Prop help

I have a brand new 20hp 4 stroke suzuki and I must replace the stock 10 pitch prop due to over revving easily. I have thrown on a 11 pitch aluminum solas which works well but I was wondering if anyone knows what is the best overall prop for speed? I was looking into the turning point hustler props as they look promising . I know I won't gain a tremendous amount of speed but I would take even a couple to a few mph extra if any one prop (aluminum only)would do the trick. I was looking at an 11 pitch suzuki prop also but they are made from solas I believe and expensive to say the least. I know I'm only getting so much out of my 20hp but hopefully someone can guide me to a great speed prop. I like to get in the upper 20s if possible ,I'm expecting like 25ish or less so if I get say 27-28 with the right prop that would be so sweet. 2 people on board to,I know 3 people forget it,I would need to move up to a 25hp even know I bet the 20hp would get us up on plane and near 20 or so mph. It is on a 1648 flat bottom jon boat (alumacraft )so we know,the boat is extremely light at 310 lbs so any help on this would be awesome,thanks.

Any help??????

With my lightest setup that I'll ever run with I try to slightly over rev at wot. That way there is something left when the boat is loaded.

Are you over spinning with your lightest load? You didn't say what your load was. Or what the tach read.

Probably minimal prop selection might narrow your choices. If you are not racing for pink slips think in terms of utility not top speed.

My 1232 with a 76' 15hp omc works so much better with a 4 blades stern lift. Is the boat a tiller steer?

I know I need an 11 pitch prop,I over Rev with a 10 and wot rpm is 6300 so with the 11 pitch prop I'm at or real close to 6000. I know like I said I need an 11 pitch prop, I just want to know from people's experience what prop they used on any 20hp 4 stroke outboard that gave them the best wot speed. What brand seems to work for just speed . I have seen very positive feedback on the Turning point hustler props so I'm hoping someone has used one here on a similar type outboard or maybe they found another manufacturer thst worked best for speed,that is all I'm looking for,basically user experience with different prop manufacturers and how they performed. I am in no way wanting a ss prop, only aluminum.

Yes,I absolutely need a tach but I'm not sure which one to get. I want a easy to install one that is accurate ,any opinions on this would help to,thanks. I want to keep track of mostly hrs and rpms as well

I bet you will drop 5-600 rpm with an 11p. Just sayin...

Yes you need a tach before settling on a pitch. But I am confused with the 6300rpm without a tach..or did you borrow one..

I don't want to sound like a prosecutor but without a tach..

The outboards wot max is set at 6300,I was over revving with the 10 pitch so I know I need a 11 pitch. Every person who has bought this outboard has had to buy an 11 pitch prop due to the same issue so it's an extremely common issue . The motor just has so much torque and wot power that the 10 pitch prop over revs with ease. Even if it drops say 500 rpms which I doubt because I've seen tons of people use a tachometer with this outboard on boats similar to mine and they were at or really close to 6000 rpms using a tach. I know I need an 11 pitch no question,a 9 pitch would seriously over Rev and a 12 pitch would just be to much pitch and more than likely give me close to what the wot speed is with the 11 pitch just a bit lower rpms so I know for a fact an 11 pitch prop is what I need. I've tested a 10,11 and 12,the 11 performed the best and I can tell it's where it needs to be by listening to the engine rev. I've had 3 of these 20hp suzuki's in 5yrs but have never really used anything but an 11 pitch solas prop which performed well,but like I said I have tested the 3 one time. I just figured someone may have experienced with a different manufacturer/brand of prop not pitch. 11 pitch is where I need to be. I can hear the motor and just tell by ear not what the exact rpms are but if you know your engines you can tell by ear if the engine is running well or lagging in speed and hole shot by ear and performance. Plus watching thousands of YouTube videos I know close to where the rpms are at with a 11 pitch prop because alot of them have tachs and like I said on a aluminum jon boat similar to mine with near the same weight they were at 6000+ rpms but not over the 6300. So again a 11 pitch prop is just right. I just want to know if a certain brand of prop is cupped differently or whatever makes them have a better wot speed run. If I gain a couple mph or so I'm extremely happy with that. Maybe in time I may lift the engine a bit but more than likely not. So now knowing I'm set on the 11 pitch prop what is the best brand of prop known for given great wot speed is all I want to know,please if anyone can chime in.

I'm mounting on my 11 pitch solas prop today and I'm going to open her up today or possibly tomorrow morning to see what kind of wot speed I can get. I'm hoping mid 20s or better which is my prediction. If I can get say near 25-27mph with near or over 1000lbs of total weight in the boat then I have 0 complaints and I'm good to go and may never need the 25hp since she does the job well. I was getting around 27.5 mph with my 20hp 2 stroke merc so if I can get near that I'm a happy man. Heck even 24mph would not be to shabby but when I went out with my original 1436 heavyweight lowe jon boat which weighed around 200lbs ,with me at 325lbs, friend was 215lbs and the boat was well over it's max of like 600-650 lbs of total weight. With us and motor ,gas,gear,live well we were easily at 800+lbs and we did near 27mph and even touched 28 for a brief few seconds,lol. Now this boat is a 1648 and while it's 100lbs heavier it has a much wider planning surface so it will run way better and it should be just as fast. We will see here hopefully in a few hrs or by tomorrow.

Well,here is something I found interesting. My stock suzuki prop, even know it's a smaller pitch and same diameter as the 11 pitch solas the blades on the suzuki prop are so much wider then the solas which would lead me to believe that if I got the 11 pitch suzuki prop it would perform better due to wider blades,am I correct on saying that or it really doesn't matter? The suzuki blades are near 4 inches wide while the solas is like a hair under 3.5 inches. Like I said maybe the suzuki 11 pitch prop would give me that extra couple mph I'm looking for.

Well i may as well ask here for this info for the heck of it.I have always been told that a ss prop is no good to use on a small outboard because they are usually to heavy and put a ,lot of strain on a small outboards lower unit.Is this 100% true?I was thinking of trying a ss prop but according to what i have been reading they really don't do much for a small outboard on a jon boat.Also it says most ss props are good if your going like 50mph or better.Anything under that aluminum is just fine and will give near the same performance.Is there any truth to this?

Can't offer anything on the prop, but in my experience the best budget induction tachometer is made by Hardline. Google Hardline tach and you will see all of their versions. You should be able to find one that also tracks hours and has a replaceable battery for about $25. I got mine off of Amazon.

So I called a few places and what got was about the same answer from all of them. The solas props are completely unpredictable, thet said you could put 2 of the same props on the same boat and one will,perform completely different than the other. They said that's why their so cheaply made. Only buy one if your crunching penny's they said. The oem props are 99% of the time right on with what the dimensions show on the box but they cost quite a bit more but they are way better in performance they said and very predictable,meaning you get what you will actually pay for and have no regrets.

scoobeb said:

So I called a few places and what got was about the same answer from all of them. The solas props are completely unpredictable, thet said you could put 2 of the same props on the same boat and one will,perform completely different than the other. They said that's why their so cheaply made. Only buy one if your crunching penny's they said. The oem props are 99% of the time right on with what the dimensions show on the box but they cost quite a bit more but they are way better in performance they said and very predictable,meaning you get what you will actually pay for and have no regrets.

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Thank you for the info,checking it out as we speak.

Here's a calculator from Michigan Wheel. I've always had good luck with them.
https://www.miwheel.com/outboard-propellers/outboard-sizing-analysis/

Here's a calculator from Michigan Wheel. I've always had good luck with them.
https://www.miwheel.com/outboard-propellers/outboard-sizing-analysis/

Thanks,I'm going with a brand new oem prop. I know they are a bit more expensive but as all the people I talked to said,they are predictable for reliability and to be exactly what you are getting for your money unlike solas props even know I've never had an issue with a solas prop. I just noticed by looking at my stock suzuki prop it has nice and wide blades unlike the solas props and the blades seem just a bit better defined.

