To get the best performance of your boat, you will need to have the right prop. Regardless of whether you are cruising or skiing, you will need to have a propeller that matches your application thus maximizing the power of your Engine. The following factors are essential when you are out to buy boat’s prop as selecting a prop with them in mind will ensure that your selection will enhance speed and power being efficient.
The propeller has a hub that is surrounded by blades which have similar lengths and size, and they are twisted to ensure that they will push water to the rear when they are turning. When water is pushed to the rears; your boat moves forward. When you are viewing the blades from the rear, you will notice that most rotate in clockwise directions although some boats will have two propellers where the propellers rotating in the anticlockwise direction help stabilize your boat and also ensure that you reduce your steering effort.
When you are buying boat propellers, they will come in description of two numbers which represent the diameter, and the pitch of the propeller. Diameter represents the distance between tips of the propellers and when a propeller has a large diameter it ensures that it can push a lot of water and thus creating more power. The diameter is predetermined, and thus your prop selection will rather be based on the pitch of the prop.
When you are selecting boat prop, with focus on the pitch, it is advisable that you select a prop with a higher pitch which will help move your boat faster. Low pitched props will help create more power for your boat due to high engine RPMs, but it will cause your boat to move slower. When you are selecting the props, ensure that your choice will help keep your boat’s engine RPMs in the recommended range since cases of under-range will see your boat lug while going over-range will strain your engine.
Prop rake is another essential consideration when you are selecting boat propellers and it represents the angle between the blades and the hub. Rake angle determines how much your boat’s bow lift out of water and too much rake can strain the engine and thus reduce your boat’s overall performance.
Some props come with cups which help create space between the blades sides thus reducing ventilation and slippage. With the cup on the trailing edge, it serves to increase pitch size and thus the prop can create more power at the cost of your engine speed while fewer blades enhances the efficiency of the propeller.