added ballast bags / prop change

[wetneck]

when boarding in my '99 ski i bring along about 1500 lbs of ballast bags and now the proppage is off, what should i get as an all around prop to cover me for boarding,slalom and footing ??
JB

[HS]

I am thinking that the lack of response here could be due to the wide range of ballast and speeds you use. Not a hard guess, but here goes...Are you finding that your hole shot is suffering with the 1500 lbs of ballast with the same prop used for footing speeds? For example, a prop that allows high speed without excessive rpm could have a pitch in the 16 inch range, which I base on the ACME 645 from my old boat. That was as I recall a 13.25" diameter x 16" pitch, and was the Team prop I am told. Adding diameter and reducing the pitch of the prop enhances the hole shot especially with a couple thousand pounds of ballast.

Some reference guides for you would be ACME's web site and they also have great phone technical support, and I recently found a prop selector guide at wake props.com

My gut reaction is that you are trying to find a prop for two ends of the spectrum given the size of ballast and need for barefoot speed. Once you find the prop that gives you the needed hole shot, you'll see your rpm's increase (maybe beyond your comfort zone) at footing speeds. One thing I learned in the process was that adding cup is worth like an inch of pitch (this came from Bill at ACME) which to paraphrase what i heard him say, helps give you that low end hole shot and then at speed is when the cup takes over so you save about 125 rpm when cruising.

Sorry this is maybe more guidance or opinion than an answer.

When I was gathering data for props for WB and surfing with ballast, which excludes your need for footing speeds, I had things narrowed down to the following ACME numbers: 1579 and 1631, then adding a half inch of diameter to the 1433 and 1847, and even greater diameter to the 1235 and the 1273. Each of these groupings are listed in increasing diameters starting with 13.5 and ending at 14.5. The key difference in each grouping is the cup difference from .105 to .150.

I forget the exact conversion, but if you know the rpm you run at footing speed, you can expect that rpm to increase by about 200 for every inch of pitch you subtract on the prop to help out your hole shot. Based on that, you can appreciate what will happen to your engine speed should you change the prop.

[wetneck]

ive recently just gotten this boat and outfitting it and havent even been footing yet,only slalom and boading, dont think i need to worry TOO much about prop for footing as long as it can hit 42 max as i like fronts a lil faster
i looked this AM and i have a 13x16 OJ, in my reading it sounds like the acme 654 would be a good fit but that was for an OB, which i THINK is a lil heavier
i work next to a large prop shop and i can either have them work my current prop down a bit or get a second, just looking for the happy medium
i appreciate all suggestions/experience and knowledge !!