99 185BR Prop: What's everyone running?

velociraptorfarmer

New Member
Aug 17, 2021
16
La Crosse, WI
Boat Info
1999 185 Bowrider
Engines
4.3L V6 Mercruiser w/ Alpha I Drive
I've got a 1999 185BR with the 190hp 4.3L V6 in it. Alpha 1 drive with 1.81 gears.

I've run a few different props on it with varying results. When I bought it this summer, the previous guy had a 14x19 3 blade black max on it, which was hideously underpropped and would run over 5 grand easy. Also gave me a 14x20 4 blade black max that was still slightly underpropped and would kiss 4900-5000 with 2 people in the boat, full fuel, and only get to 44mph.

I picked up a used 13 3/4x23 3 blade SS Vengeance off FB marketplace to give a try. It almost seems overpropped now, topping out at 46mph @ 4400rpm with 2-4 people in it, or 49mph @ 4600rpm solo. Not to mention hole shot, porpoising, cornering, and high speed ventilation are crap. Plus the wife wants to get back into waterskiing next summer, and this prop ain't going to cut it.

I'm looking at picking up a Turning Point Hustler aluminum 4 blade to give a shot, just not sure if there's something else I should look at instead? I'd like to not give up too much speed, and just want an all around good general use cruising prop. Also, what's the opinion here on size? I've heard the hustlers have some aggressive cupping and can load up more than what their pitch suggests. I'm leaning 14x21, but wondering if anyone had some other opinions.
 
23” is too much pitch.

If waterskiing is your goal run a 4 blade. Ive had really good luck with michigan vortex 4 blades, They are relatively cheap and a good way to cut your teeth on playing with props. Not sure if an 18” or 20” would work best based on your comments
If you want to go stainless I have had really experience with merc vensura and revolution 4 props. Id try an 19” inch in either. On my current boat (04 200 sport 5.0) i get best holeshot with the vensura, but better overall performance with the revolution 4. The rev 4 is a big prop with a lot of bite, allows me to fully trim out without blowout.

i actually get my highest top speed with the revolution 4 , because of the sternlift and ability to fully trim out it bested a enteria in top speed, but rarely is the watersmooth enough for wot…

Best bet is to find a local or online prop shop who will let you try before you buy.
 
I have the 2001 version 4.3 190. When I got the boat it had a beat up 14x23 aluminum prop. I switched to a 14x21 4 blade Solas. (didn't want to spend alot of $$ on an experiment) Now the boat jumps out of the water and holds a plane down to about 17mph and tops out at 44 but I have to be careful not to over rev. That siuts me for the wakeboarding skiing and tubing my kids do. Im tempted to try a 23 pitch 4 blade to see what happens. I comfortable with $150 for the Solas to try it out.
 
I have the 2001 version 4.3 190. When I got the boat it had a beat up 14x23 aluminum prop. I switched to a 14x21 4 blade Solas. (didn't want to spend alot of $$ on an experiment) Now the boat jumps out of the water and holds a plane down to about 17mph and tops out at 44 but I have to be careful not to over rev. That siuts me for the wakeboarding skiing and tubing my kids do. Im tempted to try a 23 pitch 4 blade to see what happens. I comfortable with $150 for the Solas to try it out.
Aluminum or SS Solas? Also, what was your WOT like with the 14x23?

I've thought about going to a 14x22 4 blade if I can track one down as well. I'd prefer to stay Aluminum while I'm testing, not to mention the river here is full of sediment, sand bars, wing dams, and submerged crud that any prop is going to be a donor given enough time.
 
The 14x23 that was on it was pretty beat up at 4800 I could get high 40's but it took forever to plane. I went with the aluminum Solas ( less than $150 at my door) it performs the way I want it to I just have to watch the revs at top end and I really don't run it that fast very often.
 
I have the same thing - my 1999 185 seems to be in between a 21 and 23p. I have both props and switch between them some, but would say if I had have only one it would be the 21P. When I bought the boat it had a 19P on it that was completely wrong - way under propped.

21P - 14.25 x 21 Quicksilver Aluminum
Max RPM 4950 - rev limiter started to cut out at 4950
Top Speed - 45mph

23P - 14x23 Quicksilver Aluminum
Max RPM 4600
Top Speed - 49mph

Also, here in the hot humid south, the 23P will perform a little better in the cooler months - cold air and the engine will turn about 100-200 more RPM. But overall the 21 is a little better, I rarely run WOT, and when I do, I just hold back the RPMs a little. With a load of people and for any water sports it's about perfect. The 23P feels overpropped - higher top speed, but worse hole shot.

My opinion on SS is for a small boat like this there really is no benefit - doesn't hurt, but for the $$ I can buy several aluminum props and have some options. Although, there might be a SS prop that fit's in between the 21 and 23P aluminum.

I think the bottom line is try to prop it so it falls to the upper end of the RPM range and if you have to, under propping is better than over propping - much better to hold back on the throttle than to load the engine.
 
I've run a few different props on it with varying results. When I bought it this summer, the previous guy had a 14x19 3 blade black max on it, which was hideously underpropped and would run over 5 grand easy.
Sounds like you had the right prop. There seems to be confusion over maximum rpm. Let it run! Gotta imagine the prior owner had that 19 on it for a reason.
 
I have the same thing - my 1999 185 seems to be in between a 21 and 23p. I have both props and switch between them some, but would say if I had have only one it would be the 21P. When I bought the boat it had a 19P on it that was completely wrong - way under propped.

21P - 14.25 x 21 Quicksilver Aluminum
Max RPM 4950 - rev limiter started to cut out at 4950
Top Speed - 45mph

23P - 14x23 Quicksilver Aluminum
Max RPM 4600
Top Speed - 49mph

Also, here in the hot humid south, the 23P will perform a little better in the cooler months - cold air and the engine will turn about 100-200 more RPM. But overall the 21 is a little better, I rarely run WOT, and when I do, I just hold back the RPMs a little. With a load of people and for any water sports it's about perfect. The 23P feels overpropped - higher top speed, but worse hole shot.

My opinion on SS is for a small boat like this there really is no benefit - doesn't hurt, but for the $$ I can buy several aluminum props and have some options. Although, there might be a SS prop that fit's in between the 21 and 23P aluminum.

I think the bottom line is try to prop it so it falls to the upper end of the RPM range and if you have to, under propping is better than over propping - much better to hold back on the throttle than to load the engine.
Just about any boat will realize performance gains from a stainless prop.
 
Sounds like you had the right prop. There seems to be confusion over maximum rpm. Let it run! Gotta imagine the prior owner had that 19 on it for a reason.
The problem with the 19 was it'd run 5 grand at 3/4 throttle and wouldn't even hit 40 mph.
 
Trimmed down, prop fully in water, this should not be possible. Adjusting for gear ratio, prop should move forward 19" for each rpm. Water is incompressible. My 19" High Five on a 5.0 MPI at 5100 rpm shows a GPS speed of 50 mph. Overspeed beeps commence at 5050 and protection commences at 5200 rpm. I hear valves don't float on a small block till about 5500 rpm. I think James Watt invented "horsepower" for marketing as it is a concept resulting from torque times rpm times a constant but I'm not an engineer. Your 4.3 is also a small block with 2 cylinders lopped off and a balance shaft added. Great engine with good genes.
 
Trimmed down, prop fully in water, this should not be possible. Adjusting for gear ratio, prop should move forward 19" for each rpm. Water is incompressible. My 19" High Five on a 5.0 MPI at 5100 rpm shows a GPS speed of 50 mph. Overspeed beeps commence at 5050 and protection commences at 5200 rpm. I hear valves don't float on a small block till about 5500 rpm. I think James Watt invented "horsepower" for marketing as it is a concept resulting from torque times rpm times a constant but I'm not an engineer. Your 4.3 is also a small block with 2 cylinders lopped off and a balance shaft added. Great engine with good genes.
The MPI and the carbed Thunderbolt IV engines have different gear ratios. You're set up to run a lower pitch prop with a 1.61 if I remember right. The 1.82 in mine wants a slightly higher pitch prop, so when I throw a 19" on it, it's horrendously underpropped.

I agree that it's a great engine. Good gas mileage, plenty of power, etc. I just want to find its sweet spot where I'm not lugging it, not horribly underpropped, and still have plenty of hole shot for towing/cruising with a full load of people.
 
I think there’s a little bit of the Holy Grail issue with props.

I too was searching for the “best all around” prop and learned it didn’t exist-for me at least.

I ended up owning two props. One for water sports days and one for cruising to the sandbars and trolling/drifting.

The absolute worst prop I purchased was the 4-blade aluminum Solas. It’s was a 14 1/2 x 19 for my SRV180 with a 120hp Mercruiser MR-1 drive. No performance out of the hole and tons of slippage.
 
I just picked up a 98 185BR with a stock (and like-new) setup. Sea Ray's specs say it's running a 14x23 Aluminum prop, which runs at 4800 WOT and 52 MPH on the GPS (or technically the fishfinder... While the speedo doesn't seem to go above mid-40s-MPH itself / don't rely on that).

This little boat has an outstanding hole shot - it jumps out of the water and onto plane with 2 people onboard - but it's a little too fast for me on the top end overall (seems dangerous), and the cruising speed is a little touchy and hard to settle into. It also porpoises slightly at WOT while trimmed down all the way. I'd gladly sacrifice a couple MPHs on the top end to have more control in settling into a ~22MPH cruising speed. It seems it wants to cruise even faster than that right now.

So, all told, I'm looking at swapping out the stock 14x23 3 blade for a 4 blade. I understand I'll gain a faster holeshot (not that it needs it, but is that ever bad?); better control at cruising speeds; potentially less porpoising; and a lower top end speed.

My big question is do I need to change the pitch when going from a 3 blade to a 4 blade setup?
 
I just picked up a 98 185BR with a stock (and like-new) setup. Sea Ray's specs say it's running a 14x23 Aluminum prop, which runs at 4800 WOT and 52 MPH on the GPS (or technically the fishfinder... While the speedo doesn't seem to go above mid-40s-MPH itself / don't rely on that).

This little boat has an outstanding hole shot - it jumps out of the water and onto plane with 2 people onboard - but it's a little too fast for me on the top end overall (seems dangerous), and the cruising speed is a little touchy and hard to settle into. It also porpoises slightly at WOT while trimmed down all the way. I'd gladly sacrifice a couple MPHs on the top end to have more control in settling into a ~22MPH cruising speed. It seems it wants to cruise even faster than that right now.

So, all told, I'm looking at swapping out the stock 14x23 3 blade for a 4 blade. I understand I'll gain a faster holeshot (not that it needs it, but is that ever bad?); better control at cruising speeds; potentially less porpoising; and a lower top end speed.

My big question is do I need to change the pitch when going from a 3 blade to a 4 blade setup?

I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I threw a 4 blade 14x21 hustler on my boat to try this summer. My understanding is that usually you want to drop 1" of pitch when going from a 3 blade to a 4 blade, but I haven't been able to confirm that. I know for a fact that 14x20 4 blade is underpropped since I could get over 5k rpm easily with 4 people in the boat, but I'm not sure where to go between there and the 14x23 3 blade at (ideal) 4800rpm data point. Hence, trying a 14x21 4 blade. My hope is that I can get close to 5000rpm with just me in the boat with cool air this spring. If so, I know I should be good to go.

Also, for best fuel economy, you usually want to cruise around 3200-3600rpm trimmed as high as possible without blowout or porpoising with the 4.3L. Usually works out to being in the low-mid 30mph range.
 
I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I threw a 4 blade 14x21 hustler on my boat to try this summer. My understanding is that usually you want to drop 1" of pitch when going from a 3 blade to a 4 blade, but I haven't been able to confirm that. I know for a fact that 14x20 4 blade is underpropped since I could get over 5k rpm easily with 4 people in the boat, but I'm not sure where to go between there and the 14x23 3 blade at (ideal) 4800rpm data point. Hence, trying a 14x21 4 blade. My hope is that I can get close to 5000rpm with just me in the boat with cool air this spring. If so, I know I should be good to go.

Also, for best fuel economy, you usually want to cruise around 3200-3600rpm trimmed as high as possible without blowout or porpoising with the 4.3L. Usually works out to being in the low-mid 30mph range.

Thanks - please post an update when you try out that 14x21 4 blade. I'd love to hear how it runs for you (also, where did you pick it up? I haven't started shopping yet so not sure what $$ I'll need to shell out).

I've been running an '86 19' Regal w/an underpowered 140HP I/O since 1987. I'm used to a slow holeshot & a cruising speed around 22MPH at 3-3300 RPMs. It's quite the difference going to the 190HP in the Sea Ray. I've only been out a handful of times since I bought it in September so haven't really acclimated to the boat yet (I'm in Buffalo NY, so the boat is in storage right now).

I took it out one time in a 2' chop and was fairly disappointed at the experience going into the waves. Between the smaller overall size of the boat and the much lower gunwales (vs the Regal), my wife and I got WET - lots and often. I can't imagine having a boat load of people in a chop like that. It's got me already salivating at the thought of upgrading to a 20-24' someday - haha.

