4 blade prop?

[Bigfoot]

Saw this in another thread

"Get a 4 blade stainless prop for that 250 and the 228 will get better hole shot, better stern lift, better maintaining tight turns and holding speed in those turns. This is particularly true if you use her for water sports like I use mine. I get lower rpms for cruising and even my trolling rpms dropped a little."


would it be safe to assume the 4 blade would do the same for my 204C with F200?

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Bigfoot,From what I read before I bought the prop and I talked to the guys at Power Tech, I can only assume yes. You lose some top end performance. I lost like 1 mph, but I gained .10 to .20 better mpg depending on seas and wind of course, I gained better following seas performance, better turning performance and so forth. Our boats are a bit heavier than others in the same hull size and the extra blade helps with the overal performance in my observations/opinion. I often wonder why Grady simply does not equip their boats with 4 blade props to begin with? They are not building speed demon boats so the top end loss is not significant to me anyway given the gains in others areas especially fuel economy.

 

[noXcuse]

I have a Mercury cupped 4-blade "Offshore Series" prop on my boat. I have a different setup than you though. I have a Mercruiser fuel injected I/O. About the same horsepower, and I also have a Seafarer. The holeshot is pretty impressive with the 4-blade. Jumps right up on plane, no problem. Fuel consumption is great. I get about 2.5mpg average, but again, I have an I/O. My boat tops out right at 42mph in flat conditions, with a 17p prop. But, that's pushing the motor. I typically run it at about 3,400rpm, which is around 31-32mph. Handling tight turns is about the same for me as it is with a 3-blade. Even with dropping the bow all the way down, it still makes a pretty big turn. But, that's running it at 30mph too. Slower speeds it holds a pretty tight turn.