Will changing from 2 blade to 3 Prop help

"My 74 Eska 5 HP really doesen

"My 74 Eska 5 HP really doesent have a whole lot of get up & go.

I need to replace the prop as it is & was wondering if going to a 3 blade prop would help with propulsion??

I can get a 2 or 3 blade prop from http://home.earthlink.net/~brixent/ but with shipping its around $40 which I think is a little High.

Thanks Lee"

"Lee, in general a 3 blade pro

"Lee, in general a 3 blade prop will give you more low end "push" to get you moving than will a two blade. But a two blade will give you more top end speed.

However, we are talking about a 5 horse motor here, and depending on what you have it hanging on you may not notice any difference regardless of what you do with the prop.

I use a 3 blade, plastic weedless on my 2.5 horse kicker and power the boat with a larger engine. It works great for pushing the boat along while trolling and on one occassion, brought the rig in when the main engine flooded - at a whopping 4 mph

A 5 horse really is just an auxilary motor in most applications. If you really want better performance out of your rig, you are going to have to increase your horsepower, and in most cases, significantly, before you will see any real change in the "on boat" performance.

If your current prop is functional, save your money..."

"Thanks Graham, I'm runnin

"Thanks Graham, I'm running this on a 8' Marsh Boat so a 5 Horse is about the biggest I can run on it.

I was just looking to get a little more out of the motor.

I'm already shopping for a replacement, this motor's left me stranded twice now, the last time was on a long run & the motor was overheating Big Time, the hotter it got the weaker the motor ran, til finally it konked out.

The motor actually siezed up & I couldn't pull the starter rope, after an hour I could budge it loose a bit & after another half hour I could pull the rope enough to get it to fire.

I can literally feel the motor lug down as it heats up, throttling it down & running it at lower speeds helps, but even then it will heat up aswell.

I'm running it on 24:1 with a new fuel tank & fuel lines. I've replaced the lower unit oil 3 times, the old oil was in there for quite a while, so its fairly thick & tough to flush out.

I think all the old oil is out now, so I'm sure thats not part of the problem.

I know the power head is Air cooled, & the shaft is water cooled.

All the heat is from the power head down, even the mounting bracketts are heating up.

I'm pretty sure its on its last leg but If I can get a little more out of it I will.

Have you ever heard of putting Marvel Mystrey Oil in your fuel at a 1 ounce to 1 Gallon:mix ratio??

The local outboard guru told my dad to do that with his 5 HP Johnson. Basically he said the Marvel oil would penetrate where the 2 cycle wouldn't.

Thanks Lee"

Marvel mystery oil " penet

Marvel mystery oil " penetrating " is a wild " old wives tale" Oil does not behave that way when lubricating a motor.You need to look at other problems and shop for a decent motor.

"I agree with the comment abov

"I agree with the comment above - no magic oil. It sounds like your little motor is coming to the end of it's useful days.

5 horse air cooled engines sell in the used market often for around 100 bucks. You could probably pick up an older water cooled motor for a few hundred.

With it overheating and the prop bad, I would look to replacing rather than repairing that particular motor. The parts will cost you more than a working (used) replacement..."

"Thats what I figured.

Unti

"Thats what I figured.

Until it overheated on me again I was considering keeping it, & replacing a few "Small" things but it makes no sense to throw good money after bad.

Thanks again Lee"

"i have a ten ft jon i run a 1

"i have a ten ft jon i run a 1978 4hp mercury gnat most of the time with me 115 ibs 3 gallons of fuel 20-30 pound battery 23 pound tool kit and a 27 ib thrust trolling motor it planes about 10 mph and that boat was only rated for 3hp and i have had a 8hp nissan 2 stroke on it if your transoms in good shape you could move up in the 8hp range just remember most of the stress is on the transom went getting up on plane once up the stress is greatly reduced http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o227/starshipdukeboy/Picture063-1.jpg"
thats the gnat"