Raider 18 Prop Size

[bigboy]

Raider 18 Prop size
Hi all
Got my brand new Raider 18 in the water 4 weeks ago and had a problem with the mercury 100 EFI 4 Stroke, engine was making a screaming noise at 1600 rpm. Sounded like a fan belt slipping or alternator bearing well after a couple of looks the local dealer fixed the problem by changing the prop.

However the prop that was on their was an 19'' prop and got good speed and wot went to about 5400, may of got a bit more if prop was not faulty, the dealer only had a 17'' prop and put this on. I'm now getting 5900 at wot.

So I want to know what size s/steel prop I should put on to get the best fuel econeny and speed

[littlesal]

I bought a Raider 18 with an Etech motor on it. It had a big shiny 22 inch stainless prop. Max revs were 4000 and top speed 30MPH. Took it for a service in the spring and the engineer told me the preferred prop was 17 inches. He changed them over (straight swap) and now I max at 5000 revs and get 34MPH. Accelleration is much better and Fuel consumption is a bit better too.

[bigboy]

Hi was that an alloy or stainless prop you replaced it with

[littlesal]

stainless. Took a 22 inch 4 blade off and replaced with a 17 inch 3 blade.