It's a bit off topic, but how's your experience with this boat in a light chop? Not sure if you have other boat experiences, but the low gunwales and low-riding bow really kind of bother me about this boat so far. Everything else is amazing...
 
Thanks - please post an update when you try out that 14x21 4 blade. I'd love to hear how it runs for you (also, where did you pick it up? I haven't started shopping yet so not sure what $$ I'll need to shell out).

I've been running an '86 19' Regal w/an underpowered 140HP I/O since 1987. I'm used to a slow holeshot & a cruising speed around 22MPH at 3-3300 RPMs. It's quite the difference going to the 190HP in the Sea Ray. I've only been out a handful of times since I bought it in September so haven't really acclimated to the boat yet (I'm in Buffalo NY, so the boat is in storage right now).

I took it out one time in a 2' chop and was fairly disappointed at the experience going into the waves. Between the smaller overall size of the boat and the much lower gunwales (vs the Regal), my wife and I got WET - lots and often. I can't imagine having a boat load of people in a chop like that. It's got me already salivating at the thought of upgrading to a 20-24' someday - haha.

It's a bit off topic, but how's your experience with this boat in a light chop? Not sure if you have other boat experiences, but the low gunwales and low-riding bow really kind of bother me about this boat so far. Everything else is amazing...
Yea, I saw that as well. I actually threw a stainless 14x23 3 blade (Vengeance) on it after seeing that, but I was overpropped. Holeshot was fine, but I couldn't get rpm's high enough at WOT.

I had it in my Amazon cart for a while, but then it went OOS. The 14x21 4 blade is a bitch to find, but I found it from some other Amazon seller for an extra $15. They're only about $100 when they're in stock, so not terrible, and they work with the Mercury Flo-Torq (II?) hubs.

I'm still getting used to mine as well. Just picked it up in July. Hadn't been on a sterndrive bow rider since I was in my teens and my dad had a 89 Rinker Captiva 206 with a 5.0L. Compared to that, this thing rides so much nicer in chop. Cuts better and doesn't slap the piss out of you. And compared to the 92 Stratos 219F that I've been on for the past 10 years or so this thing rides like a Caddy.

It's rare to see 2' chop where I'm at (Mississippi River), mostly just other boat wake, and for wake from any boats under 22-25', I don't even have to slow down for honestly. Don't even feel any waves under 1'.

The plan someday would be to snag a 200BR or 210BR or equivalent with a 5.7L EFI, but one thing at a time. I wouldn't want to go too much bigger given the shallow backchannels you have to go through to get to the bars from the main channel anyways.
 
Wow - that Rinker Captiva looks remarkably similar to the Regal Sebring I've driven for decades. Here's a pic of a similar Regal. Note the similar shape of the gunwale sides... Window tint and all. (And truth be told, that Regal is my father's boat. This Sea Ray is my first.)

If you can find a link to the prop, I'd appreciate it. Was it this one maybe? Turning Point Propellers 18-26811 21502131 Prop Hustler LE-1421-14 x 21 4Bl RH ...A $100 investment is worth the experiment, for sure.

Also, is it me, or is it strange that the 185BR takes a RH prop while the Merc 4.0L air intake cover says it's a LH engine?

Thanks for the engagement here. I'd love to see more pics of your boat if you've got them. Do you have captain's chairs in yours? I have two fold-down seats and am looking to swap one with someone who also wants one captain's chair and one fold-down seat like me... :)
 
Here's a few pics of my 98 with the white vinyl upholstery. Looks like your 99 came in either sand or white upholstery. (Side note, you have a pearl colored gelcoat while mine is "arctic white." Interesting...)

SR185-BR-front-top-view.jpg


SR185-BR-interior.jpg


SR185-BR-passenger-seats.jpg
 
Yea, his Rinker was identical to this one: https://storage.bhs.cloud.ovh.net/v...Captiva_206__5500_Boonville_59b22cff6721d.jpg

When I was buying there were 4 things on my must have list:
  1. Captains chairs with bench and sundeck layout
  2. Swing Away tongue
  3. Bunk trailer
  4. 4.3L minimum
I got all of them.

It's got the sand interior with hunter green carpet and accents.

Also I don't think the LH is indicating that it's a left hand engine, I think it's just the power/carb/etc spec of that particular variation of 4.3L.
 

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