Went fishing last week and bent a blade on my small Mercury 4.5hp
motor ( 2 bladed prop)
Would this damage the motor if I would replace it with a three (3)
bladed prop ?
Would this affect the engine or performance ?

Thanks again

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:33:27 -0700, quizno mouse
wrote:

Went fishing last week and bent a blade on my small Mercury 4.5hp
motor ( 2 bladed prop)
Would this damage the motor if I would replace it with a three (3)
bladed prop ?
Would this affect the engine or performance ?

======================================

It depends.

A 3 bladed prop will deliver more thrust than a 2 but there's more to
it than that. The most important thing is correct pitch allowing the
engine to operate near its peak in the power/RPM curve. Otherwise you
risk lugging the engine.

All else being equal, it won't be quite as efficient, but will run
with less vibration. It'll cost more too. I'd stick with the two
blades.

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:33:27 -0700, quizno mouse
wrote:

Went fishing last week and bent a blade on my small Mercury 4.5hp
motor ( 2 bladed prop)
Would this damage the motor if I would replace it with a three (3)
bladed prop ?
Would this affect the engine or performance ?

A three blade prop will give you more bite for the same size and
pitch.

However, with an engine that small, I would stick with the two blade
as you might not have the horsepower to overcome the extra lift
provided by a three blade. An extra blade, it will affect the
engine's performance.