I was runing the well known OJ Wake Board prop 14.25 x 14. This is a really sweet prop, awesome hole shot and great acceleration but has 1 huge limiting factor, noisy, lots of vibrations.

Up untill last summer i wasnt having to much problems and once i hit that magical 3K ballast mark my prop started to show its weakness. If i was running a surf wake apx 2200 lbs plus people i couldnt get over 15mph, why would you want to? If you need to hit the marina or drop someone off at the doc but you had your wave all dialed in, you dont want to drain and refill. Just put everyone on the opposite side and roll out. Well i couldnt as the prop was maxed, she was giving all she had.

I talked to Spencer at wake makers and asked what he thought was the best prop. This year im running nearly 4K ballast plus people and i dont want to hear prop growl, vibrations, or have hole shot issues.

Joking he said ill hook you up with the Diesel of props. This thing pulls like your truck does. Its got a little lower top end of course but the power in unreal in a prop, and its actually smaller in diamiter for better trailer clearence. I personally dont have that issue as i had my bunks all raised the first year.

I got this prop and installed it.

The ACME 1617 4 Blade propeller offers the most aggressive holeshot and acceleration for heavily weighted boats, but in a slightly smaller diameter for boats that have clearance issues.

If you use your boat entirely for wakesurfing and wakeboarding, and have added a significant amount of additional ballast, the ACME 1617 propeller will restore your boats acceleration, speed holding and fuel economy.

Specifications
Diameter: 14"
Pitch: 13.75"
Cup: .105
Rotation: Left Hand
Shaft: 1 1/8"


Water test time. Leaving the doc, its super quite, hit it up to 11mph to see what surf speed noise, nothing silent just engine noise. I was feeling pretty good about this prop.

I slowed down to idle then punched it. Boat jumped out of the water on plane in about 5 seconds and was doing 28 before i even looked at the speedo. Wow not bad but the boat is empty.

We loaded up the nose and some rear weight for wake boarding and off we went. I took it easy on the pull ups as i knew this prop was stought. I got out there and pull ups were great, but still nothing really different then the OJ prop just ran a lot quiter.

Yesterday was the real turning point of this prop.

We had the surf wave dialed in and were surfing. Claudia gets off work comes tot he lake, text me shes at the doc. Were across the lake, so i get back in the boat, we all sit on the opposite side, were running axp 2500lbs of ballast for surfing. Wake plate down and we hit it, 10 comes fast, then 15, then 25 and then 30MPH smooth no problem for this prop at all. Me and Steve were shocked as the OJ wont go over 15. We slowed down to 25 as thats teh cruising speed i prefer. Ran over to the doc and picked her up. Enjoyed the rest of the day. This prop is simply amazing. You dont even realize the power of it till you weight the boat, its as if when you weight it the prop knows it and really comes to life.

Then came the last final test, 2 days on the lake both days were 4hours on the engine. This is very average for us and im pretty consistent 1/2 tank a fuel a day in the boat, as we will up every time we go out. 20 gallons a day average over 3 summers, when we goto the Hagg.

Both days it only took 14 gallons to fill up. Thats a 6 gallon savings over normal and at 20 bucks a day savings that means every 3rd time out is free LOL compared to our normal cost. Now i know this is only the first week, ill be keeping tabs. A savings of apx 1 gallons per hour of running is very respectable.