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Effects of Moving to "Higher Performance" Prop

AlexW

AlexW

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Northwest Illinois
We currently have a 17P Mercury Vengeance prop on a F200 (we bought the boat with the prop already on).  I want to change the prop out to get where I want to be and have been looking at 15P props.  The engineer in me says to just change one variable so stick with a Vengeance but go to 15P.  I have a basic understanding of props and have played enough with prior boats that I think that would put performance where I want to be.

But....I keep reading and looking at the "post your specs here" and it seems everybody loves the Mercury Enertia and Yamaha Reliance props.  What effect can I expect to see going from a basic prop like the Vengeance to the props marketed as higher performance like the Enertia and Reliance?  Like I mentioned before, I understand the basics but am fairly clueless to the different materials, cupping, etc.  The Enertia would also be 1/2-inch diameter larger in that pitch.

Thanks in advance!
 
Yeah many people love the Enertia and maybe they're better on outboards but on my I/O it actually gave me worse specs than the one that was already on my lower unit (see my thread on here).  I'm sure others will chime in.  Will need to know what your top speed is at wide open throttle (WOT) and what the RPM's are for that.  Will also need to now what gearing you have on that motor (for proper prop selection).
 
Yup, we need your specs before we spend your money.     :D
 
keithkz said:
Yeah many people love the Enertia and maybe they're better on outboards but on my I/O it actually gave me worse specs than the one that was already on my lower unit (see my thread on here).  I'm sure others will chime in.  Will need to know what your top speed is at wide open throttle (WOT) and what the RPM's are for that.  Will also need to now what gearing you have on that motor (for proper prop selection).
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I read through your whole thread last week.  It was a little discouraging!  

cwag911 said:
Yup, we need your specs before we spend your money.     :D
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I knew you guys were going to ask for this, but I don't have great numbers.  We just got the boat this spring and the river was so high and fast here the first few times we took it out that my numbers were kind of garbage.  I even managed some negative slip!   :blink:   The river was real fast.  Then it was up so high the DNR and area law enforcement were requesting people stay off, so we just finally got in our slip a couple weeks ago.  We've been hosting every time out since then so I haven't played much.

Here are some numbers, but I don't have confidence in these being a good baseline. Motor is the F200 4 cylinder, 1.86 gear ratio according to Yamaha's website.  WOT is 5-6k.

  • Two adults, slightly less than half a tank of gas, minimal gear besides what the law requires: 46 mph at 5400 rpm (with current, current was fast)
  • Eight adults, two kids, full tank of gas, and a couple coolers: 38 mph at 4800 rpm (with current, more normal)
I knew my original posting was kind of a loaded question without numbers, but like I said, I haven't had a chance to do a halfway controlled test. I was hoping to get an idea of what differences I could expect going from a 15P Vengeance to a 15P Enertia or 15P Reliance, without actual numbers.  I know, I know........     :rolleyes:
 
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I swear by my Enertia.
 
I swear by my Yamaha version of the Enertia--Reliance stainless prop--at least for a Yamaha motor.  The Yamaha SHO's usually run with the Saltwater Series II propellers on Bennington ESP tritoons.

You're already experiencing top performance numbers.  Do you think your tachometer might be a little off?  5400 just doesn't look right at the speeds you're experiencing. 

If you're not lugging the motor and it accelerates and handles well, you would be okay to just keep what you've got.
 
I have to say, those numbers look great. What exactly are you hoping to improve on? Does it cavitate? Is hole shot decent? If so, don't "fix" it since your numbers are better than anyone else with a 200 as far as I can remember. 
 
Been debating this too with my new 2375 RCW and Yamaha F250.  I have the sport arch, a lot of electronics.  With a full 50gal tank and just 2 of us I get to just 42-43 mph at 6100 rpm.

I was really thinking I would see a higher top end.  Any advice?  
 
I also have a 2375 RCW with a Sport Arch .

The arch probably weights at least as much as two adults .

