Preferred Boat Prop - 2005 Nautique 196 w/6.0 L Engine

[GOODESkier]

A buddy of mine bought a nice 2005 Nautique 196 with the bigger 6.0 Liter Engine. Have heard some rumors that the larger engine works a bit better in the slalom course with a specific prop change. Anyone know the best prop to run on this boat in order to get the best slalom boat?

[Jody_Seal]

Being that the boat is not certified anymore for tournament, I would recommend a 428 OJ with extra added cup. The boat came stock with a 668 ACME which is what most of us that have current 6 liter 200 are running. I have a 428 that I put on my 200 for when not pulling tournaments.

[Kelvin]

@Jody_Seal What do you like about the OJ 428 compared to the Acme 668?

[GOODESkier]

@Jody_Seal I guess I should have asked...... why do people re-prop this boat? Is the 668 ACME not a good slalom pull? Boat will have Star Gazer w/Zbox if that matters at all????

[Jody_Seal]

@GOODESkier.

My recommendations are from my own usage and past experiences with that particular hull design and engine package.

The 6 liter 196 came equipped with a 668 ACME from the factory. Sometimes a ACME 422 was installed for elevation. the ACME works well enough out of the box, after all it is the OEM propeller for the boat. my experiences and testing with the OJ products I have found that unless you are out to be a half a second faster in acceleration or a tenth of mile an hour faster on top end the performance numbers were very similar between the products on a given boat. Where the OJ seems to shine over the ACME is that it produces very similar numbers with less RPM. OJ's are more robust as far as dings and they seem to maintain their integrity longer as the blades are a bit thicker all the way into in the root of the propeller.

You cant go wrong with a ACME but again the proof is in the process, all of the my customers that I have installed OJ's on their boat were very satisfied and had no complaints and all seemed to have story's of a better feel on the handle end.