Anyone running a 4 Blade Prop for 2006 228 F250

[MixinItUp]

Guys,

I have a 2006 228 with F250. The boat has a hard top and bottom paint.

I have two issues that I am trying to solve:
1. I fish off shore, and when loaded down with four guys(grown men), 200 lbs of ice, full fuel, filled live-well and fishing gear the boat can struggle to power up to plane like I want. This causes issues and poor fuel economy when fighting through 3' seas.

2. My kids(8 and 5) are getting to the age where they want to tube, knee-board and ski.

So..... I plan to try a 4 blade prop to help with hole-shot, reduce the planing speed and add a little transom lift. Have any of you guys with 228s converted to 4 blades for this application? I will also consult with the Prop Gods guys but thought I would ask for real world experience here first.

I am thinking the Rev4 17" pitch will likely be the starting point.

Padgett
Mixin'ItUp
Savannah, GA

 

[SwampGrizz]

Mixin',

Thanks for posting this. I will be watching the replies, because I have a 2000 228G with a 200 HPDI, and could use a little help getting out of the hole as well.

Thanks in advance for all the responses....

SwampGrizz
Savannah, Ga.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Hey I bought a Power Tech 4 blade SS prop back in May. I have a F250 and had it propped with a yammy ssII prop. I dropped down in pitch from a 17 to 16. The boat gets out of the whole a lot quicker and it holds turns really well when pulling a tube. We have noticed a slight improvement with fuel economy. When we took her to the Bahamas in June we noticed better handeling in following seas. I am glad I made the switch given how we use the boat for offshore and water sports applications. Question, how do you get 200 pounds of ice in those ffish boxes?

 

[MixinItUp]

Smky,

Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for. Did u test any other 4 blades? the Rev 4

Ice....
I have a 120-140 qt cooler that fits perfectly in the cabin(I pull out the porta-potti) that i fill with bags. Then, I replenish whichever box needs ice throughout the day. Makes the cabin a level deck to store gear and doubles the ice I can carry. I don't like warm fish or beer!!!!

Hope to make the Bahamas run one day myself.

Thanks again,
Padgett
MixinItUp
Savannah GA

 

[lgusto]

Strongly recommend you contact the Prop God http://www.propgods.com before making a purchase. I was convinced I needed a 4 blade but they listened carefully and then recommended a different solution that has worked beautifully. No cost to call, lots of upside. Search "propgods" for other posts here in this forum.

 

[wrxhoon]

I have a 228 and I fitted a 250 Optimax, so not the same engine . Your engine has a 2 to 1 gearbox and not as much torque as my opti , much less down low. The opti has a 1.75 to 1 box .
I run a 19" Enertia and use the boat like you do, offshore fishing, our seas here ( Australia) are much bigger than yours.
Thats the Ideal prop for my boat with the 250 Opti for my application , I tried several props, all Mercury brand, several different pitches. I tried Mirage, 17" and 19" , Vensura (4 blade offshore) 17", 19" and 21" and Enertia 18", 19" and 20".

The 4 blade Vensura was useless reversing , holding good on waves and holding on plane at very low speed . The Enertia was best all around and used almost 10% less fuel in my application , running up to 60 miles offshore and trolling for a few hours.

I don't knoe if you guys have noticed but the 228 is not great with any prop reversing because the engine is on a bracket, when you reverse the propelled water hits the back of the transom and you get nowhere..

Back to your prop pitch I think you will need a 16" large diameter 3 blade or a 16"- 17" 4 blade.

 

[bayrat]

"I don't knoe if you guys have noticed but the 228 is not great with any prop reversing because the engine is on a bracket, when you reverse the propelled water hits the back of the transom and you get nowhere.."

Oh yeah..we've noticed. Try trimming up almost till the tilt kicks in and you should see some improvement as the prop wash goes under the boat more, rather than directly back against the transom.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I did not know about that cool new hub system when I bought the prop. I needed a sparw prop for the Bahamas trip so I bought the 4 blade. The trip drove my decision to buy a prop. I have no regrets going to a 4 blade at all. On our trip Coconut spun a hub and he uses the Merc prop and quick change hub system. He fixed it really quickly.