www.iFourWinns.com

Greetings! Been lurking for a while and just took delivery of an '06 H180. Just had it out for the second time off the NJ coast this past Saturday.

Of course while coming back in on the ramp no one bothered to tell us about the piece of the ramp that is broken and at low tide will hit your scag. In our case the chunk of concrete missed the scag but popped our prop. One of the fins was bent pretty good and another was bent slightly. It doesn't appear that the scag was touched at all but I'm assuming its time to buy a new prop. Anyone have any suggestions for good prop's for these 3.0L penta's? Or is OEM Volvo our best bet?

Also, this is my first outdrive, is there anything i should check to make sure the spline or shaft wasn't damaged? After we got out of the water and were cleaning/flushing the motor out with freshwater i put it in gear and everything seemed to be ok (Other then the prop being bent).

Thanks for any advice!!

Jason,

My experience with my '06 180 was the OEM Volvo 14.25"X21" aluminum blade performed the best on my boat. I 'modified' the original prop in some uncharted waters and tried both Michigan Wheel and Turning Point props in the same dia. and pitch. I ended up back with the OEM Volvo prop (P/N 3817469). This prop seems to have the right combination of rake, cup and blade area to maximize performance on the H180. I felt the Turning Point was a close second and the Michigan Wheel a distant third. Turning Point has the advantage of an interchangeable hub and the blades only cost 80 bucks on-line if you happen to mess one up.

Just my two cents.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I like the term "modified your prop". I'm going to use that one when the wife is ragging on me about bending the prop

You don't think i did any damage to the outdrive?

Jason,

If you were at the ramp and didn't hit all three blades it may not be all that bad. My experience was I 'touched' 2 blades (curled the edges) and no negative impact. The aluminum props afford you a lot of cushion on the output shaft and the SX drives are quite robust. I would put a new prop on the boat and run it with careful observation for vibration and if nothing is out of the norm let it be.

Steve

You may even be able to get it straightened out. I am currently waiting on delivery of a new H180 3.0 merc and the prop I have chosen is a vengence ss 17 inch pitch. I intend to use it heavily for watersports so I wanted good holeshot.
Hope you are enjoying the new boat
Ardy
South Australia

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Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

I had the original prop fixed but unless you are using a really good shop that has all of the right equipment to balance the prop after the repair I would be worried about vibration and loss of performance. My repaired prop was never the same after it was fixed, but then again it was done by a mediocre outfit.

Steve

For the price, I would suggest just buying a genuine Volvo replacement prop. http://www.getaprop.com have them for $140 each - at least you can be 100% sure that it is right this way. Repaired props are never quite the same as new.

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport

I made some modifications this past weekend. I was nice enough to head into shallow waters to clear a path for boat pulling a wake boarder through a channel, then was distracted by a few wake board tricks, and next thing I knew I crunched into an area where the bottom was mixed sand and pebbles. Heard the crunch, immediately went to neutral, and trimmed to beach mode. Very minor damage, a little polish to two blades but the third has a small dent with a crack in it. Exactly the kind of damage aluminum props incur, that a SS prop likely wouldn't. Gonna put the spare aluminum prop on next weekend. Got to do some research on the right grease to use to lube the spline.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

I would suggest a Michigan Wheel Vortex 3 blade Aluminum 14.25 x 21 RH rotation, part number is 992005. Or a Michigan Match, same size, part # is 161004.

You will need a hub kit with the vortex. You can even get the Vortex on Amazon, for $114.

http://www.amazon.com/3-Blade-Aluminum- ... B0000AXWCC

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy