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Standard or speed prop on LT4?


djheywood

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I have a 25 LSV in order with the LT4.  I know it has insane power so I definitely won’t need the torque prop.  Wondering if most of you with that engine are running the standard prop 3077 or the speed prop 2805?  I normally boat at about 1000 feet but we do go to Tahoe for two weeks a year at 6500 feet.  We mainly surf.  
 

Interested to hear actual experience with both props, and fuel observations etc.  thanks!

 

brian

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What I usually tell people who are wanting/needing two props is to order the standard prop with your build (because it’s “free”). Then buy the speed prop afterwards and swap them, making the standard prop your backup / high altitude prop. 

  • Like 3
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We run the standard prop (3077) at 5000+ elevation on all of our 24 and 25's with the lt4 and it has no problems getting up and going at all. Full PNP with people it holds surf speeds and will plane out wakeboarding.

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8 hours ago, IXFE said:

What I usually tell people who are wanting/needing two props is to order the standard prop with your build (because it’s “free”). Then buy the speed prop afterwards and swap them, making the standard prop your backup / high altitude prop. 

@IXFE  Same strategy on a 23 LSV?  2805 with the M6?  Is the benefit lower RPMs surfing and less gas use?  I'm at 1000' if that makes much difference.  

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2 hours ago, Sixer said:

@IXFE  Same strategy on a 23 LSV?  2805 with the M6?  Is the benefit lower RPMs surfing and less gas use?  I'm at 1000' if that makes much difference.  

Bingo. Here’s a screen shot of my 2020 25 LSV (M6 / 2805) surfing with full tanks, PnP, light crew, but 500 lbs of lead. Aprox 3100 RPM. The year before I had the standard prop (3077) and I recall my RPM’s were around 3500. 

F47F8436-0D55-42CD-8E2D-84F861939ED2.jpeg

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12 hours ago, djheywood said:

I have a 25 LSV in order with the LT4.  I know it has insane power so I definitely won’t need the torque prop.  Wondering if most of you with that engine are running the standard prop 3077 or the speed prop 2805?  I normally boat at about 1000 feet but we do go to Tahoe for two weeks a year at 6500 feet.  We mainly surf.  
 

Interested to hear actual experience with both props, and fuel observations etc.  thanks!

 

brian

My boat came with the 3805. I am on the DIRTY D. I now run the 3077. I have found the 2805 to not quite do it. I do run heavy and will quite often have 8-12+ people in the boat. At these times I need to drain rear to wakeboard. BUT. I have NEVER had a complaint about the wave/wake. 😎  The 2805 does fine, if you don’t run heavy. I also run the 2805 early/late season when we do more lunch/dinner/visit with friends and a smaller crew. 
@IXFE I am surprised I have never seen that pic. How many are in your boat and what weight are you running. Love those rpms.  
 

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9 hours ago, Sparky450 said:

My boat came with the 3805. I am on the DIRTY D. I now run the 3077. I have found the 2805 to not quite do it. I do run heavy and will quite often have 8-12+ people in the boat. At these times I need to drain rear to wakeboard. BUT. I have NEVER had a complaint about the wave/wake. 😎  The 2805 does fine, if you don’t run heavy. I also run the 2805 early/late season when we do more lunch/dinner/visit with friends and a smaller crew. 
@IXFE I am surprised I have never seen that pic. How many are in your boat and what weight are you running. Love those rpms.  
 

Like I said that was a light crew... three people total including the surfer. But it’s not like I cheated to get that pic:  there’s 500 lbs of lead on board, we’re riding at 11.3mph, right side, and wedge at 3. All of those factors drive rpm up, not down. If I dumped the speed below 10.6 (ie factory preset), swapped out the lead for people (say three more adults), and took the wedge down to 2 or 1, that would drop RPM’s down below 3k easy and might more closely resemble how the average guy is using the boat.

I took a several RPM pics throughout the season. Most are in the 3100-3200 range (as you know rpm’s can fluctuate a bit even without changing your setup). Here’s the HIGHEST pic I found. As I recall on this day my son (in the bow) brought a bunch of his friends along.  

6EAA460B-82B5-4EC8-97C6-4F2D48D51A61.jpeg

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@IXFE inspired me once again.  I had to go grab one.  
 

I ran the sped prop for a bit and swapped back.  I liked a little more grunt out of the hole although certainly the 2805 was no slouch.  I may swap again to start next year after thinking on it again.  

8F991E71-9029-447C-B383-85249469035A.jpeg

Edited by hethj7
Fixed typos
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Here’s what I look for when deciding if a prop is “enough” 

this is yet another pic from last season (M6 2805). Look at the throttle indicator (white bar / green line).  In my experience if a prop isn't enough the issue you’ll run into is hitting the speed wall (ie the inability to get to prescribed speed). If my boat was even close to the speed wall, the throttle would be all the way down (it’s not), the boat wouldn’t be at the set speed (it is) and the throttle indicator would be all the way over to the right (it’s not even half way there). 

Other variables I look at when evaluating a props RPM performance... where’s the wedge, how fast am I going, how heavy am I running, and what side are we surfing on.  Even where people are sitting! All will affect your rpm’s.

In the pic below the wedge is at 4 (higher rpm), we’re going 11.4 (higher rpm), the crew is my family of 5 (eh... maybe lighter than some of y’all) but I’ve also got 500 in lead (so maybe equivalent to a bigger crew without lead), surfing goofy (lower rpm).  All that and still below 3200 rpm. Oh, and as you can see in all these pics we cheat and fill non surf side to 75% (lower rpm). So lots of offsetting variables.  Others will have their own offsetting variables.

If @Sparky450 has issues getting on plane when wakeboarding (running very heavy, I think he has a lot of lead to go with those 8-12 peeps), that’s the wakeboarding equivalent to hitting the speed wall (ie inability to get to desired speed). Honestly, since Malibu introduced “lift” mode I’ve never experienced this... it seems like a good crutch to overcome even a completely overwhelmed boat. But honestly, any number of variables can overwhelm a boat/engine/prop.  

What I can’t speak for is @hethj7 “stunt out of the hole” comment as that sounds more subjective. For me I’m always looking for the prop that produces the lowest rpm’s (cuz it’s quieter and uses less gas) without hitting the speed wall. 

9B84BA87-505A-44EB-B48A-8B8527C98958.jpeg

Edited by IXFE
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Grunt out of the hole (sorry for the typo) and yes, it is subjective.  I just got used to the 3077 and whether real or not “felt” the speed prop had a little less out of the hole, which makes sense.  

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When I run the 2805. I will also use lift mode while surfing when needed. I typically run at sea level. However, I will occasionally venture up to 1000’ elevation. I notice a difference there as well. 

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