I am hitting 35 ,with a 150 
 
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I have the same motor as you and run a 15 pitch yamaha reliance and it has been great. I think your also robbing yourself of the sds hub. It absorbs the clunk when shifting in and out of gear. When I hear my neighbors Benny with a 115 it catches me off guard how loud it is.
 
Bamaman said:
I swear by my Yamaha version of the Enertia--Reliance stainless prop--at least for a Yamaha motor.  The Yamaha SHO's usually run with the Saltwater Series II propellers on Bennington ESP tritoons.

You're already experiencing top performance numbers.  Do you think your tachometer might be a little off?  5400 just doesn't look right at the speeds you're experiencing. 

If you're not lugging the motor and it accelerates and handles well, you would be okay to just keep what you've got.
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No idea on the tach, but the current in the river we're on has certainly been a factor with those numbers.  We're headed into Wisconsin and will be on a lake in August, so I should get some numbers I have more confidence in.  

BulldogsCadillac said:
I have to say, those numbers look great. What exactly are you hoping to improve on? Does it cavitate? Is hole shot decent? If so, don't "fix" it since your numbers are better than anyone else with a 200 as far as I can remember. 
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I would like to be closer to the top of the range for WOT, but really have zero performance complaints so far.  I haven't tried skiing behind it yet, though.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments!
 
AlexW said:
I read through your whole thread last week.  It was a little discouraging!  

I knew you guys were going to ask for this, but I don't have great numbers.  We just got the boat this spring and the river was so high and fast here the first few times we took it out that my numbers were kind of garbage.  I even managed some negative slip!   :blink:   The river was real fast.  Then it was up so high the DNR and area law enforcement were requesting people stay off, so we just finally got in our slip a couple weeks ago.  We've been hosting every time out since then so I haven't played much.

Here are some numbers, but I don't have confidence in these being a good baseline. Motor is the F200 4 cylinder, 1.86 gear ratio according to Yamaha's website.  WOT is 5-6k.

  • Two adults, slightly less than half a tank of gas, minimal gear besides what the law requires: 46 mph at 5400 rpm (with current, current was fast)
  • Eight adults, two kids, full tank of gas, and a couple coolers: 38 mph at 4800 rpm (with current, more normal)
I knew my original posting was kind of a loaded question without numbers, but like I said, I haven't had a chance to do a halfway controlled test. I was hoping to get an idea of what differences I could expect going from a 15P Vengeance to a 15P Enertia or 15P Reliance, without actual numbers.  I know, I know........     :rolleyes:
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  @5400 how far out were you trimmed?
 
I'm just envious, my boat only runs 41.5mph with an e-tec 200!
 
Pontoon boats (2 toons without strakes) seem to hit a wall around 30 mph where it takes sure horsepower to get them any faster.  My old Starcraft with a 115 hp Yamaha 2 stroke would accelerate like a bass boat--until hitting that wall.

Tritoon boats with lifting strakes seem to hit a wall around 40 mph where they just don't want to go any faster.  You may can get 40 mph with 150 hp.  Go up to a 250 hp, and you may just be a few mph faster.  But that doesn't mean the 250 hp won't handle a bunch  of people on the boat much better than the 150 hp at medium cruising speeds.

The new F200 motor with a 15 or 17 pitch Reliance prop seems to be quite a performer--almost as fast or just as fast as 250 hp.  The Enertia is a fine propeller for a pontoon/tritoon, but it's more expensive after buying a Yamaha hub adapter. 

After starting with a M14 Yamaha propeller and over-reving, I like my Reliance 15 pitch just fine.
 
My dealer delivered my boat with a Reliance 14 1/4 x 17 SS prop.  I got 44.6 mph on the GPS at 5800 RPM when the tubes were perfectly clean, but when they got dirty I lost 4 to 5 mph and was only running about 5200 RPM at WOT.  It also wasn't an SDS prop so it had an annoying chatter at idle and clunked when shifting.  

My plan is to keep the 17 pitch prop on for the spring with the newly cleaned toons and see what performance I can get, and then switch to a 15 pitch SDS prop.  I figure it's good to have an extra prop on hand anyway, and will switch them out occasionally as the season goes on to get a good comparison.  
 
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