Lund ProV 1775 prop question

[KennyPowers]

My buddy is getting a 2012 ProV 1775 with a Merc 115 4 stroke. Should he bother with a SS prop and if so, 4 blade? I'm assuming he'll top out at 40 mph. He will occasionally see 3 footers but nothing worse and will pull the kids on tubes.

[staylor]

..and usually the dealer will allow you to swap plain old 3 blade aluminum props until you've got a pitch that's in the ballpark. If you end up at less than 19 inches of pitch you will not gain much from SS in speed, and you may well end up with an issue called "prop rattle" which shows up when a 3-4 cylinder Merc swings a heavy SS prop. Prop rattle can be fixed- but you have to spend extra money on a special flexible hub kit. After the motor has around 10 hours on it you will have it broken in to the point where you can consider raising the motor up a hole or two on the transom to gain some speed. At this point if you're still under 19 inches of pitch then you could look at Merc's new 4 blade aluminum, the Spitfire. If you're at 19 inches or higher, you could either look at the Spitfire, or a 4 blade Trophy Plus SS prop. I'd skip the Merc Laser because it has a small blade area and will have trouble lifting the bow on your boat without needing excessive trim- which kills most of the speed gain from it. The Trophy Plus has a lot more blade area and runs very smoothly with good bow lift- it is commonly used on the bigger V-6s, but it's hub is small diameter. Thus, on a V-6 it runs with exhaust flow both over and thru the hub, while on the small gearcase 3-4 cylinders it runs as a full hub. There are many aftermarket props that will fit your rig- but just make sure you look only at props with a higher blade area.

One's taste in props is usually only limited by the available ceiling on your credit card....
Doug

[WalleyeHunter1]

Talk to Propman, but I run a 17 pitch on a Yamaha 115 on a 17 foot Mr Pike, and the ProV is heavier than my Mr Pike, I doubt a 19 pitch will get you the rpms needed for that set up.

[propmann]

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

My buddy is getting a 2012 ProV 1775 with a Merc 115 4 stroke. Should he bother with a SS prop and if so, 4 blade? I'm assuming he'll top out at 40 mph. He will occasionally see 3 footers but nothing worse and will pull the kids on tubes.

I would put the new Quicksilver Nemesis or Mercury Spitfire same prop its a new 4 blade with the speed of a 3 blade made out of aluminum, so its not going to cost alot. I would go with a 17 pitch.

[KennyPowers]

Thanks, I'll have him order it from the factory with the Splitfire.

[Dave C]

I asked about the spitfire prop at my local dealer. The parts woman did not have alot of experience yet so she called the regional rep and he said the spitfire was made mostly for pontoons. It even states that on the prop box. This appears to be contrary to what I saw on the "The First Bite" TV show and some of the advertizing. I was interested in it for my 60 hp Merc 4 stroke, so now I am really confused. Just thought I would pass this on.

[Hot Runr Guy]

Propmann sent me my 13"D x 15" pitch Spitfire/Nemesis last week, and from the looks of it, it's no "pontoon" prop. If you look thru the descriptions on the Mercury Parts Express site, they have (3) pontoon versions for the 40-60Bigfoot and 75-125 motors, in 10, 11 & 13" pitches. The non-pontoon versions, for the bigger gearcase, are available in 15, 17 & 19", and 12, 13, 14 & 15" pitches for the standard gearcase 40-60 4 strokes.

HRG

[Dave C]

HRG: The Spitfire box that I looked at was a 13 pitch and on the end of the box it said "for pontoons." Maybe there was something else that I missed. I just left scratching my head. Thanks for the info.