over under 4 in hubs ,one just has to make sure it fits correctly after any prop change with the correct washers,other wise you may wear lower unit.
Ive actually run 23 P three blade mazcos on 135 johnsons,,10 in setback on a 17 ft phantom 5400 rpm and 59.2 mph gps,depends upon the boat the motor and what you want to do with it.
If adding a jackplate make sure all cables are long enough or you will have to replace .

[Stan R]

The shaft on mine is too low, 5-3/4" below with the motor up in the last hole, also has wedges due to steep angle of the transom. I will need to limit setback to 4" cause I can't afford new cables. Right now it doesn't take much trim to make her porpus. Sounds like I should try a prop with more pitch, I am topping 5300rpm.

[lilmule]

It helps some when you post to state what brand motor and model and or year as not all turn same rpms or have same gear ratio.
Newer motors generally turn 6 k or more, my old crossflow 5500,my 200 xp over 6,you want to stay in the powerband without exceeding motor limitations for long life.
Two pitches raised is about 400 rpm lost ,raising the motor 2 -2 1/2 in will gain that back if not a tad more,thats a general rule of thumb,not exact.
It will also take less trim when elevated or should.

[1FASTLASER]

Stan

You definately are way to deep. Around 2 1/2 to 3 inches to deep. After installing a plate you will definiatly be able to run a 23 MAYBE even a 24 and realize the potential of your boat. As long as the transom was done by someone that KNOWS glass and did it correctly you should be ok. I assume you been running this boat awhile.....if so if there are iny issues with the transom you should be able to see any stress cracks.

[Jay Martin]

No line between horsepower but, there is a hp to weight ratio, big heavy boat, 4 blade will carry it better..but no matter what, 4 blade will most of the time handle better. Every boat is different. I like a 4 blade on my boat because it will keep the bow up at slower speeds and handles better in turns but is slower than a 3 blade by about 1 mph.

[Stan R]

Thanks Guys, I am going with the 4" JP that I located just to get her up ..and will be looking for a 23 shooter in the near future. Right now I'm in the middle of building a garage for my toys so I can actually put the truck in the other garage instead of the boat. Not much fishin time this year...DAMN :wallbash:but our fishin league starts Wed, so will be fishin once a week with my son until fall. All is GOOD.:D
I'll letyou knowif I get improvement when I "GET_R_DONE" :p

[1FASTLASER]

tan

the shooter is an old school 4 blade. May I suggest a renegade if you wanna stay relatively inepensive as far as 4 blades are concerned. The renegade is one of OMC's top props right now. Course yopu couold go with a hydro or a Mazco or a TXP BUT add at least 200 per each one of these props if new.

Jay might have a better recommend since he be DA MAN whenit comes to props.

[egreen024]

I got two bass renegades 4 blades 23 pitch, they came with boat when I was running a evinrude intruder 150, boat would get up right away, Now I use them on same boat (ranger r80) but with new motor, got a merc 150 now. when I boat boat receipts were in the boat folders and this guy paid 600 bucks for prop.

[Jay Martin]

tan

the shooter is an old school 4 blade. May I suggest a renegade if you wanna stay relatively inepensive as far as 4 blades are concerned. The renegade is one of OMC's top props right now. Course yopu couold go with a hydro or a Mazco or a TXP BUT add at least 200 per each one of these props if new.

Jay might have a better recommend since he be DA MAN whenit comes to props.

I agree, there are much faster props than the shooter these days. TXP OT-4 by Turbo or the TRO4 by Powertech are a very good choice..The price is way less than you would think. And also either prop has a do it yourself replaceable hub.

[lilmule]

