Outboard motors and sterndrives primarily use three blade and four blade boat propellers both in aluminum and stainless steel. Some of the real small outboards use two bladed props and some composite propellers have five blades, Mercury has a stainless steel five blade prop. But by far most boats have a three or four blade boat props.
Three blade Boat Propellers
The advantages of three blade props are they generally have faster top end speeds with good take off and power performance. Three blade propellers cost less to buy and repair costs are less. They are available in both aluminum and stainless steel from a variety of high end manufacturers and available at Dan’s Discount Props website.
Four blade Boat Propellers
The advantages of four blade boat propellers are they get your boat up on plane quicker than a three blade prop. For heavier boats, heavily loaded boats and for larger boats they will push the boat better with less slippage. Cruise speed gas mileage is usually better again because of less slippage. Disadvantages are they cost more to buy and to get repaired. Top end speeds are generally a little slower that a three blade propeller. Available as well from a variety of manufacturers from Dan’s Discount Boat Propellers website.
How to choose a proper boat prop for your needs
So when choosing a boat prop you need to decide which is more important to you as far as performance is concerned. For light loads and if you are interested more in going fast use a three blade boat propeller. If you are going to use your boat to tow the kids around on towables or water skis mostly, use a four blade prop for better bite on the water.
If you would like to get a professional recommendation on what kind of boat propellers would best for you please call us at 1-800-573-5533
Hello, I’m in need of some advice about prop for my alumacraft trophy 185. I have a 19 p mich wheel, and a 17p mercury tempest plus. This is a pretty heavy boat, plus with two 80 lb batterys for trolling and possibly a 5o lb one for front depth finder. Anyway, I want to get the front of the boat higher from the trim button. Will a 4 blade prop do a better job of this? The motor seems to be in the correct height range. I want the spray further back on boat like most boats. Any advice is appreciated.
Andy
I have a 16cx legend boat with a 90hp Suzuki want to upgrade to a stainless propeller, not sure if I should go with a 3 or 4 blade stainless prop. I currently have an aluminium 3 blade 13.75×17
Have a 2014 Bennington QCW2575 with a 300 Yamaha what would be the best prop. Looking for top end speed