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What is better? A two or 3 blade trolling motor prop?

5K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  BassTrix 
#1 ·
What is better? A two or 3 blade trolling motor prop?
 
#2 ·
Depends on the brand of motor. The following applies to motors with 80lbs or more of thrust. I've used plenty of lower thrust motors but haven't experimented with different props.

Minn Kota has a very good 2 blade prop that come stock on the motor. It's weedless, quiet, durable....the only downside is it's fairly large in diameter, so you'll bottom out slightly sooner. Not really a consideration for most.

Motorguide has a metal 3 blade that has good characteristics, but I'd only recommend it for a 109 lb motor... and you can damage your motor if you slam it into solid objects. I didn't care for the Safari 2 blade, but they may have improved the design since I first tried it.

The best prop I've found for Motorguide is the Kipawa weedless. It's very weedless, quiet, and has nearly the same top end you'll get out of the metal 3 blade. Motorguide sold this prop under the name Hydrilla Hacker, but evidently, they're no longer buying the rights to sell it. You can still get it from the manufacturer: http://www.kipawapropellers.com/
 
#5 ·
Depends on the brand of motor. The following applies to motors with 80lbs or more of thrust. I've used plenty of lower thrust motors but haven't experimented with different props.

Minn Kota has a very good 2 blade prop that come stock on the motor. It's weedless, quiet, durable....the only downside is it's fairly large in diameter, so you'll bottom out slightly sooner. Not really a consideration for most.

Motorguide has a metal 3 blade that has good characteristics, but I'd only recommend it for a 109 lb motor... and you can damage your motor if you slam it into solid objects. I didn't care for the Safari 2 blade, but they may have improved the design since I first tried it.

The best prop I've found for Motorguide is the Kipawa weedless. It's very weedless, quiet, and has nearly the same top end you'll get out of the metal 3 blade. Motorguide sold this prop under the name Hydrilla Hacker, but evidently, they're no longer buying the rights to sell it. You can still get it from the manufacturer: http://www.kipawapropellers.com/
Nice post...

I'll have to give that kipawa prop a try; I've always used the tour-glass filled three blade.
 
#7 ·
Depends on the brand of motor. The following applies to motors with 80lbs or more of thrust. I've used plenty of lower thrust motors but haven't experimented with different props.

Minn Kota has a very good 2 blade prop that come stock on the motor. It's weedless, quiet, durable....the only downside is it's fairly large in diameter, so you'll bottom out slightly sooner. Not really a consideration for most.

Motorguide has a metal 3 blade that has good characteristics, but I'd only recommend it for a 109 lb motor... and you can damage your motor if you slam it into solid objects. I didn't care for the Safari 2 blade, but they may have improved the design since I first tried it.

The best prop I've found for Motorguide is the Kipawa weedless. It's very weedless, quiet, and has nearly the same top end you'll get out of the metal 3 blade. Motorguide sold this prop under the name Hydrilla Hacker, but evidently, they're no longer buying the rights to sell it. You can still get it from the manufacturer: http://www.kipawapropellers.com/

The Kipawa 3 blades are outstanding on a 109, but I have to add that they work really well on a newer digital 82 as well.

I also have a 2 blade straight prop for the MG that is supposed to be faster, but not as good in the grass. I don't think its faster.

The 3 blade metal prop is faster than the 2 just because it has less flex in my opinion. I use the Kipawas almost exclusively now because they do very well in the grass, although one of my old fishing partners uses the metal one and sharpens the blades because he feels it cuts the pencil tulies better.
 
#9 ·
The Kipawa 3 blades are outstanding on a 109, but I have to add that they work really well on a newer digital 82 as well.

I also have a 2 blade straight prop for the MG that is supposed to be faster, but not as good in the grass. I don't think its faster.

Out of 4 props I tested, the 2 blade Safari was the slowest. It alse made a strange whistling sound...even worse than a machette with a little ding in the blade. From fastest to slowest:

Metal Machette 3 blade
kipawa
plastic Machette
Safari

Weedless:
kipawa
metal 3-blade
safari
plastic machette


The 3 blade metal prop is faster than the 2 just because it has less flex in my opinion.

I agree....would probably be even faster if it weighed the same as the plastic.

I use the Kipawas almost exclusively now because they do very well in the grass, although one of my old fishing partners uses the metal one and sharpens the blades because he feels it cuts the pencil tulies better.

Good info.
 
#10 ·
Interesting, that's the first I've heard of this. I can say that if I cover my boat in colder weather, I usually have one blade that deforms over night...next morning for the first few minutes, I can tell the motor is out of balance. I wonder if that's what they mean.

I just retired the motor I started with when my boat was new...that was 6 years ago and the motor runs fine....it's had a hydrilla hacker the whole time. It's now my backup.
 
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