The renegade is a more modern version that has less blowout getting on plane,costs a lil more but both the shooter and renegade can be used to dial in and find what is proper prop size then upgrading.
I find ebay to be a good source,with better props sometimes being had for the same money almost,my most recent aquisition was a Power Tech TRO4 13/34 x4 x27 for 100 bucks,run several times then sold as wrong pitch for his boat his loss my gain as its a 450 dollar prop,no one else even bid on it .
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/lilmule12002/Picture008.jpg
Thats not a big scratch in the lower blade its a reflection of a ceiling fan blade,pic taken indoors.Got lucky as well had a ten dollar off paypal coupon so cost me 90 in reality,shipping was extra at 22 bucks.
The average shooter on ebay costs about 80 to 125,and the rengades 150 to 180,this was just an exceptional buy,and I got lucky,seller was new didnt know how to list it properly and noone else saw it or bid on it.
With my hyd jackplate stuck inthe down position currently(have another on order from bobs)ive had the chance to compare cheap versus the more expensive props,the shooter is fully ten mph faster when 5 1/2 in below the pad,it does have that blowout issue but can be drilled or even a 4 in small gearcase prop doing an over under like my recent tro 4 and getting on plane with no blowout.Its only when the better prop which has bigger ears takes an avantage in speed higher up,as it gets less rpms when deep.
So an average joe using one 3 in below the pad isnt that much slower than the more expensive prop until raised above where the shooter would blow out,also requiring a low water pickup of some sort.
Would I trade my tro 4 for one heck no I pop up on plane ,have a low water nosecone so can tweak all its got out of it,and surpass the shooter.
But run deeper the shooter revs more due to its thinner smaller blades.
The renegade is the better of the four blades between shooter and it,both have limitations as to how high they grip as is,my own experience came because of monetary reasons,but found out they really arnt that bad.
the 28 p merc chopper ran 63 mph and had some left just couldnt drive it as to much torque ,the 27 p reworked shooter ran 62 flat out ,and gripped even to the pad(22 ft boat 200 xp)but no torque hardly at all,cant wait to see what this baby does high up.

[1FASTLASER]

Not disputing your word mule but a shooter is a big eared prop while a gade is a smaller blade but with higher rake. I am assuming the reason you are having better luck with the shooter designed prop is due to the hull you are running on. I wanna see some bottom pics of your hull cause this really has my curiosity up. Bottom and rear pics to be exact. The gade is a BETTER designed shooter.......thats how the gade was born. Help me take the confusion outta my head.

[lilmule]

Well I would have to agree the gade is the better of the two,havnt one here now to measure but the shooter is but a 13 1/4 x say 25 or 27 prop it has shorter ears than say even a raker three blade .In general most omc props have somewhat shorter ears,most likly due to them actually having a tad less hp and a different train of thought pattern as well.
The recent TRO4 is a 13 3/4 x27 having more blade area even though same pitch when at amost 6 under it wont rev as high,as they get nearer the pad the difference becomes less and less,and that tro once at pad with thrree out of four out of the water should run faster ,even though the shooter still gripped there,mind you with it key word was reworked.
If I were running this prop without a nosecone and say three in under would need a 25 p to keep the rpms up,due to more blade area in the water.
As it stands even deep it comes up on pad with very lil bow rise with two people and half a tank of gas,kind of like a sub surfacing.
Both the shooter and the merc chopper ran the 100 yard dash to get up on it and one could not see in front of the boat as it was driving at the moon,with both props blowing out at the apex and one having to do a foot throttle movement to get over it,part due to over pitching and part due to props as this tro is same pitch as the shooter 27,was actually the worst ,with the 28 p chopper coming in a close second.
Yes 200 xp most have a 25 on them ,had rather higher goals wanted one prop for just me running single the 28 p merc chopper,the 27 p shooter was an ebay aquisition and worked out,only a lil slower,did rev higher,due to small blades.
This tro is most likly inbetween for me as p is a tad big but figgure handling will be a dream.All to come have a bobs on order intend to install the pump and hook to existing hy jackplate on a temp basis and use it if possible,have no desire to be without a boat again in good fishing time coming.
Then in off season we do get a few weeks here I dont boat will install the new bobs ten in ,that is if all works out .
Pics as you wanted to see how a 29p reworked to 28 p chopper can be run on a 22 ft boat with a 200hp rude,figgure its the boat not the rude.
Setback built in of 12 in then deck that extends back on each side of the motor in the form of gull wings? or whatever ,when standing on rear most portion of deck you are 2 ft beyond the pad,and note motor on a 5 1/2 in jackplate doesnt even come to the complete rear of the boat.
This is about a 22 in transom and it has a lot of boat in the water at rest.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/lilmule12002/Picture002-3.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/lilmule12002/Picture004-4.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/lilmule12002/Picture003-6.jpg
And boat as well came off ebay,2995 dollars,delivered from ark for 250 more,was an xmas present for me,was going to redo the glassport 21 ft but would have taken 3 grand to redo transom (had one weak spot)and gelcoat along with carpet,this had been redone carpet wise and transom isnt bad.
had floated a loan off my ira to get a better boat and deal had fallen through,was left with fixing the old glassport with same money and just happened upon this deal.And no you cant have her,not for sale.

