I recently bought a Weldcraft maverick 186 DV with off shore bracket, 115 main and 6 horse kicker.
Motors run fine but the boat seams to be stern heavy and has poor hole shot, Even with just Me and my son. Once she gets going she’s fast and a smooth girl. With more people she is slow getting on plane as well.
I want better holeshot and plane sooner.
Especially if I plan on Pulling my kids this summer.
Prop on there now is aluminum 3x14x21 and has some nicks and rough edges on it. It needs a new prop.

Should I go stainless? 4 blade? Less or more of a pitch?
Couple of web sites suggest 4 blade 19 pitch or even 17 for water sports.
Also is it worth it to go stainless over aluminum?
Thanks in advance

You are likely underpowered. Rather than change prop, change outboard. Though a lower pitched 4-blade prop might help for now.

Thanks.
I’m going to try a cheaper prop route first. 100$ prop vs 10k + motor.
17 or 19?

You can have the prop repaired and they can probably tweak the pitch a couple of degrees. Take it to a good prop shop. If that doesn't work out keep it for a spare and buy a new one.

Are you able to reach the specified WOT rpm range with the existing prop? If not you need less pitch.

If you're going to be pulling, go with the 17. And stainless. Of course you're going to loose a bunch of top end speed. Always a tradeoff.

There are online prop calculators but there are still a lot of variables. Can you hit redline with your current prop? Usually you would want to step down a pitch but if you are going to a 4 blade I would step down two pitches to a 17. I would stick with aluminum, especially if you are still figuring out what you want/need. I have a merc 115 pro XS CT on a 20’ aluminum bay boat and I use a 4 blade 19p prop for fishing and a 4 blade 17p prop in the summer for mixed fishing and tubing. The different in just the change of pitch is quite noticeable, both in holes shot and top speed.

^ ^ ^ this
Trailer your whole rig there and tell them what's up
They can likely tweak your current prop, or hook
You up with what you need. They may even have
a used something of the needed pitch for a
spare for cheap

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to trailer the whole boat somewhere just to get the prop worked on, unless you don't know what a wrench looks like.

Yes, there is. You may have a problem with trim angle or the motor mounted too high or too low, either of which will affect your hole shot and top end. They can measure those with the whole rig, but not just by looking at the prop alone.

Thanks everyone
I ended up getting a 4 blade 13.25”, 17 pitch Hustler propeller from turning point. It was 88$ And 30 for kit adaptor.
Figured it Saves me bunch of time going to prop shops and what not. And 100$ isn’t going to kill me....it can’t be worse than what it is now
Especially if it sounds like I got the wrong prop

Turning Point's prop program is pretty good, and their service is great if you ever reach out to them. They identified the right prop for my Yamaha the first time and it's performed very well.

Yes their web site is very good.
I played it with it multiple times punching in different numbers.
Such as number of people, gear, elevation, and keep coming up with 19 pitch for speed, 17 for water sports.
Worse case I get the other prop with 19 and have winter/summer prop

For reference Im running a Laser II 19 pitch . Boat is a Lowe 1860 with a 90 mercury 4 stroke.. In calm water it runs 43mph and will pull up a skier easily .

Thanks Rick
Never looked at my Max speed, but she goes fast once she gets going. It just takes a while.
Looking at specs my Weldcraft weighs 1750 lb dry, I’m thinking that’s more than your Lowe

we need rpm pitch and weight to get u going...

I am pretty sure you are heading in the right direction

Hank

At bit late but another cost effective boost to holeshot is Smart Tabs or Bennett SLT. For less than $150 you’ll see improved holeshot, lower planing speed, and no effect on top end. I put Smart Tabs on my Sea Ray and just got the Bennett SLT to put on my Smoker Craft.

Two thoughts come immediately to mind after prop change. Height of outboard and hydraulic trim tabs.

Engine may be too high for a good hole shot. Running it as high as possible and still have water pump working will be fastest but getting on plane will be slower.

Trim tabs were the best performance addition added to my 19 ft fiberglass center console which is a bit heavier than your boat. It also uses a 115 and will get on plane without them but especially with extra weight takes a while to get on plane. Trim tabs get you on plane quickly and can be used for attitude adjustments to keep boat flat when running through waves at angles or a heavy passenger on one side. You can also stay on plane in rough water at much slower speeds minimizing the pounding.

You need to know what the manufacturers recommended RPM range is for your engine. Does this prop run in that range? If it is below or at minimum you probably need an inch or 2 less pitch. SS props can be repitched at a prop shop. Not sure about aluminum. Aluminum does flex some on start so they act like a lower pitch out of the hole. SS is better all the way around unless you hit things. Then they damage lower unit parts.

Proping boats correctly is science with art involved! A good marina will help ypu. Around here they will prop and run the boat until the correct pitch is found. Trim tabs and such, should be used after the prop is correct, to get the best performance from both! Lots of good information in this thread, rpm to performance= correct application!!

I will preface this by telling you that I don’t know much about propping a boat. The 90 horse on my older Ranger has a 4 blade prop and it does plane out real well and will top out at about 40 mph. I think that you are on the right track as far as starting with the prop. Good luck, Dave

17 pitch 4 blade is your huckleberry. I used to be parts manager for a marine dealership so have some experience regarding this subject

old post but you might be able to have your prop drilled for pvs vents… i know they can do it on stainless props but that would allow you to fine tune your holeshot.