Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Shopping for new prop for my rig while upgrading my motor to >2X the power it currently has.

What make and model or style of prop has worked well for your boat? Large blade area? Little or lots of rake? Looking at boats on the faster end of the spectrum. Are you using a prop marketed as a "pontoon" prop or more general usage?

Looking at two props, one which has more rake than the other. This generally leads to some bow lift on traditional V-bottom boats; unsure how that translates on a pontoon. Almost universally the pontoon props have larger blade area, but I don't see a lot of 4-blade props for pontoons which is a bit conflicting.

If you have motor/boat/rpm/speed data even better.

Matt

You have me curious about how much HP and how fast you are thinking? I would seek guidance from the motor manufacturer to establish a starting point.

Marc K wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 06, 2021 5:12 am

You have me curious about how much HP and how fast you are thinking? I would seek guidance from the motor manufacturer to establish a starting point.

Good plan!

I run a 225 HP Honda on a 24’ tritoon with lifting strakes on both sides of each ‘toon. The max HP for the boat is 300.The boat has twin biminis, which do catch a good bit of wind.

The props are 14.8” diameter with a 17 pitch in aluminum, and 14.75” diameter with a 17 pitch in stainless. The cupping and rake of the stainless is more pronounced compared to the aluminum prop, but I have no idea how to determine what those differences are. I believe that both props are Honda brand.
I don’t know what my top speed is, because I don’t want to risk damaging the Bimini tops, but I’ve run it up to 43 mph (on the GPS) briefly, and it got up there pretty damn quick. RPMs at that time were 6000, but the boat was still accelerating quickly until I cut the throttle back.

Cruising speed at 4000 RPM is 28 mph on the aluminum prop, and 30 mph on the stainless one.

Four blade props typically make a boat have more bite at the low end, which help get a typical v-hull on plane quicker. That's usually not a requirement for a pontoon, so you're probably better off with a three blade, especially if you're looking for the max top end speed. Four blade props almost always deliver a lower max speed than a three blade.

Rick McC. wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:02 pm

I don’t know what my top speed is, because I don’t want to risk damaging the Bimini tops, but I’ve run it up to 43 mph (on the GPS) briefly, and it got up there pretty damn quick. RPMs at that time were 6000, but the boat was still accelerating quickly until I cut the throttle back.

The labels on my dual tops from Dowco say not to exceed 30mph with them deployed.....but yea I've hit 40+ with mine open too heehee.

OP needs to give motor size and manufacturer. For instance, Yamaha does a great job with their "Power Matched" setups. They have tons of performance bulletins, too.

Yes, Sir. Doubling your HP starting with 150HP is a little different than doubling 300HP.

I live in the cheap seats with a little 115HP, but I see tritoons boats out on the main lake with bigger twins running bigger speeds - so it's all relative. Bigly.

Steiner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 08, 2021 3:04 pm

Rick McC. wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:02 pm

I don’t know what my top speed is, because I don’t want to risk damaging the Bimini tops, but I’ve run it up to 43 mph (on the GPS) briefly, and it got up there pretty damn quick. RPMs at that time were 6000, but the boat was still accelerating quickly until I cut the throttle back.

The labels on my dual tops from Dowco say not to exceed 30mph with them deployed.....but yea I've hit 40+ with mine open too heehee.

OP needs to give motor size and manufacturer. For instance, Yamaha does a great job with their "Power Matched" setups. They have tons of performance bulletins, too.

The speed limit for my powered Bimini is 25 mph. I think that the front top (non-powered) probably provides a mechanical advantage of support that the powered Bimini alone doesn’t have.

MattGent wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 6:08 pm

Shopping for new prop for my rig while upgrading my motor to >2X the power it currently has.

What make and model or style of prop has worked well for your boat? Large blade area? Little or lots of rake? Looking at boats on the faster end of the spectrum. Are you using a prop marketed as a "pontoon" prop or more general usage?

Looking at two props, one which has more rake than the other. This generally leads to some bow lift on traditional V-bottom boats; unsure how that translates on a pontoon. Almost universally the pontoon props have larger blade area, but I don't see a lot of 4-blade props for pontoons which is a bit conflicting.

If you have motor/boat/rpm/speed data even better.

Matt

My home built 24ft. tritoon with lifting strakes on the center and inside of the outer toons has seen a best of 44.9mph GPS. I have a 2002 Mercury 200hp 2 stroke on her. I have started playing with props again.

The best mph 44.9, was with Mercury Mirage Plus 14.75 x 21p , but with a lot of slip 18.6%

The current prop I'm running is another Mercury Mirage Plus 15.5 x 17p. I raised the motor 2 bolt holes and have seen 43.7mph GPS on the rev limiter @ 5600 rpm. My slip is considerably better @ 9.35%. I can cruise @ 30-31mph GPS @ 4000rpm.

Hope this helps you. I will continue to add to the info as I test more props. I'm hoping to get 46-47mph GPS.