The Steamboating Forum

Howdy all,

I have a prop question. I ran a 18x18 last year on my 3x4 simple pushing a 23 foot hull a d things seemed to work well. There is a new 18x23 for sale locally for short money. Would it provide me any benefit ?

Jon

Hi Jon,

I went up on propeller pitch 20X20 3blade to 21X23 4 blade. My boat runs much better now. Slower RPM, lower steam consumption and much faster.

-Ron

For "short money" you should buy it. A prop with long pitch is wanted by many steamboaters, so if you do not find it right for your boat, you can sell it at Lee's Mills and save a bundle of money for a fellow steamboater who will not have to pay $500 for a new prop.

Thanks Guys !

I will see if I can grab it.

jon

My boat is a 3 x 4 simple, 24' and was running an 18 x 20. It was O.K. but I found an 18 x 24. It reaches about the same top speed or maybe a trifle faster but the 'sweet spot' speed for cruising moved up a fair amount. I'd go for it.

My 18 x 20 is available for testing and purchase/trade. 1.25" shaft R.H.

Mike

Thanks Mike

A guy at work was thinkingI would have trouble slowing down to dock etc.

Should.I be concerned ?

Jon

No. You should be so lucky.
m

Yep, he may be right. The new faster at slower RPM for us has taken a bit of getting used to at docking. Also, under 20 PSI moving forward, I can't go in to reverse, the steep pitch overpowers the engine at that pressure.

That's steam though, most improvements are a compromise. And what works for one, may not work for another.

-Ron