No Plain

I recently bought an older ski boat with a 140hp merc in it and am having trouble getting it to plain with 2 guys in the rear seats. I mentioned getting a whale tail to a buddy and he said he lost power on one of his previous boats, causing him not to be able to pull a skiier. Has anyone else had this problem?

what prop are you running? you might want to change it

and welcome to the site

I’m not exactly sure. Is this something I can calculate or would it tell me somewhere on the prop itself?

Most props say the pitch on them. Either on the back of the hub near the nut or the side of the prop hub asm, not the blades.

I had the same problem… it was the prop pitch.

Also, when you are looking for the pitch, check to see if it is vented. Between the blades there may be a hole. If it is vented, are the holes plugged or unplugged?

-J.

I checked out the prop but didn’t find any numbers or indications of the pitch. What do you think is the easiest way to find the pitch, other than these numbers? Thanks in advance!

Did you pull the prop off? You might have to take it off and look on the back side and inside of it.

OK, I found the numbers on the prop and here is what I found.

SSM-358-C
15.25 x 21 RH

To me, this interprets to 15.25 diameter with a 21 pitch right hand turn?

Do you think this prop is too big or small for an older 17′ skiboat with a 140 hp 3.0 merc?

Thanks again!

It’s and I/O, correct?

I’ve always thought those 3.0 Mercruisers were dogs. A 21 pitch prop seems a bit steep to me. Did you happen to note your RPMs at WOT? That would help immensely.