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Prop selection for 2017 SS 201 I/O
finn5033
Member Posts: 7 ✭
hello all, my wife and I just received our ordered 2017 SS 201 I/O with the 4.5 200hp mercruiser. This is our first boat as we came from a 22' pontoon with a 40hp mercy Bigfoot on it. Got it on the water last Saturday and took it out cruising for a couple hours. With just the 2 of us on it it seemed to get up fine and had plenty of speed. Then on Sunday we had family over and took it out for a cruise. We had 6 adults and 3 smaller kids on board and when we first took off I didn't think I was going to be able to get the boat to plane.
so yesterday I called the local prop shop and told him what I had. He laughed when I told him the boat came with a 14/23 pitch prop. Said that it had to be a dog out of the hole with that. After some conversation I ended up ordering a solas 14.3 / 19 pitch 4 blade prop. I would like some feedback from anyone with a similar boat and what props they have gone with. I don't care about top end speed I just want really good acceleration and mid range speed and handling. Thanks
so yesterday I called the local prop shop and told him what I had. He laughed when I told him the boat came with a 14/23 pitch prop. Said that it had to be a dog out of the hole with that. After some conversation I ended up ordering a solas 14.3 / 19 pitch 4 blade prop. I would like some feedback from anyone with a similar boat and what props they have gone with. I don't care about top end speed I just want really good acceleration and mid range speed and handling. Thanks
Comments
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I should add we were about 1,100 lbs total weight with the 9 people in the boat which I understand is a fair amount. Again just looking for anyone with a similar boat that switched to a more sport designed prop and what they use. Thanks
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finn5033, it sounds like you are on the right track. You want the engine to reach max rated RPM at full throttle. Too much prop and it won't rev high enough to develop max power. Too little prop will let it rev too high. Test it on smooth water and try it both loaded and light (one or two people and not a full tank of fuel). Hopefully you dealer will let you test the prop and swap it If not right. I tried three props before I got the correct one for my FD196. A four blade that runs max RPM will cost you a bit of top speed over a three blade but the hole shot and planing speed will be improved. Happy Boating.
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I went from a 3 blade14.75/17 pitch to a Solas Amita 4, 4 blade 14.25/15pitch. Also installed Se sport 300 hydrofoil on the engine-- 2011 SD187 W/150 Yamaha. It its like a new boat and engine, hole shot is awesome, top speed still great, I believe I top out at 5100 rpm but not there much at all. The combination also helped dramatically with the boats tendency to wander at very slow speeds and cavitate during higher speed turns. I could not be happier!!
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Thanks for the responses guys. I nearly ordered a set of the nautica smart tabs too. I decided to wait and see if the new prop was enough improvement. The thought of drilling into my brand new boat makes me nervous. I've done a lot of research on the smart tabs and couldn't find any real negative reviews on them. It seems that they make a big difference. Should I just bite bullet and get them ordered and on the boat? If anybody on here can share their experience with those I'd appreciate it.
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I thought about smart tabs too and did also hear a lot of good stuff. That being said the only draw back (to me) was, we do a lot of swimming and having to un-clip the tab each time to use the rear ladder seemed like a pain to me (Lazy???). Please let us know how it works out!!
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Oh I didn't realize that. We have the extended swim platform on ours. If it gets in the way of the ladder than I wouldn't want them
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You wont need to unclip smart tabs
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Ok....I have the same boat...2016 and as propped from the factory, I couldn't pull my 110lb daughter out of the water. Through some trial and error and a certified mercury mechanic, I ended up with a 15 1/8x 18 and now it pops right out. I ordered a 16 and it didn't do it.
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Hi Finn.
I have a 2012 201 with a 220 MerCruiser. I too had it come with a 23 inch pitch 3 blade aluminum prop. My RPMs maxed out at 4400, we'll under the rated 4800.
I settled on a 4 blade 22 inch stainless steel prop and now the engine maxes out at or close to the 4800.
Could not be happier.
My question to you is what is your engine topping out at with the 4 bladed 19 inch pitch prop you are using?
Based on my boat, I would think the 19 pitch would be too low. Mitch -
PS. my top end WOT is a GPS 47mph. Mitch