When you get it and test it, post results. And pics or it didn't happen! Lol. Good luck!


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Weldorthemagnificent said:

When you get it and test it, post results. And pics or it didn't happen! Lol. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Well,first I'm going to do a test on my original factory 10 pitch prop that over revs. I want to see what type of wot speed I'm getting before it hits the Rev limiter, then I'm going to test my wot speed with my new 11 pitch solas prop with my gps,then I'm going to do the 11 pitch oem suzuki prop for wot speed and see what I get. Whichever gives me the best hole shot and wot speed is what I'm going with. If I can get awesome wot speed results with the 10 pitch suzuki prop I may just get the prop done by adding another pitch and a half to it to make it a 11.5 pitch. I think a 12 will be a bit sluggish out of the hole but not to bad,but taking back that half pitch to make it an 11 5 imo may be perfect. If I get great hole shot like I did on my first 20hp suzuki yrs ago with the 11 pitch prop then I will be good with that. My first 20hp suzuki was on a heavy 1436 Crestline flat bottom jon boat with me at 327 lbs and my friend at 215lbs and the boat was 210lbs and motor is 97lbs and gas,tackle,coolers,etc...we were at or near 900lbs on a boat rated for a 20hp but total weight was suppose to not exceed 675lbs and it was 900lbs,yikes. It floated well though and man the boat flu at 27mph with all that weight so with my current boat a 1648 that is 310lbs but is much wider on the bottom it will plane much,much easier so I should be at or near the mid to upper 20s or so which is where I want to be. That would make my day and I won't have any reason to upgrade to the 25hp which I had originally thought I needed to. With 3 people in the boat it should get in the low 20s for sure so I just may have finally found my keeper outboard. The only other outboard I may trade it for depending on specs is the brand new 2017 20hp efi tohatsu that is coming this fall. If it has more displacement then the suzuki with the awesome 2.15 gear ratio it already has then I will sell this engine and no questions get the tohatsu. I love tohatsu engines but I just don't like the cheap plastic flimsy shifter handle on it now and a few other small things. From what it looks like though it has the almost exact same body as my suzuki with the same new shifter on the tohatsu and the cowling is the only difference between the tohatsu and suzuki that I can see. I'm waiting for the specs to come out. Also changing the oil on the tohatsu is a piece of cake compared to the suzuki. The suzuki is a pita to do but still relatively easy. If I get great wot speeds and great hole shot with this suzuki I may as well keep a good thing because a new redesigned engine can have some kinks in it that need to be fixed so I may wait a yr or so to see how they hold up. So once I get the boat in the lake I will do all the tests and post results. We have a strong front coming here in fl in early April which is highly unusual for spring time here but the wind will be howling for a week the weather said and be extremely cold by Florida's standards,lol.

Pitch is not the only thing that can raise and lower the RPM's DIAMETER and # of blades make a HUGE difference.

I offered you a prop a while back that will solve your problems but you never responded. So I will give you a little hint. POWERTECH

https://www.nettleprops.com/store/p/877-PowerTech-SRT-4-Blade-Stainless-Propeller-Suzuki.aspx

The 10" is going to lower the RPM's about 300. It did on mine anyway.

Still have it. It is a 10 pitch

I'm not going ss,it is not good for a small outboards lower unit. The prop shaft on a smaller outboard is just not designed to run a super heavy prop like ss. If I strike something hard there goes my shaft and gears as with a aluminum prop it will give and bend or break before the shaft or gears break. Plus from all I've read and watched on YouTube a ss gives very,very little to none wot speed increase over a aluminum prop. The hole shot is much better due to no flex on the ss prop but overall I rather stay with my aluminum choice. I'm sure you can run a ss prop on it and may never have a issue but I'm not chance g it. On a much bigger outboard with a much larger and stronger prop shaft it would work much better. Like I said I talked to alot of people at boats.net and iboats on the phone and they both as well as my local marina agreed a ss prop for a small engine can give u big trouble if I were to hit something hard or it just in general puts alot of strain on the shaft and gears making them work much harder.