springer3
New Member
Prop threads are popular, so here is a new one:
A rock damaged my OEM 14 X 19 aluminum prop. I purchased a 14 x 19 stainless Quicksilver Lightspeed. I was not looking for any magic bullet, but was hoping for some benefit.
I suspect my tach is out of whack because with both props it easily indicates well past 5000 RPM and climbing. Both props pulled 40 MPH indicated at 4800 RPM indicated, trimmed out with two people on flat water.
The Lightspeed prop has three vents in the hub, one at the leading edge of each blade. This is designed to let the exhaust exit around the blades to let the prop spool up faster from the start. At speed, the exhaust exits through the hub as it should. It works. The hole shot is much improved. I am less happy about the mid speed, where the prop seems to lose its "bite" if the trim is not just right. It also seems that it loses "bite" in a turn much sooner than I did with the OEM aluminum prop with no vents. I will try to blank off the vents, and see if the trim sensitivity and turning ability improves. I may decide I like the hole shot improvement, because I do tow skiiers. I will just learn to work around the situations that let the exhaust escape upstream of the prop blades.
It definately spools up faster with the vented prop, but I may have enough torque with the 4.3/4-barrel, to muscle up to speed without the vapor assist from the vents. I will report back as I try to get the feel of the new set-up.
Anyone have experience with vented props to share?
A rock damaged my OEM 14 X 19 aluminum prop. I purchased a 14 x 19 stainless Quicksilver Lightspeed. I was not looking for any magic bullet, but was hoping for some benefit.
I suspect my tach is out of whack because with both props it easily indicates well past 5000 RPM and climbing. Both props pulled 40 MPH indicated at 4800 RPM indicated, trimmed out with two people on flat water.
The Lightspeed prop has three vents in the hub, one at the leading edge of each blade. This is designed to let the exhaust exit around the blades to let the prop spool up faster from the start. At speed, the exhaust exits through the hub as it should. It works. The hole shot is much improved. I am less happy about the mid speed, where the prop seems to lose its "bite" if the trim is not just right. It also seems that it loses "bite" in a turn much sooner than I did with the OEM aluminum prop with no vents. I will try to blank off the vents, and see if the trim sensitivity and turning ability improves. I may decide I like the hole shot improvement, because I do tow skiiers. I will just learn to work around the situations that let the exhaust escape upstream of the prop blades.
It definately spools up faster with the vented prop, but I may have enough torque with the 4.3/4-barrel, to muscle up to speed without the vapor assist from the vents. I will report back as I try to get the feel of the new set-up.
Anyone have experience with vented props to share?