Prop Size?

[bandkiller]

Wondering what size prop to go with on a direct drive 350? I would like to go as small as possible so I can keep my motor as low as possible. Would it be good to go with a 66 or 68 and a big pitch to compensate for the shorter prop or just live with a 72 inch prop? Just a little nervous about getting that motor up in the air, my boat is not that wide but its 15 feet long. This boat doesn't need to be fast or run the hill, just getting me from point A to point B. Any help would be great.

 

[Larry]

A friend of mine used to run a 350 smallblock with a 66x42 narrow wood prop. It was a quick revving setup, a lot of snap and revved out to about 3100. This setup performed decently on a 10.5x7 aluminum deckover.

Larry

 

[nebraskaairboater]

I ran a 72 x 30 paddle prop on my dd 350. Was the perfect prop for my boat because a wot it would spin right at 3000 rpm. It was loud though. I ran it on my 15 x 7 aluminum hull. I have since switched to a 500 caddy dd but the 350 got me from point a to b fairly well (as long as the boat wasn't loaded too heavy)


Dan

 

[Anonymous]

Bandkiller, a two blade carbon fiber prop would be a lot more expensive to begin with, but might save you money in the long run ..... not only in maintenance, but because you can adjust it to exactly what your engine needs.
If later you made a couple of modifications and found some more torque, all you'd have to do is crank in a little more pitch.

BF

 

[Anonymous]

I have and ran a 70 32 stick on a small block DD It had more snap than this 72 34 paddle i am running on my new SB 400.

 

[bandkiller]

Thanks but what I need is to go as short as possible to lower the center of gravity on the engine. So would a 60-68 wide blade going to work or should i just live with the higher engine stand and go with a 70 or 72 inch prop. :?:

 

[Whitebear]

How wide is your boat. I saw in your first cfomment its 15' long. Remember that as you shorten the prop them the RPM range will be altered in a wood prop. With the short prop you will see less torque roll and you will have a snappy spin up you may lose some of the ultra push for running dry etc, but you already said thats not a big issue.

I think it would be wisest to contact a manufacturer and ask them what they offer and recommend in the length you want. Let the burdon of suitability fall on them not you.

Scotty

 

[Airboatcapt2]

I would run the 72" Stump puller Whirl Wind Composite prop so you can adjust the pitch to match the engine.

 

[Bowhntr6pt]

I'm interested in switching from a wood prop to a carbon prop IF it will result in more "push" as all out speed is not important to me.

Currently I have a 72" wood prop on my 0470 GPU that is attached to an airgator hull with poly on the bottom...

Anyone know what my options are??

 

[nebraskaairboater]

Switched from a wood paddle prop to carbon adjustable pitch. Huge difference in push. Another huge benifit is that you can fine tune the prop to your engine to get the best efficiency. Could not run dry with the wood prop and can run some dry with a heavy fiberglass 16 x 8 hull DD 455 olds. I just purchased a Whirl Wind Stump Puller from Faron and can't wait to try it on my other 15 x 7 aluminum hull with 500 Caddy.