Prop Recommendations

First off I am new here so I hope I am posting in the correct area. I recently purchased a 2002 G3 Pro 165 with a 40hp Yamaha. I crappie fish so I am usually running in a lot of shallow water with sand and gravel. For this reason I would like to replace the aluminum prop with a stainless prop. Would be great if I could gain a little performance, but this is not the main reason for changing. At WOT the boat is running 5000 rpm with a 10.25 x 14 prop. The manual states that my operating range of the motor should be 4500 to 5500 rpms. After reading another post on here I am going to check the height of my motor as well, but have not had the chance yet. I mainly would like your recommendations on what stainless prop size would work. Also, the boat is a little sluggish on the hole shot, but I don’t want to risk a lot of top end for the hole shot either. Have not tested the speed with a gps, but the speedo was reading 35mph at WOT. Thanks!

From what i understand that for ever degree of pitch that you will gain or lose about 300 RPM.Not rock solid but close.By going a little lower on pitch you eill do beter on your hole shot but will lose some on wot.hope this helps soome

You’re pretty good as is. If you’re unhappy with the hole shot, you could drop to a 13 or even 12 pitch–the 12 should put you right around 5500 rpm, but that would be using the same prop. Things will change with SS prop because they flex less, although I am not sure how much flex a 40 HP motor causes.

I would recommend giving a call to Jay at Soderbloom’s. He could help you out with some professional advice

Thanks for the help. I was also wondering how diameter would play into the equation. I have room to go up an inch in diameter. That is where I did not want to get into any trouble. I was curious if I dropped down in pitch to up the rpms then what would happen if I increased the diameter?

It is what it is. If you are running skinny water, I’d stay with an aluminum prop. You are right in your comfort zone of recommended RPM. You aren’t going to see tremendous change either way, but you can overwind a small outboard and that will shorten it’s life. Having a tach on there will help you dial it in.

Lower the pitch. I run a F40 on a heavy Lund Rebel (meaning 3 batteries, Terrova, 2 guys, lots of gear) and it spins at 5800 rpm. You need it there for any low end performance at all.

Thanks a lot. I think I am going to try a 13 pitch and see how that works.