Power Issue?

[jmvotto]

going from 13.5 x 17.5 to 14.25 x 14 made a huge difference on my 05 lsv. you def need to reprop.

I have the 13.5 x 17.5 4 blade prop and with 10 passengers i have never had a problem planing the boat.??? so the 14.25x14 would give better hole shot and lower top end speed??

[VA LSV]

much better hole shot and you will loose a little top end. also holds speed much better when loaded. it wasn't that mine wouldn't plane out when loaded, it just took while and i was on the throttle hard getting a rider up. after changing props, it gets on plane and i back off the throttle very quickly. should save on gas if you board with ballast.

[dereklschmidt]

Yeah, mine will plane out pulling a rider up with 10 passengers on board, but it is slow and does not like sharp turns. However, if I fill up my ballast, approx 2200 lbs total, with 4 people in the boat it will not get on plane whether I'm pulling a rider or not.

I use a lot of gas when I'm surfing as well, the lower pitch prop should help with that too right?

[jmvotto]

VA lsv, What was your top end speed with the old prop and now with the new prop. mine will do 47 two passengers no ballast with the 13.5 x 17.5 I need high end speed to ski and barefoot as well.

[moombadaze]

I use a lot of gas when I'm surfing as well, the lower pitch prop should help with that too right?

Yes it should

[Ian Brantford]

A prop upgrade is definitely called for. An 18" pitch is not an "upgrade" prop for heavy ballast.

However, there may be more going on here. Even under load, 20-30 MPH is in the usual operational range for either prop. It's just that a lower-pitch prop should get you there quicker and with less engine strain while accelerating (at the expense of a bit of top speed). Plus, you'll have the engine nearer its more efficient mid-range when surfing.

If your engine is putting out anywhere near its 300 HP, you should get up to speed. Derek, your original post said that it took a long time to get a rider out of the water with 10 people (and no ballast), and really talks only about planing... but what about the actual speed? Did it get up to the usual riding speed? If so, and you were not planing, replacing the prop (and possibly doing some engine maintenance) is not going to get you on plane, since planing at a given speed would be a function of the hull and the weight that it's carrying.

If your boat is just digging a trench in the lake... well isn't that the effect that we want for wakeboarding and wakesurfing? Yes, it takes more fuel, which is the price of creating a big wake. When explaining to newbies what a wakeboarding boat is, I often tell them that the point, unlike a runabout or a ski boat, is to NOT get fully on plane in the speed range for towing a rider.

[dereklschmidt]

I use the term "planing" a bit vaguely. With the ballast all the way full, I can not get to wakeboarding speed, just seems like it pushes and pushes never getting much over 16 mph.

With the 10 people in the boat, no ballast, I can get to speed, just takes a lot longer than it should, imo. Once I got to speed, roughly 19mph for that rider, it planned out, however, perfect pass had a hard time holding it at 19 so I increased speed to about 20.5 to get it to hold a more consistant speed. This, from what I understand, will be fixed with a new prop as well.

I never have a problem with getting up or anything under small loads, I usually ride with the wake plate at about 15%, mid sack 1/2 full, front sac 1/4 full, and rear sacks about 1/3 full with just a driver at 22 mph and it does fine, I expected getting up faster, but still does the trick.

[Mikey]

Do you have all these problems when not using PP. maybe something is not set up right.

[dereklschmidt]

yeah, all problems are consistant, whether it be PP or w/o PP.

[Ian Brantford]

I use the term "planing" a bit vaguely. With the ballast all the way full, I can not get to wakeboarding speed, just seems like it pushes and pushes never getting much over 16 mph.

That clears things up.

Changing the prop will adjust the torque. Compared to a car, a regular prop is like being in 3rd gear all the time, and a high-pitch prop will feel like being in 2nd gear all the time. Another name for a transmission is a "torque converter", because it converts the engine's most useful RPM range to a useful vehicle speed range.

However, your boat appears to also have a problem with power (power is the rate of energy transfer, which is always at WOT -- wide open throttle). If your engine were really putting out anywhere near 300 HP you would be able to do at least 30 MPH even with the added weight.