Anyone Switch From 3 to 4 Blade? Thoughts?

[Princeton_Man]

Alright, made a few phone calls yesterday. Here's what I learned.

PowerTech in Shreveport does not do the "try before you buy" thing anymore. Crap.

Called Team Ward, the company that makes War Eagle boats. The fella I talked to was super helpful and confirmed that the dealer mounted the engine in the recommended holes, but was pretty shocked that it was propped with a 17P. He said he ran the exact same boat as me once with a 19P PowerTech PTR3, which is slightly bigger in diameter and cupped quite a bit more. He said it ran great, so I should probably be running a 19P at minimum.

I think I'm just gonna trim down some, lay off the throttle a little, and live with this prop for a little while until I finish getting these lithium batteries paid off, then I'm going to get a different wheel.
That Yamaha prop selector keeps hinting at props in the 20-21 pitch range, which sounds about right to me.

Yup, that''s pretty much what I suspected. Dealers are notorious for not getting the setup right. At least they got the motor mounted at the recommended height.

[FlatsNBay]

When you are ready, BB Blades is an online company and has a try before you buy type deal. You pay a small fee to try out different props based on their availability and send them back within the time frame. I was going to use them but they were out of stock on the prop that I wanted to try and I got tired of waiting. They might work out for you. Check them out online.

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[J.W.]

When you are ready, BB Blades is an online company and has a try before you buy type deal. You pay a small fee to try out different props based on their availability and send them back within the time frame. I was going to use them but they were out of stock on the prop that I wanted to try and I got tired of waiting. They might work out for you. Check them out online.

Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk

Hey, thanks! I'll bookmark it.

[J.W.]

So I finally got around to re-propping this thing.

Ended up with a PowerTech PTR3 three-blade in 19 pitch. That's what PowerTech and Team Ward (boat manufacturer) both recommended, so I ordered one. It has way more rake and cup than the original prop, a bigger diameter, and two more inches of pitch. I put it on yesterday and ran it some with a full fishing load and three people in the boat.

Big difference. It dropped my rpms back into the recommended range, I can turn without blowing out, and my boat doesn't wander all over the place at low speed. The hole-shot is slightly slower now, but still excellent. It used to be pretty much instant with the 17P I had, but now it takes about 1-2 seconds. It also reverses much better now than it did before. Also increased my top speed from 43 mph to 46. There was a lot of chop when I ran it, so with less wind I might can squeeze one or two more mph out of it, but with this type of boat, speed was never really my concern to begin with. I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

[caddyjoe77]

i actually cant believe i missed this thread

way back in 2018 when i got the PHX, it was a 24 fury 3 blade and i did not like it at all.  Switched first to a bravo 26 but dinged it up pretty good and then went to the 24 bravo. 

the holeshot, and ride are just great and i can still touch 70 or get real close. normal speeds are about 50 - 55 -- the ride is just incredible at that speed.  its like you are on a waterbed.