Need help finding out which prop to buy...

Blood&Guts · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:10 pm **Posts:** 12

I have a 95 four winns horizon with a 5.0 liter ford motor with a volvo penta sx out drive. I am currently running an aluminum 14x19 3 blade prop. I can only get about 42-44 mph top speed at the moment with 5 people on board. I was thinking of getting a 4 blade stainless prop with a higher pitch to maintain a good top end with good acceleration. Any ideas?

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2012 5:46 am

Which model Horizon do you have ? What is your RPM at WOT ?

ric · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2012 7:32 am

Reading the past specs, it's supposed to have a 21p prop but if you're normally hauling around 5 people (I'm guessing H190-H200) mid 40's is all she's going to see. It might go slower with that 21p over the 19. Buy a $100 aluminum prop and try it.

You also gotta remember that 5.0 is very low in power even when brand new. A modern 4.3 V6 is more powerful. It's also nearly 20 years old, so do a compression check it's probably down some horse powers. If you really want some speed and have some cash laying around. That IS a small block ford. Call up Summit Racing or Jegs and have them ship you a few boxes of performance upgrades. Aftermarket heads, good marine cam, high compression pistons, a better intake/fuel system, thru hull exhaust, etc. Get that baby to do 70 with 5 people on board

Blood&Guts · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:10 pm **Posts:** 12

I have the 200 horizon SL. WOT the rpm's are at around 4200.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2012 6:07 pm

Stock prop on that boat was a 14-1/4 x 21. Top speed is anywhere between 44-49 mph depending on if you have the EFI or Carbed motor. WOT RPM should be about 4800 RPM. You should get that with a 21 pitch 3 blade aluminum. You will improve your holeshot and tube/ski pulling low end with a 4 blade, but won't get much more top speed. Don't even bother with the performance upgrade crap mentioned. It's not worth the money for the very slight performance you may get.
And it will shorten the life of your engine.

http://www.fourwinns.com/past_product/s ... -21%29.pdf

Misterbulbous · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2012 7:24 pm

From my experience, I'd just keep what you got. I've gone from aluminum to stainless and perhaps some of the improvements are more "subliminal" than actual. Sure, you might get a little more acceleration or grab on the water, but I find it difficult to quantify and not necessarily offer tremendous payback. Just my $0.02

Blood&Guts · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:10 pm **Posts:** 12

Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I think I may move to a 4 blade stainless with a 20' pitch and see if that helps. The boat had super low hours on the motor and it still has great compression. Its 17 years old and just have to keep that in mind.

ric · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 8:21 am

Props are like gears in a car. You only get to choose 1. Imagine a 5 speed transmission. The prop that comes on the boat factory is gear #3. Right in the middle of decent speed. Going from a 19 to a 20 is going from like 3rd to 4th gear. Going from a 3 to 4 blade is like going from an aerodynamic corvette to driving a pickup truck.

Does your engine have the power to go from 19 3 blade to 20 four? I would answer that question "no". 4200rpm's is under the peak HP of a 5.0 ford. They make their best/most power around 4500-4800rpms. With your 19 prop now only at 4200 rpms it's like trying to drive up a hill in too tall of a gear. You're bogged down. You'll get more speed by downshifting. You might actually get faster speed with 5 people in the boat going down to a 17 pitch 3 blade. You'll get better acceleration that's for sure.

Aluminum, stainless.. makes no difference. I prefer aluminum. The fish don't care if it's black or polished.

www.iFourWinns.com

Need help finding out which prop to buy...

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