[zooker]

is it me or does the top pic scream "i need to adjust the bunks"

on that much transome rake. do you have the moter shimmed??

zooker

[lilmule]

On previous boats yes ,on this no,as it takes extremely lil trim when near the top,motor barely looks like its even ,no rootertail mere bulge in the water about 1 ft tall extending past the boat about 20 ft,when run at pad level.
Unfortunately jackplate is non functioning currently soon to be taken care of,even 5 1/2 under the pad and two occupants it takes off with the tro4 27p quite nicely
the 28 p chopper i cant take full advantage of as standard steering ,torque even with tabs is a pure bear,the 4 blade even the shooter has lil or no torque,and this tro4 is built for high up use from the start.Be a tad slower overall but handling is sweet with them compared to any 3 blade.
Considering ive hit 63 with the chopper had some left but couldnt use it ,and 62 with the shooter and no handling issues other than blowout when getting on pad the chopper did the same.Im curious as evrything about what it will do,when jack is operatable.
It has a lot more cup and just about a lot more of everything,may be to much blade to actually go faster dunno.
oddity it comes up on plane smoothly no noticable bow rise hardly,its got to be gripping like no tomorrow.
As for the bunks theirs 4 from that roller,its usage is to the first guide is all,I can figgure.
If one adjusts it so the roller is totally used, one cant get a motor toter on at all,and its the way it was delivered ,nothing in all the tests of moving it back or forward does better all around,and its actually barely sitting on that roller but would go by it driven half in farther and its short of the front roller about 1/2 in.,as far or as long as the safty chain reaches it,seems ok,dont think as heavy as it is its going anywhere.
If you have some ideas stop in sometime and show me.
Kinda figgure that steep angle would also let one go to a 20 in motor if setback far enough.

[lilmule]

Ok your all correct in that the shooter is old school,and that the gade is the newer result out of it and it being better,and that tro4 are even better than that.
But not all preformance props are great out of the box as is, worst I ever had as far as gripping was a mazco re3,anything above 3 in below the pad it spun with no speed gain.
Why then do I recomend cheap props like raker,shooter,renegade.The gade being the more costly but still cheap in comparison.
Because the av guy asking is in a 10 to 20 year old boat,is on a budget limited funds,has no jackplate or if hes getting one no low water nosecone.
He cannot take advantage anyway of a three blade up high because no low water pickup and standard steering,or of a big eared 4 blade due to same low water pickup or lack of jackplate.
Add a 250 dollar jackplate a 450 dollar nosecone and 800 dollar stearing he can.
Considering it will be run on the transom or at best with most on a jackplate about three under,the shooter ,raker and or renegade are cheap props to use for trial and error,and will preform quite well,as the boat most likly say an 18 ft with a 150 running mid fifties to 70 with the jp possibly.
Run at 5 1/2 under on the transom few 400 dollar props outpreform an 80 dollar junk shooter by much of any margin unless way underpitched.
Surely not because the prop is better ,its the conditions it being run in,shooter has small diameter blades and can rev up,on the other hand add the height ,psi protection and the shooter falls far behind normally.
Reworked and I would never spend 200 dollars on one to rework it the shooter can grip to the pad.
I just happened on an ebay prop that stated blades worn and thin due to it being reworked gave a lot less for it that he did reworking it,most likly he hated it as they blowout badly unless drilled.
So it as all the others stated is a good lil inexpensive prop to experiment with,when not equipped to take advantage of the better props.
The gade costing a tad more is the more modern version with more cup rake etc,and less blowout.And all three the older raker,shooter and renegade when running stock omc units work quite well as they arent speed demons without some mods.
None of these though as is are a good surfacing type prop,so its more or less the conditions they are being run in,and possibly the amount of money available.
Im sure many will disagree but wanted you to know why I generally recommend them to starters.