High Altitude?

[scotthons]

Hey everyone? Does anybody use their boats at high altitude? The lake we are going to be primarily using ours will be at around 6,500 feet of elevation. I know the owner's manual mentioned a high altitude prop for elevation above 4,000 feet. I called a Supra dealership and they quoted me $500-600 for the prop. Do you think I really need to make the purchase or could I ride it out for this summer?

The boat is an '06 21 V.

Thanks, Scott

[tg0824SSVGG]

Scott,

I live in Northern Colorado - the elevation of the lake I frequent is about 5500 feet -- I have
the "Wakeboard prop" which the dealer here puts on ALL boats, presumably for the
high altitude in addition to wakeboarding.

I would suggest you try your current prop and see if it works. The props are SPENDY for sure ( I have 2 of them)

Where you heading?

[Diggs]

What motor do you have? I assume the 325 Assualt. I think you should get the wakeboard prop no matter what elevation you are running. If you plan on running any weight in your boat or any elevation you will be much much much much happier. It is more important than the motor upgrade in many cases. Check to make sure it is not stock on your boat. Look at the prop and the wakeboard prop is 14 x 14.25 and it will say right on it. I would go for it though. Consider part of the good deal you got on the boat to go towards a new prop and keep the other one as a spare. It is always good to have a spare.

[scotthons]

To be honest I did not even check to see what prop I have currently have on the boat. It has the 340 hp motor. Hopefully it already has the "wakeboard prop", but I am not sure. You are correct about having a spare just in case.

We will be heading to Navajo Lake. We have a indoor storage there so the boat stays pretty much year around. Kind of a bummer because Elephant Butte in southern NM will warm up much sooner.

[jet]

I would think the eng/fuel injection computer would compensate for the altitude and you wouldn't have to change anything?? New prop?? Than sounds fishy!! Jet

[tg0824SSVGG]

Jet,

It may sound fishy, but the props work different at different altitudes. This is not just for inboard props - I used to have a different prop on my old I/O for when I was here in
Colorado - versus in Utah (2000 feet lower elevation) -- the same prop would run
different.

Check out a quick Google search for "propellor high altitude" -- notice all the
hits with "altitude" in them ... if it's a hoax, they are pulling it off for years - successfully


#
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[jet]

No your correct and i understand that, props also work different in different types of water, fresh, brackish and ocean because of density. I figured the salesman was being lazy and selling him a prop to compensate for the altitude and adjusting the engine or computer would be far less expensive. Jet

[Fman]

Can you get a lower pitch prop than a 14.25 x 14? I would think if you are using this prop it would be plenty of torque for high altitude. I have never seen anything lower than a 14.25 x 14, but maybe there is???