Propeller change to Solas 4 blade 1986 Johnson 140

[MSteele]

Just sharing my experience changing my propeller on a J140TLCDC - I needed more pulling power as my 16' ski boat was slow off the mark getting a skier out of the water. I decided to change the original Johnson 3 blade 13x19 unit for a Solas Titan HR 4 13x19 4-blade. I was expecting more torque and boy did the prop deliver, skier is out of the water without the bow flying up to the heavens, but what really impressed me was the acceleration. When the boat is just on the plane at 15mph and then going WOT you appreciate the push back into the seat, but most impressive is the hard turning. My three blade prop would loose traction, and the engine would over rev, so I was very careful, down throttling when cornering hard and waiting for the boat to level before throwing the throttle down. With the 4 blade non of that nonsense, I would back off the throttle on a hard turn but as soon as the boat was getting to the direction I wanted to go, even though I was still heavily banked I pushed on the throttle, boat just picked up and flew out of the turn. I got carried away turning harder and accelerating quicker to see if I could get the prop to "boil the water" cavitate etc, and it seemed rock solid on the day, very impressive. I was turning hard enough and accelerating quick enough to feel as if I was pivoting on the bow, and this on a v-shaped hull. One final note, I was expecting to have a decrease in top speed based on the additional drag of a 4 blade prop and the additional inertia needed to drive a heavier prop, well that did not materialise. Top speed was better than my 3 blade aluminium which was 52mph at 6100. The Solas Titan HR 4 still pulled 6100, but the speedo stopped reading accurately bouncing off the 55mph marker (this is the top speed of my dial). Now this was off the speedo which is a pitot tube, as the mathematical top speed at 6100 going through a 2:1 gearbox is 55mph. I will need to use a GPS to see what % slip I am getting. In summary it has transformed the boat and I am very pleased.